Steelers felt no earthquake
PITTSBURGH — It was just before 2 p.m. Tuesday when reporters in the media room at the Steelers’ practice facility stopped working as the building shook for several seconds.
Many reporters left the building to stand in the parking lot and twitter. Others went out back to watch the team practice, after which the players were polled and few, if any, had noticed the ground shaking during their practice.
Most of the conversations with the players went something like this one with Casey Hampton:
Q: Did you feel the earthquake out there?
CH: What earthquake?
Q: You didn’t feel it then. There was an earthquake.
CH: There was no damn earthquake.
Q: You’ll read about it.
CH: Who said there was an earthquake?
No one had to say it, of course. And as word moved through the locker room, the players sharpened their wit.
“That was an earthquake? I thought Casey was just doing some jumping jacks,” cracked Brett Keisel. “No, really, I didn’t feel a thing.”
Aaron Smith, a native of Colorado Springs, said he didn’t feel anything, “But I heard about it this morning,” he said.
No, Smith was told, it wasn’t the one that rocked Colorado. This one occurred in Virginia and the tremors reached Pittsburgh.
“You’re kidding,” said Smith, who was assured it was no joke.
“Well, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” he said.
Several other players said much of the same.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the earthquake registered a 5.8 on the Richter Scale with the epicenter located 83 miles southwest of Washington D.C.
TIMMONS JOINS PENTHOUSE
Lawrence Timmons was signed Tuesday to a $50 million contract extension through the 2016 season. Timmons will be given a reported $18 million in bonus money, which puts him in the economic strata of fellow linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. The three have received more than $56 million in bonuses from the Steelers since Harrison’s contract was extended in 2009.
“It actually happened pretty fast,” Timmons said of the negotiations. “Mike Tomlin said he really wanted to keep me here and I was his first draft pick. I’m just happy I’ll be here the next six years.”
Timmons had only three sacks last season, down from his career high of seven in 2009.
“I think I have double-digit sacks in me,” he said. “I’ve just got to finish my plays. If I do that, I think I’ll be a pretty good linebacker.”
QB’S BROKER FEE
After the signing of reserve guard/tackle Trai Essex to a one-year deal Tuesday, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took credit as “one of the middlemen to help get him back here.”
The Steelers’ need for a backup tackle was realized last Thursday night after Jonathan Scott went down with a minor injury. All that was behind Scott at the position were rookie Marcus Gilbert and unproven second-year man Chris Scott. The Steelers were also thin at guard.
“I’ve been saying it and knowing it for a long time,” Roethlisberger said. “I was one of the guys up in Mike (Tomlin)’s office about every day telling him, ‘Trust me. He’s lost weight. He looks good.'”
Essex said he was overweight “about a month, month and a half ago” before beginning to work at it. Essex said he’s since lost “a lot, a significant amount, a couple of newborn babies.”