STEELER NEWS AND NOTES

--Justin Hartwig signed a four-year extension for $10 million, plus a $2.1 million bonus. Combined with the signings of Max Starks and Chris Kemoeatu, that's $56.3 million committed to the trio of o-linemen in the last six months. Yeah, it's yet another instance of those cheap Rooneys not spending any money again. [Ken Laird Blog]

--Nate Washington is so excited to face the Steelers that he can't sleep. He's been busy tipping the Titans to all sorts of things about his old team, which is a nice touch. But turnabout is fair play: the Steelers sign recent Tennessee castoff Tuff Harris to the practice squad. Take that, Jeff Fisher. [PG]

--Meanwhile, Skippy Reed turned down a contract offer from the team that his agent deemed "much too low", which means he will go into the season without a new deal. I can only wonder what is considered "much too low" for a kicker. [CBS Sportsline]

--Lawrence Timmons did not practice today, which means he's likely out for Thursday. Keyaron Fox, come on down! [PG]

--ESPN 1250 is having 10-plus hours of coverage on Thursday leading up to kickoff. They were going to have 12 hours of coverage, but someone suggested that might be too much for a regular season game. [ESPN 1250]

--The Steelers' 2008 highlight DVD, "Brothers and Champions" is now on sale at area McDonald's restaurants. The cost is $7.99 with the purchase of any extra value meal and proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House. [Reviewonline.com]

--You can guarantee that Anthony Smith was cut by the Green Bay Packers. But fear not, he's already been signed by the Rams. [Fanhouse; NBC Sports]

--Kendall Simmons has found a home with the New England Patriots, making him the first man to block for both Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady. [Patriots.com]

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STEELERS FREE AGENCY UPDATE

Catching up on this morning's moving and shaking...

--Chris Kemoeatu is re-signed: 5 years, $20 million. Apparently they matched an offer by the Jets, a team that loves to sign Steeler linemen. [PG]

--Looks like Nate Washington might go from the Super Bowl Champions to the 0-16 Detroit Lions. Why? Because Daunte Culpepper is clearly an upgrade over Big Ben, that's why. [MLive]

--The Lions are also taking a look at Bryant McFadden. Maybe they'll sign Mitch Berger, Mike Humpal, and Fernando Bryant too. [MLive]

--The freshly-cut Kendall Simmons is visiting with the Buffalo Bills. We'll miss the sacks of Ben while Simmons watches helplessly. [Blog & Gold, One for the Other Thumb]


--Gang Green is also close with Ravens LB Bart Scott, who once allegedly threatened to kill Hines Ward after a game. [ESPN]

--Kellen "the Soldier" Winslow is now a Tampa Bay Buc. Have fun with this, Raheem Morris: [ESPN]



--Former Steeler nemesis Fred Taylor joins New England, immediately hurting his wrist as he signed his contract. OK, I made that up. Or did I? [ESPN]

--And finally, Gisele officially took Tom Brady off the open market. [Deadspin]

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KENDALL SIMMONS NOW A FORMER STEELER

In the "minor surprise" category, the Steelers cut loose offensive lineman Kendall Simmons on Thursday after six seasons with the team. The 2002 first-rounder ruptured an achilles in the fourth game of the 2008 season and was placed on IR. They also cut linebacker Mike Humpal, a sixth-rounder in 2008 who found himself on IR during training camp last season.

On the plus side, the team has retained three restricted free agents: tackle Willie Colon, CB Anthony Madison, and TE Sean McHugh, as well as exclusive-rights free agents Carey Davis and offensive tackle Jeremy Parquet. The signing of Madison is probably another clue that the days of Bryant McFadden in a Steeler uniform are over.

Facing the start of free agency tomorrow, it looks like several Steelers could have new homes- and fast. OT Marvel Smith says he will be close to 100% after missing ample time due to a back injury. And Nate Washington could be taking his big-play ability and inconsistent hands to either Tampa, Nashville, or St. Louis. Who's Tampa's QB going to be next year, you ask? Oh, that's right, they don't even know. I know I'd rather catch passes from an unknown than Ben Roethlisberger.

