View topic - Wow...Smith Levels Ward

[No l Gravity l Profile]

from steelcityinsider:

"With the first game of the 2008 preseason looming, there were very few players standing around on the sidelines Wednesday afternoon as the Pittsburgh Steelers practiced here at Saint Vincent College.

Everybody wants to be back on the field in time to play in the opener, but head coach Mike Tomlin ruled out safety Anthony Smith and tight end Cody Boyd.

Boyd, who has a shoulder injury, practiced in all of the non-contact drills, while Smith, who returned Wednesday for the first time in more than a week, jumped right back in where he left off – being a knucklehead.

Only this time, Smith wasn’t decking Willie Reid unnecessarily as he did on the opening day of training camp before suffering a groin injury. No, this time Smith leveled Hines Ward during a seven-on-seven drill.

As Ward lay on the ground, one of the coaches – I’m not sure who – yelled at Smith, “Are you out of your God damn mind?”

Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau went to Smith as Ward finally got up, put his arm around the safety and tried to explain for what seems to be the 20th time why that stuff just can’t happen. But Smith apparently just doesn’t get it – and maybe he never will"

[darthsteel Profile]

They should get rid of this idiot already.
smith should work on not being burnt toast on every deep ball instead of blindsiding defenseless recievers on his own team in training camp!


Thank the lord ryan clark is back!

[No l Gravity l Profile]

They should get rid of this idiot already.
smith should work on not being burnt toast on every deep ball instead of blindsiding defenseless recievers on his own team in training camp!


Thank the lord ryan clark is back!

Couldn't disagree more. He is a good backup to Clark. I'm also not 100% sold that Clark can return and play as well as he did after his health problems.

Smith would be a terror on special teams . He won't have to worry about pass coverage just run down and viciously hit guys not on our team

[The Fan Of STEEL Profile]

I'm glad Ward did not get hurt, but I love Smiths attitude. I hope he can learn to control this and use it to his and the Steelers advantage.

[fadden Profile]

if clark goes down again, i think i'd rather have smith playing strong and polamalu dropped back to free. smith can try to hurt people all he wants at strong, and polo has the speed to cover for his inevitable mental errors.

but yeah, uncoachable. he's even said "coaches can't tell me what to do". i have to doubt he said that during interviews.

[thesteelhammer Profile]

They should get rid of this idiot already.
smith should work on not being burnt toast on every deep ball instead of blindsiding defenseless recievers on his own team in training camp!


Thank the lord ryan clark is back!

Couldn't disagree more. He is a good backup to Clark. I'm also not 100% sold that Clark can return and play as well as he did after his health problems.

Smith would be a terror on special teams . He won't have to worry about pass coverage just run down and viciously hit guys not on our team

Problem with smith on special teams is he doesn't take a hit as well as he gives one.

[thesteelhammer Profile]

Same Story from a FREE source (for those of you getting ripped off by the so called "insiders")

http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2008/08/06/sports/steelers/doc489a729a8eebe318864730.txt

Not even Ward safe from safety's cheap shots

Published: Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:01 AM EDT
Mike Bires
Times Sports Staff

LATROBE — After missing over a week of training camp with a groin pull, Anthony Smith returned to practice Wednesday afternoon and committed one of pro football’s cardinal sins.

In a seven-on-seven passing drill, Smith drilled wide receiver Hines Ward as he caught a pass over the middle.

But Smith, a third-year free safety known for his ability to deliver bone-crunching hits, went too far this time. It’s taboo for a player to nail a teammate _ especially a veteran — during camp as Ward could have been seriously hurt.

“Are you out of your mind?” yelled one assistant coach.

After Smith buried his shoulder into Ward’s chest area, Ward flopped to the ground. For a few seconds, it looked as if he were hurt. For a brief moment, Ward laid face-first on the turf before getting up.

Immediately after practice, Smith headed to the locker room and evaded the media.

After signing autographs, Ward agreed to meet with reporters but wouldn’t say much about Smith’s hit.

“I’m not going to comment on it,” said Ward, an 11th-year pro who is the Steelers’ all-time leading receiver. “There’s really not much to say. He hit me. You know what happened. You guys saw it. So, there’s nothing really for me to say.”

Coach Mike Tomlin didn’t address the media after Wednesday’s practice because he held a press briefing earlier in the day regarding Friday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I’m surprised about it,” Ward said of Smith’s controversial hit. “I normally don’t get hit like that during preseason, at least not until the preseason games. But I’m not going to sit here and harp about it. I’m going to move on.”

Ward did say that he plans to talk to Smith about the incident.

[No l Gravity l Profile]

Same Story from a FREE source (for those of you getting ripped off by the so called "insiders")

Ha I get my insider news free from a guy in another forum. Besides we got our own insider here vrabenic .