Let's get to it:
BRIAN WILSON FROM CYPRESS, CA: Please explain the process and rules of a player like Anthony Averett getting an invite to Rookie Minicamp.
ANSWER: Players who are eligible to participate in Rookie Minicamp typically are rookies or first-year players, and in addition each team is allowed to have 5 veteran NFL players who are not under contract to any team. In terms of the veterans who were invited by the Steelers on a tryout basis were placekicker Caleb Shudak, long-snapper Bradley Robinson, tight end Johnny Lampkin, running back Jonathan Ward, and cornerback Anthony Averett. Some of those guys played positions where the Steelers lacked numbers for the weekend's on-field sessions, but in the case of Ward and Averett it was a chance to look at a couple of guys with regular season NFL experience. Averett was intriguing because he appeared in 51 regular season games for the Baltimore Ravens, with 27 starts, and in 2021 he started 14 games and finished that season with 3 interceptions, 11 passes defensed, and 54 tackles. Since then he sustained some injuries that derailed his career, but he would've had to be cleared medically to participate last weekend. The Steelers evidently liked what they saw from Averett, because they signed him to the 90-man roster at the conclusion of Rookie Minicamp.
"All I know is they called, gave me an opportunity, and I couldn't wait to get out here," Averett said about the experience. "I didn't expect to be here in my seventh year, but life takes you different places. I feel like teams were scared to touch me a little, but not Pittsburgh. I'm healthy. I'm ready to go."
- Download and listen to the Ask & Answered Podcast here: Apple Podcast | Spotify
CHARLIE ARNT FROM FAIRVIEW, TX: Since Myles Jack and his mother purchased the local Allen Americans hockey team (ECHL) I have been fortunate enough to talk with them a couple of times. He can't say enough good things about playing for the Steelers. What do you think his chances are of being back with them this season?
ANSWER: Because the Steelers signed Patrick Queen during free agency, spent a Round 3b pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Payton Wilson, and have Elandon Roberts, Mark Robinson, and Cole Holcomb on their 90-man roster, my guess is that any possible reunion with Myles Jack only would happen in the case of a rash of injuries at the position.
HOLDEN AFERT FROM CINCINNATI, OH: My grandfather recently passed away. Before he did, he wanted me to have his Steelers jersey to wear on Sundays as he had done for many years. Other than the big names, I don't know much about the teams from the 1970s and 1980s. His jersey is a No. 39 Bobby Walden model. Pappaw used to laugh and say that in his playing career Walden had more yards than any other Steelers player. However, I can never see Walden referenced in any old games. I would love to know more about Walden. Do you have any insights?
ANSWER: First of all, Bobby Walden was a punter, and punters don't typically attract a lot of attention, nor are they featured in highlights packages of old games. Walden played his college football at the University of Georgia, and he entered the NFL in 1964 with the Minnesota Vikings. Walden, a punter throughout his NFL career, spent four seasons with the Vikings and then 10 seasons (1968-77) with the Steelers. In 138 games with the Steelers, Walden punted 716 times for 29,462 yards (41.1 average), with 62 touchbacks, 35 inside-the-20, and 5 blocked kicks. The most impressive statistics Walden accumulated during his time with the Steelers were the two Super Bowl rings he won. Walden also was one of the 5 players who sat in the room when Chuck Noll held his first team meeting after being hired in 1969 and then managed to stay with the team long enough to be in the Tulane Stadium locker room when Commissioner Pete Rozelle handed the Lombardi Trophy to Art Rooney Sr. after the Steelers' win Super Bowl IX. For the record, those 5 players who survived were Ray Mansfield, Sam Davis, Rocky Bleier, Andy Russell, and Walden.
DENNIS PRZYDZIAL FROM WINTER SPRINGS, FL: In last year's season opener in Acrisure Stadium against the 49ers, there was a noticeably large number of San Francisco fans in our stadium. Even the broadcasters brought this to the viewers' attention. How can this happen in our city?
ANSWER: It can happen in Pittsburgh and anywhere else via the secondary ticket market, and Steelers fans also have taken over stadiums in many other cities that are hosting their favorite team. If fans find they can make a big chunk of money by selling their tickets to visiting fans to a particular game, my experience is that they're going to take advantage of that.