As for incoming free agents, I wonder how Jeff Saturday's "I want to be a Steeler" proclamation will be received in Indianapolis, where he just re-signed for three more years. That was a fun rumor while it lasted for about 10 seconds. At least it was sincere.

A few other Steeler links:

--Friday will be declared "Myron Cope Day" in the City of Pittsburgh, and Luke Ravenstahl will appear with Stan, Guy, and Chris Mack on ESPN 1250 at 11:15 to talk about it. [ESPN 1250]

--Santonio Holmes waived his right to a preliminary hearing on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession on Thursday. [PG]

--Diving deeper into the events of Jeff Reed's infamous Sheetz evening... [Deadspin]

--Ed Bouchette gazes into his crystal ball for a Steeler free agent forecast. [PG]

Send your news, tips, and links to Mondesishouse@gmail.com.

Kendall Simmons, Pitt-Rutgers, Bill Simmons NLCS Diary, OJ Admits?

Nice knowing you, Kendall Simmons.

If you're a Pitt fan and you like SI.com's Stewart Mandel, you won't like him any more.

ESPN's Bill Simmons wrote a running diary of the NLCS Game 7 last night. Sure, make fun of the Perez-Suppan matchup. But one team, with plenty of foresight, had both of these big-game starters on their payroll.

OJ Simpson wrote a book in which he "hypothetically" admits to the double homicide. The title of the book? If I Did It.

Maxim Online has a list of "Hockey's Toughest Bastards". Be sure to catch #1.

Pitt Wins, Malkin Update, The Staal Bowl, Another Appendectomy, The Top Wrestler Actors and more

Pitt Wannstached their way to a 52-7 win over Central Florida on Friday night in front of whatever national TV audience wasn't watching the NLCS. Larod Stephens-Howling once again led the way, rolling up 135 yards on the ground to go along with three TDs. He's making fantasy college football players very happy these days. Tyler Palko continued his strong start by going 11-for-15 for 172 yards and 2 TDs in three quarters of work. He gave way to backup Bill Stull, who tossed his first career TD pass late in the game.

Next up for Pitt is now-#24 Rutgers, who should be 6-0 after presumably disposing of Navy today. I don't think this line has ever been said out loud in the history of mankind, but "it's a big matchup between Pitt and Rutgers".

Other newsworthy links this morn':

ESPN does a Power-Conference breakdown of college basketball, and look who's on top of the Big East! (ESPN.com)

Kendall Simmons found a creative way out of the lineup before he was benched: the old "fall asleep with the ice compress on the foot" trick. This rash of injuries has sure been disappointing. But don't worry, the Steelers will have Randy Moss and/or Jerry Porter by Monday, and then we can start looking at designs for new Super Bowl rings. (Post Gazette)

Don Banks is trying to make rhyme or reason of the NFL's unexpected stories for 2006. I'm trying to make rhyme or reason why Don Banks thinks 10-year backup Damon Huard is such an unbelievable quarterback. (SI.com)

Bengals QB Anthony Wright had an appendectomy. I guess the Bengals will be forced to start Carson Palmer for the near future. (ESPN.com)

Two of the 122 hockey-playing Staal brothers, Eric and Jordan, face off tonight in Pittsburgh. The hype has not quite reached Manning Bowl-levels. (Post Gazette)

Evgeni Malkin Update: Here's an update: don't let Sergei Gonchar dress you. The guy wears a shirt with freakin keyboards on it. As for his health, he may play as early as Wednesday, writes Dave Molinari. (Post Gazette)
Perfect Strangers II?

IGN offers their Top 10 Wrestler-to-Actor Transistions. Wait, wrestlers aren't actors? (IGN.com)