The Steelers added yet another free agent recently, and he goes by the name of Justin Hartwig. The deal is for two years and $3,725,000, with a $975,000 signing bonus. This comes just one year after signing Sean Mahan to fill the void left by the retirement of Jeff Hartings. Unfortunately, Mahan was never confused with Mike Webster, so Kevin Colbert went shopping once again.
Like Mahan, Hartwig can play either center or guard. They will both compete for the starting center job, but Ed Bouchette said that Mahan likely will become the swing man as a backup at guard and center.
The 6'4", 312-pound Hartwig signed a five-year, $17 million contract with Carolina in 2006. And since that didn't seem to pan out, he recently became available on the open market. He was originally chosen by the Titans in the 6th round of the 2002 draft, becoming the starter in 2003 and starting every game for the Panthers over the next three seasons.
While this is a step in the right direction from the standpoint of admitting a mistake in the personnel department (definitely not a trait of one William Laird Cowher), the jury seems to still be out on Hartwig. J.J. Cooper of AOL's Steeler Fanhouse recently broke down some video of Hartwig from a few games last year, and he wasn't exactly blown away by what he saw. Will he be better than Mahan? I couldn't answer that, but I'm sure of one thing: there's no way he could be worse.
Scouting Justin Hartwig [Steelers Fanhouse/AOL]
3 comments:
Hopefully he won't be a slimeball like so many of the current players, (i.e., Cedrick Wilson & James Harrison).
How about a story that doesn't glorify the Pittsburgh Steelers?
It's ridiculous that just because a man wears black and gold in our city that he can hide behind the Steel Curtain. Men like James Harrison and Cedrick Wilson disgust me. Even worse is the Pittsburgh media for not uncovering the truth about what slimeballs these guys really are, (i.e., Wilson's alleged drug addiction, having sex with Lindsey Paulat's sister - which is what sources say set her off the day she snapped, etc.).
Don't wanna piss off the Rooneys now, do we?
Looks like a potential criminal to me!
This guy probably will be a slightly better turnstile that Sean Mahan.
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