St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania has been the home of Steelers training camp for 50 years now, and in that time championships have been forged and dreams have been realized.
- Sadly, the reverse is also true.
St. Vincent’s is also the place where NFL dreams come to an end. Sometimes it’s a question of a player deciding it’s time to hang it up, as Dwayne Woodruff did in 1991. Other times it becomes clear that a player simply can’t cut it anymore, as happened with David Little in 1993.
- And yet other times it’s simply the cruel hand of fate that brings the end in the form of injury.
The Steelers suffered what is to be believed as their first major training camp injury today when safety and special teamer Robert Golden went down. Robert Golden made the team as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2012. Golden actually got snaps as a rookie, a rarity in Dick LeBeau’s defense.
- Coaches were high on him going into 2013 and the whisper was that if he and Shamarko Thomas had shown enough, Ryan Clark could become expendable.
That never happened, and Golden’s role as a safety never materialized, but he turned himself into an outstanding special teamer.
Troy Polamalu’s retirement opened a spot on the depth chart, and while everyone has expected Shamarko Thomas to fill it, Robert Golden was getting reps with the secondary.
Ironically, with Shamarko and Michael Mitchell out, Golden was running with the first team, and per Dale Lolley’s report, he collided with Antonio Brown in a 2 minute drill, and Golden went down clutching his knee.
Golden is “still being evaluated” per Mike Tomlin’s report, but this is a tough break for a restricted free agent who was looking to get an opportunity to climb the ladder. Hopefully this is nothing serious, and Golden will be back on the field.
Eli Rogers Goes on the Waived/Injured List
It was only 10 days into training camp, yet Eli Rogers, the undrafted rookie free agent wide receiver out of Louisville was turning heads. Many reporters were already talking about Rogers as the “sleeper” at camp.
- While Roger’s road to a roster spot was long, many felt if the Steelers opted to keep six wide outs Rogers would have the best shot.
That chance will have to wait, as the Steelers placed Rogers on the waived/injured list. Roger’s loss would appear to be C.J. Goodwin’s gain, although the Steelers depth chart at wide out seems fairly set, with Brown, Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant have the top three spots locked up, with rookie Sammie Coates and veteran journeyman Darrius Heyward-Bey vying for the 4th and 5th slots.
To replace Eli Rogers the Steelers signed Kenzel Doe whom they are already using to return punts.
