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HOT TOPIC
Barred by NFL policy from attending the Steelers' spring workouts because Ohio State classes were still going on, first-round draft pick Santonio Holmes will receive special tutoring in Pittsburgh later this month.
The Steelers' spring drills ended last Thursday and Holmes attended only one three-day minicamp in May. The former Buckeyes' wide receiver, the first taken in this year's draft, will try to catch up on much of what he missed through a one-week session with some coaches and a few teammates in Pittsburgh.
"We will have some coaches and players in here throwing to him," coach Bill Cowher said. "It will work out pretty well."
Cowher finally broke his silence about Holmes' May 27 arrest on a disorderly conduct charge in Miami Beach when he refused a police officer's order to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk.
"If you look at the details, certainly there were a lot of people over the Memorial Day weekend who were arrested," Cowher said. "Whatever he did wrong, I don't think he handled it properly."
Holmes, Cowher said, has to understand that now that he's in the NFL, he will draw more attention and must avoid certain situations.
"I think he'll learn from it. He'll learn to understand the scrutiny he's under. We have not talked face-to-face about it, but I don't have any long-term concerns. I think he's still a very solid individual, and I'm not going to hold that incident against him even though we will talk about it."
Holmes is expected to compete for the starting split end job with Cedrick Wilson, who signed with the Steelers as a free agent last year. That job came open when Antwaan Randle El joined the Washington Redskins this year as a free agent. The last time the Steelers drafted a wide receiver in the first round, in 2000, Cowher installed Plaxico Burress as the starting split end from day one of training camp, temporarily bumping Hines Ward from his starting job.
PLAYER NOTES
-- Coach Bill Cowher, who played himself in a brief role in the 1998 Adam Sandler film "The Waterboy," said he has been offered various commercials since the Super Bowl but "no movies."
"I'm still living off The Waterboy. I'm still getting residual checks. That's a heck of a deal ... a heck of a movie."
-- Cowher believes Baltimore strengthened itself by trading for quarterback Steve McNair.
"He's a good quarterback and Baltimore's a good football team. Kyle Boller was playing really well there the last year or so. He is just another weapon.
"We're in a tough division. We didn't even win it last year. All the teams have done a great job in the offseason. Cleveland and Cincinnati didn't really lose anybody. Baltimore did a good job. The division itself has been upgraded. It was a tough division before ... It's just going to be that much more of a challenge this year."
-- Instant Ringplay? Cowher had to send his Super Bowl ring back after receiving it last week because it did not fit on his right ring finger, gnarled somewhat from his days as a special teams player in the NFL.
"This is one of those fingers that got caught in a few facemasks," Cowher said. "And so it's not the straightest of fingers."
-- Steelers merchandise led the NFL in sales for the fiscal year that ended March 31. It's the first time they finished No. 1 since they last won a Super Bowl after the 1979 season. The Philadelphia Eagles, No. 1 the previous year, finished second, only the third time since sales figures were first kept in 1979 that two teams from the same state finished 1-2. The rest of the top 10: 3. Oakland Raiders, 4. Dallas Cowboys, 5. New England Patriots, 6. Green Bay Packers, 7. Indianapolis Colts, 8. Chicago Bears, 9. New York Giants, 10. Denver Broncos. No sales figures were made available.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
MEDICAL WATCH: Bill Cowher said he expects all of his players to be healthy and ready to participate fully in training camp when they report July 28. That includes linebacker Joey Porter, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee May 24. "We may monitor him some, as with some of the other guys that we'll monitor, but he should not be inhibited in any way."
FRANCHISE PLAYER: None.
TRANSITION PLAYER: None.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS
--RB Willie Parker came out of nowhere as an undrafted second-year player to rush for 1,202 yards, the most by a Steelers player in five seasons. He's their starter but unlikely to receive a long-term deal until possibly next year.
DRAFT CHOICES SIGNED
--OT Willie Colon (4th): $1,333,500/3 yrs, $283,500 SB.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED
--QB Charlie Batch: UFA; $4.2M/3 yrs, $800,000SB.
--OT Barrett Brooks: UFA; terms unknown.
--LB Arnold Harrison: ERFA; terms unknown.
--LB James Harrison: ERFA; $5.5M/4 yrs, $1.375M SB.
--RB Verron Haynes: UFA; $1.75M/2 yrs, $315,000 SB.
--DE Brett Keisel: UFA; $13.1M/4 yrs, $3.29M SB.
--LB Clint Kriewaldt: UFA; 3 yrs, terms unknown.
--S Mike Logan: FA, had been released by Steelers; terms unknown.
--WR Lee Mays: UFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--WR Sean Morey: RFA; $721,600/1 yr.
--WR Quincy Morgan: UFA; $625,000/1 yr, $40,000 SB.
--DE Shaun Nua: ERFA; $350,000/1 yr.
--CB Ike Taylor: RFA; $1.573M/1 yr).
--CB Deshea Townsend: UFA; $7.76M/4 yrs, $2.29M SB.
--TE Jerame Tuman: UFA; $4.25M/3 yrs, $900,000 SB.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED
--DE Rodney Bailey: UFA Seahawks; $625,000/1 yr, $40,000 SB).
--S Ryan Clark: UFA Redskins; $7M/4 yrs, $1.7M SB.
PLAYERS LOST
--RB Jerome Bettis (retired).
--S Chris Hope: UFA Titans; $32M/6 yrs, $5M SB.
--QB Tommy Maddox (released).
--WR Antwaan Randle El: UFA Redskins; $31M/7 yrs, $5M SB.
--DE Kimo von Oelhoffen: UFA Jets; $9.2M/3 yrs, $3.2M SB.
--CB Willie Williams (released).
MEDICAL WATCH: No update.
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