Let's get to it:
CRIS HUST FROM ENDICOTT, NY: What jerseys will the Steelers wear for their playoff game in Buffalo today?
ANSWER: The Steelers will wear their road uniform – white jerseys and gold pants.
JOHN PASEK FROM PITTSBURGH, PA: I was surprised to hear Damontae Kazee was coming back after being suspended for the season. Does this mean that he could have received stiffer punishment from the league to include potential playoff games, or is the end date for suspensions for "on the field" reasons always the last day of the regular season? In addition, is an offender like Kazee on a shorter leash with the officials the rest of the way?
ANSWER: There is no automatic end date for a suspension levied by the NFL. The end date either can be defined by the league – as it was in the Damontae Kazee case – or the suspension could be categorized as indefinite. In Kazee's case, the original suspension was for the entirety of 2023, including any playoffs, and later reduced on appeal to end at the conclusion of the regular season. I believe Kazee will be watched closely by the on-site officials as well as the league office during all Steelers playoff games.
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NICHOLAS MOSES FROM SIMI VALLEY, CA: Will the Steelers have Damontae Kazee for the game against the Bills today?
ANSWER: On Wednesday, the Steelers restored Damontae Kazee to their 53-man roster, and created a spot for him by putting Trenton Thompson on the injured reserve list.
JON BAKER FROM THOUSAND OAKS, CA: I've asked this question a couple of times but you haven't answered it yet. So, I'll ask again now. Do the players earn more money if they play into the postseason and if so, how is that calculated?
ANSWER: I've answered this question a couple of times, but you haven't been paying attention apparently, and so I'll answer it again now. This is from a story posted on NFL.com dated Feb. 28, 2023: "POSTSEASON PAY: In 2023, NFL players will be paid for postseason games in the following amounts: Players on teams to win their division will earn $50,500 for their wild-card game, while players on non-division winners or teams on a bye (No. 1 seeds) will earn $45,500 for the initial round. Players will earn $50,500 for a Divisional Round game and $73,000 for the Conference Championship. The Super Bowl winners will earn $164,000 each, and the losers will take home $89,000. Players on the active list, inactive list or injured reserve list are paid this amount for the 2023 postseason (other players are subject to all or partial playoff compensation). These amounts increase annually over the course of the CBA. PRO BOWL PAY: Players on the team that wins the Pro Bowl Games will receive $84,000 for participation. Players on the losing team will receive $42,000 this season. These amounts increase annually over the course of the new CBA."
RON WILLIAMS FROM ASTORIA, OR: When Jeff Reed became the Steelers placekicker, didn't Coach Bill Cowher have a tryout at Heinz field to determine who he thought was the best kicker? Who else was invited to the tryout?
ANSWER: In mid-November 2002, the Steelers held a tryout at Heinz Field for a placekicker to replace Todd Peterson, who had converted 12-of-21 field goal attempts (57.1 percent) that season in what would be his only year in Pittsburgh. At the time of the tryout, Peterson was the most inaccurate kicker in the NFL and subsequently would be placed on injured reserve with a broken rib. Attending the mid-week tryout for the Steelers were Kevin Colbert, Bill Cowher, and special teams coach Kevin Spencer, and the candidates were NFL veteran Michael Husted, former Maryland kicker Joe O'Donnell, Danny Boyd, who was in the Jets' training camp last summer, and Jeff Reed. Husted was the only one with NFL experience. To that point in his career, Reed was coming off being cut by the Saints during training camp; during his two college seasons at North Carolina, he made 28-of-36 on field goals (77.8 percent) and 66-of-67 on extra points but never kicked a field goal longer than 49 yards. Peterson had replaced Kris Brown, who struggled badly in the Steelers' first season in Heinz Field (2001) by missing a league-high 14 attempts, with 10 of those misses coming during home games. But Peterson was worse. He had missed 4-of-6 attempts in the two games immediately preceding the tryout, one of the games being a 34-34 overtime tie vs. Atlanta. Reed would have a 9-year career with the Steelers, during which he converted 204-of-249 field goal attempts (81.3 percent), plus another 16-of-18 (88.9 percent) in the playoffs. Reed's only misses in the postseason came in 2002.
ANAND SHUKLA FROM SAN DIEGO, CA: In the Super Bowl era, how often have the Steelers made the playoffs after being outscored during the regular season? If it has happened, how did the Steelers perform during those seasons?
