Mozes hopes to replace Hartings
INDIANAPOLIS – Jeff Hartings has retired and doesn’t Mrs. Mozes know it. She’s the mother of former West Virginia University and Washington High center Dan Mozes, who’d hoped at one time that the Pitt Panthers would recruit him and is now hoping that the Pittsburgh Steelers do a better job.
And they might, if they listen to his parents.
“They talk non-stop about it,” said Mozes. “But whatever happens, happens. The Steelers always have a special place in my heart.”
The Steelers have two back-up centers, and another candidate for the opening in guard Kendall Simmons, but nothing’s been determined since Hartings retired late last month. If the Steelers want Mozes, they’re expected to get many chances to draft him, because Mozes, this year’s unanimous winner of the Rimington Award for best collegiate center, is considered a late-round prospect. He believes a poor showing at the Senior Bowl contributed to his low stock.
“At the Senior Bowl I got a dose of reality,” he said. “Not everything is zone blocking. You’ve got to learn different things. … It’s time to learn more things.”
It’s also time to get bigger. WVU line coach Ken Trickett demanded that Mozes weigh no more than 295 pounds. At the Senior Bowl, Mozes weighed 300 pounds and said he’s “going to try harder to put more on.” But yesterday he weighed in at 293 pounds and hopes to impress scouts with his agility and intelligence in drills and tests this weekend.
“I’m representing for the little people,” he said. “Coming out of high school not many people recruited me, and probably going into the NFL not many people will take a look at me because of my size. But I found one home in West Virginia. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that in the NFL.”
PACMAN PICKS A WINNER: WVU’s Adam “Pacman” Jones, now with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, is in legal trouble for allegedly assaulting a stripper and threatening a bouncer Sunday in Las Vegas. It led to a melee that resulted in a triple shooting which left one man paralyzed.
According to the Nashville City Paper, Jones has retained the services of law firm Garland, Samuel and Loeb, P.C., which represented Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis when he was charged in a double murder. Lewis, of course, pled to a lesser charge of obstruction of justice
TOMLIN KICKS IT OFF: New Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was the first man at the podium Thursday. He was followed throughout the day by offensive linemen, tight ends and punters. It was the first press conference for Tomlin with national reporters, who, of course, wanted to know how Ben Roethlisberger will get back on track.
“He’s got to be blue-collar in his approach,” Tomlin said. “He’s got to roll up his sleeves and come to work every day and be willing to do the drudgery that’s required to be great, and I know he’ll be capable of doing that.”
And what about Tomlin’s defensive scheme?
“We’re going to use all the tools at our disposal – 4-3, 3-4, 3-3, you name it.”
ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Some media scouting sites list Andy Alleman of Akron as one of the top offensive guards in the country. A key to his development, he said, was transferring from Pitt in the fall of 2004.
“It was more of a positional move, a business-move type of thing,” said Alleman. “I approached Walt Harris in the spring of ’04 and expressed to him, along with Charles Spencer, that we both, kind of as a package, wanted to move (to offense). He allowed (Spencer) to move to tackle. He decided it would be in the best interest of the team for me to stay on the defensive side of the ball.”
Alleman, along with quarterback Luke Getsy, then transferred to Akron.
“I originally got the idea of moving to guard from my high school coach out of Massillon,” Alleman said. “I bought into the idea and trusted in my ability even though I never played (guard). I believed that since I had the athletic ability, why not take a shot? And here I am.”