JACK FOSTER FROM ROUNDUP, MT: You wrote the following in a previous Asked and Answered in regard to Najee Harris not having his fifth-year option exercised: "He still can be re-signed by the team that originally drafted him, but that has to happen after his fourth NFL season instead of after his fifth NFL season." Can Najee Harris get a new contract negotiated before this season starts, or does he have to wait until after this coming season is over?
ANSWER: The Steelers and Najee Harris could come to an agreement on a contract extension at any point between now and the time he becomes an unrestricted free agent, with the lone exception being during the 2024 regular season, and that's because the Steelers do not negotiate contracts during a season.
ROBIN SISAK FROM JACKSONVILLE, FL: Recently, you wrote that sometimes our questions don't get published because they were answered in an earlier addition of Asked and Answered. Is there a way to search all episodes of Asked and Answered? Or do I need to open each one and re-read them?
ANSWER: There is no all-encompassing search engine for Asked and Answered. My suggestion, and a self-serving suggestion it is, would be to make sure to never miss an installment by visiting Steelers.com daily.
MIKE ZEKIR FROM MARIANNA, PA: As the assistant general manager, did Andy Weidl have much say in who got drafted?
ANSWER: In his role as the Steelers' Assistant General Manager, Andy Weidl is very involved in the draft process. Weidl is someone who is a shrewd evaluator of talent and understands what it takes for a prospect to succeed in the NFL in general and with the Steelers in particular. Weidl is charged with setting up the Steelers draft board, which ranks all of the available prospects in a particular draft class, and President Art Rooney II, General Manager Omar Khan, and Coach Mike Tomlin reference the draft board in deciding on the team's pick(s) in each round.
DENNIS BONISESE FROM HELLERTOWN, PA: Why isn't Jimmy Allen mentioned when people talk about the 1974 NFL Draft. I realize he only played 4 years with the Steelers, but he was excellent on special teams, and correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Coach Chuck Noll pull Mel Blount in the 1974 AFC Championship Game and replace him with Jimmy Allen, who then had to cover Cliff Branch?
ANSWER: Jimmy Allen, a defensive back from UCLA, entered the NFL as the Steelers' second pick in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 1974 NFL Draft, and I do not disagree with you that he was a quality player. But here are some statistics that I believe answer your question about why Allen isn't usually mentioned when it comes time to praise the work Steelers did in the 1974 NFL Draft. In his 8 seasons, Allen played four with the Steelers and then four with the Detroit Lions. During those eight seasons he started 64 regular season games, 58 of those with Detroit; he finished his career with 31 interceptions, 24 of those with Detroit; and he recovered 6 fumbles, 4 of those with Detroit. In all of the defensive categories in which statistics were compiled in that era, Allen's production was far greater with the Lions than it was with the Steelers. And it wasn't Chuck Noll who pulled Mel Blount from the 1974 AFC Championship Game, it was defensive coordinator Bud Carson. Noll put Blount back into the starting lineup for Super Bowl IX.
STEPHEN WILLIAMS FROM COOPERSBURG, PA: I noticed that the Steelers only offered one player a contract after the conclusion of their Rookie Minicamp. What happens now to the players who weren't offered anything? Are they free agents now, or are they still bound to the Steelers through training camp?
ANSWER: All of the players who attended Rookie Minicamp on a tryout basis (i.e., they took part without a signed contract) and then left without a signed contract or a contract offer are unrestricted free agents. Which means they are free to sign with any team interested in having them.
RON WILLIAMS FROM ASTORIA, OR: After looking at the list of members of the Steelers Hall of Honor, I am surprised not to see John Mitchell on the list. As a longtime coach and an eventual assistant head coach, it would seem to me that he would be in the Hall of Honor. Has he ever been considered?
ANSWER: John Mitchell came to the Steelers from the Cleveland Browns in 1994 when he was hired by Bill Cowher to be the defensive line coach. Then when Mike Tomlin was hired to follow Cowher, Mitchell became the assistant head coach/defensive line. In 2018, he became the assistant head coach when Karl Dunbar was hired to coach the defensive line. Mitchell retired after the 2022 season, after 28 years with the Steelers and following nearly 50 years as a coach at the college and professional levels. Because Mitchell retired after the 2022 season, and since that season didn't end until Jan. 8, 2023, Mitchell has been out of football for 16 months. The standard waiting period for induction into the Hall of Honor is three years.