ANSWER: During the Super Bowl era, two Steelers teams qualified for the playoffs after being out-scored over the course of that regular season. In 1989, the Steelers were outscored, 326-265, in finishing 9-7 in the AFC Central Division. In the Wild Card Round, the Steelers won in overtime against the Oilers in the Astrodome, and then lost in the Divisional Round in Denver to the Broncos. In 2021, the Steelers were outscored, 398-343, in finishing 9-7-1 in the AFC North Division. In the Wild Card Round, the Steelers lost in Kansas City.
BILLY OPET FROM MANAHAWKIN, NJ: While reading a previous Asked and Answered, I was curious about how a team's coaches and staff members are paid. Do coaches and staff members receive game checks during the season, similar to the players, or are they given more of a standard salary?
ANSWER: In the NFL, the most common practice is that only players are paid via the game check formula, as laid out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Other employees are paid year round.
JOHN WOLF FROM PLEASANT VIEW, CO: Who has input in the selection of an offensive coordinator?
ANSWER: With the Steelers, the two primary people in the process of identifying and hiring an offensive coordinator are the head coach and the team president.
DAVID OROCHENA FROM POTOMAC, MD: I had assumed that Dick LeBeau was already in the Steelers Hall of Honor due to his well-deserved induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But a fellow Steelers fan pointed out that he is not included in the list of Steelers in the Hall of Honor. I was shocked, but I assume that it was because he played for the Lions and this is not automatically included. Is this the case?
ANSWER: Dick LeBeau was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010, and he was inducted as a player. LeBeau's playing career included 14 seasons and 62 interceptions, all with the Detroit Lions. The only coaches enshrined in the Hall of Honor are Bill Cowher, Walt Kiesling, and Chuck Noll. All of them were head coaches, and all are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
CHRIS LIPPART FROM ST. ROBERTS, MO: Correct me if I'm wrong, but when we beat Buffalo today, our next game will be in Baltimore. We've done it before, but three times in one season is a little scary.
ANSWER: You are not wrong. When it comes to the history of the Steelers-Ravens series, the Steelers defeated the Ravens three times in 2008, with the final time being in the AFC Championship Game; in 2014, the Steelers defeated the Ravens twice during the regular season but lost to Baltimore in the Wild Card Round. I don't know if you would agree with this, but in 1994, the Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns twice in the regular season, and then for a third time in the Divisional Round. I mention that because two seasons later that team/franchise had moved to Baltimore and was competing as the Ravens.
CHRISTOPHER GIBSON FROM MANALAPAN, MJ: Help me understand the ruling on Godwin Igwebuike's kickoff "return" vs. the Ravens. Is it that because he went out of bounds (albeit on purpose) and then touched the ball, it made the ball out of bounds (and therefore an illegal kick) even though the ball was still in bounds? What an unbelievably intelligent play by Igwebuike (as opposed to Gunner Olszewski's sideline "save" on the kickoff during the first Cleveland game). Kudos to him and the coaching staff to be prepared for something I have never seen before.
ANSWER: Your explanation of your understanding of that rule is correct. And here's is Coach Mike Tomlin's reaction to it: "He did it, and I'm thankful that he did it. But those are procedural things that we work all the time. We would've probably been hacked off had he not done it, to be quite honest with you. Probably you get more attention when you don't do it. Gunner (Olszewski) was in one of those circumstances earlier in the season, and we were probably hacked off that he didn't. It's just procedural things that you go through in terms of preparedness that's professional, and I credit him for being professional."
JOE LaMOLINARE FROM DALLAS, GA: I heard a rumor that Lynn Swann would not give his Hall of Fame induction speech until John Stallworth was elected to the Hall of Fame. Was there ever any truth to this?
ANSWER: I have issued many warnings about giving credence to rumors, and you now may consider yourself warned as well. If you go to YouTube.com, and search "Lynn Swann HOF speech," you will be able to watch him delivering his acceptance speech in its entirety. That happened in 2001. John Stallworth would give his acceptance speech the following summer as a member of the Class of 2002.
KEVIN PRATTE FROM BLOSSVALE, NY: What is the injury situation with Keanu Neal? I remember he went on IR with a rib injury numerous weeks ago but why hasn't he returned yet? Is he still injured or is he not eligible for some reason?
ANSWER: Keanu Neal was placed on the injured reserve list on Nov. 18, and since he has missed 8 games he fulfills the requirement to be brought off injured reserve. Because he has remained on IR through a period where the team sustained a rash of injuries at safety, I would believe he is not physically capable of returning to play.
GLEN WHITTEN FROM AGUADILLA, PUERTO RICO: Since teams have to pay players for the playoffs, how does that money affect the salary cap, if at all?
ANSWER: Players are paid their playoff shares from a pool distributed by the NFL, and that money does not count on a team's salary cap. Those amounts are detailed in a previous answer in this installment.
