NFL U Pittsburgh

Although Steelers running back Najeh Davenport said this week that he planned to press charges against the mother of his child, it is Davenport who has been charged with domestic violence, endangering children and unlawful restraint, Fox 8 in Cleveland is reporting.

The charges stem from an incident last week involving Davenport and a Cleveland woman who is the mother of his 5-year-old. The dispute arose from a custody dispute between Davenport and the woman. Cleveland Police received three 911 calls in a 17-minute span, but they didn't arrest anyone because they weren't able to determine who was the aggressor in the dispute.

If convicted Davenport could face more than a year in jail. He could also be suspended under the NFL's personal conduct policy. Davenport is perhaps best known for entering a woman's dorm room and defecating in a laundry basket in 2002.

In 1983 the Steelers knew they needed to find a quarterback of the future to replace Terry Bradshaw, and a lot of quarterbacks were available in that year's NFL draft.

One of those quarterbacks seemed like the perfect fit, having grown up in the area and been a star at the University of Pittsburgh: Dan Marino. But the Steelers didn't take him (or any other quarterback). Instead, they chose Texas Tech defensive tackle Gabriel Rivera, and Marino was still on the board for the Dolphins.

In a new book, Steelers owner Dan Rooney says he wanted to take Marino after, of all things, the recommendation of a sports writer. But the personnel people balked.

"I made a mistake. Instead of telling our (front office) I thought it up myself, I told them it was (the writer's) idea. And that was the end of it."

Obviously, it's easy for Rooney to say now that he wanted to choose Marino -- he probably wouldn't be saying that if Rivera were in the Hall of Fame and Marino were some guy you've never heard of. But the most shocking thing to me is that an NFL owner actually listened to a sports writer when it came to such an important decision. That's something you wouldn't see nowadays.

Jonathan D. Silver of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that a female Pittsburgh police officer has filed a complaint with the department saying she was passed over for off-duty work guarding the Steelers at the team hotel because of her gender.

The reason? The officer who chose the cops for that duty said he didn't want female officers on the beat because the players "walk down the hallway with no clothes on." Officer Kevin Head acknowledges that he made that decision:

"They just couldn't work the floors where the guys were with no clothes on. I don't know why everybody's blowing this out of proportion. Really, I didn't even think they took it like they took it. I had two posts that required the men to be on the floor," said Officer Head, a 16-year veteran.

"This is where they're sleeping. They walk down the hallway with no clothes on," he continued. "I didn't put women up there. That was my choice. The Steelers didn't have anything to do with it. The Hilton didn't have anything to do with it."

My feeling is that there's no reason female officers couldn't have done the job. Although I would urge any female cops to stay away from Jeff Reed.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have reached a contract agreement with first-round draft pick Lawrence Timmons, Pro Football Talk is reporting.

Timmons, a linebacker from Florida State who will be an important part of new head coach Mike Tomlin's defense, signed just in time for the Steelers' training camp, which begins tomorrow.

Per PFT, the contract is for five years and will guarantee Timmons just over $8 million. By agreeing to a five-year deal, the Steelers gave Timmons the opportunity to become a free agent a year earlier than most of his fellow high draft picks. Most teams insist that top picks sign the maximum allowable six-year deals.

If Timmons reaches all incentives over the life of the contract, the maximum value will be about $15 million. Timmons' contract represents a 19 percent increase over the contract given to last year's 15th overall pick, cornerback Tye Hill of the Rams.

Former Steelers linebacker Greg Lloyd terrified quarterbacks on the football field, and he apparently terrified his family in their home.

But if you're not too terrified of him yourself, it turns out that you can learn tae kwon do from him. At least, you can if you live in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Lloyd is a black belt, which makes me wonder: Why doesn't he become the latest ex-football player to take up mixed martial arts? Yeah, he's 42, but that's still younger than Randy Couture, the current UFC heavyweight champion. I feel confident saying Lloyd would be better than Johnnie Morton.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have severed ties with Dr. Richard Rydze, a member of their medical staff who used his personal credit card to purchase $150,000 of testosterone and human growth hormone.

Although Rydze has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crime -- he says he acquired the pharmaceuticals for use with his patients -- the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that "having a doctor on their staff connected to steroids purchases apparently was not something the Steelers believed they could tolerate."

Rydze was once a world-class athlete (he won a 1972 Olympic silver medalist in platform diving), and it's hard to shake the feeling that he's the victim here of an overzealous war on performance-enhancing drugs. There are legitimate medical reasons for doctors to have testosterone and human growth hormone, and unless there's evidence that Rydze did something wrong, he shouldn't lose his job just because people are whispering about him.

We just passed the first anniversary of Ben Roethlisberger's infamous helmetless motorcycle crash, and that makes this an appropriate time to question just how confident any Steeler fan can be in Roethlisberger going forward.

First, a disclosure: I've always been a big believer in Roethlisberger. Before the 2004 draft, I was adamant that Roethlisberger would be a better NFL quarterback than Eli Manning or Philip Rivers, the other top quarterback prospects that year. A year and a day ago, I thought that made me smart, but nothing that has happened in the last year reinforces that opinion.

Peter King had something interesting to say about this:

Ben Roethlisberger is no lock to be a 10-year great player in the NFL. We still have to see him string several good games together, and several good seasons.

That is definitely true. Let's not sugar-coat anything: Roethlisberger was lousy last year. Just look at how much the Steelers' passing game improved with Charlie Batch under center. It's possible that his health issues can explain all of his struggles last season, but King is right: Roethlisberger might have looked like he was a lock to be a great quarterback in his first two years in the league, but after his third year, no one can be completely confident in his abilities.

Following up on the report by Pro Football Talk that an NFL assistant coach accidentally forwarded a pornographic e-mail to a recipients list that included every league general manager, their secretaries, and even the commissioner...

Pro Football Talk now reveals the name of the assistant coach in question:

we believe it's fair and appropriate to disclose that (via at least three NFL sources) the e-mail in question was inadvertently sent to multiple high-level team employees and their secretaries by offensive line coach Larry Zierlein of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Could Zierlein be subject to any discipline from the team or the league for this? If so, I would hope it's nothing beyond a reprimand and some training in appropriate use of the team's e-mail account. Zierlein has spent 29 years in the NFL, and this is a stupid mistake, not a malicious action of the Pacman Jones variety. Still, it's fun for us bloggers to giggle about.

To go along with Louisville's 2006 Big East Football Championship, and a nifty pair of Big East Golf Championships, Louisville is also this years winner in the 2007 NLF Draft among Big East teams. The Cardinals were able to land four players on NFL teams in this years draft. They were followed by Pittsburgh and Rutgers with three each, Syracuse and Cincinnati with two each, South Florida and Connecticut each had one player drafted, and dammit I'm missing someone here. Let's see....oh yeah, West Virginia with zero players drafted. Ugh!

Another sign that the Big East is crawling out of obscurity, this was the first year since 2004 that the Big East had two players drafted in the first round. The 16 players drafted this year also compares favorably to 11 Big East players being drafted in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Next years draft should consume more high profile players from the Big East with the likes of Brian Brohm, Steve Slaton, Mario Urrutia, and Pat White all eligible.

Previously at the Fanhouse:

West Virginia Shut Out in the 2007 Draft
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Dan Mozes
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Brandon Myles
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Brian Leonard
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Tanard Jackson
College Eye for the NFL Guy: Darrelle Revis

It's hard to know what to think of Lawrence Timmons. He's a great athlete, often looking like the fastest player on the field. He's a very good pass rusher, although Florida State didn't blitz him as much as I would have liked. Florida State linebackers have a history of playing well in the NFL, from Derrick Brooks to Ernie Sims.

And yet I have my doubts about Timmons. He was only a starter at Florida State for one season before he left early. He didn't run as well at the combine as he should have.

In any event, the Steelers have their replacement for Joey Porter, and Mike Tomlin has the first pick of his tenure in Pittsburgh.