By the end of the 2001 season, it appeared the Pittsburgh Steelers hit two colossal home runs in the Draft. With the 19th overall pick, the Steelers solidified the interior of their defensive line with the selection of huge nose tackle Casey Hampton out of Texas. In Round 2, the Steel Curtain made what appeared to be another steal: Georgia linebacker Kendrell Bell. Bell worked his way into the starting inside linebacker spot in the vaunted Pittsburgh 3-4 in his rookie season. Once he got there, he wreaked havoc as the second coming of Levon Kirkland. Bell notched 69 tackles and 9 sacks and walked away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.....and then he was never really heard from again. The "sophomore slump" hit Bell like a typhoon and injuries transformed the former Bulldog from the next Greg Lloyd to the next Ah-Ha. Bell limped around the Steel City for a couple more seasons, but eventually wound up in Kansas City where he became even more irrelevant. By 2007, injuries forced Bell into an early retirement and the memory of his great 2001 season had been washed away by the young linebackers who came after him(most notably, James Farrior).
The second offering in this week's poop du jour is former Packers safety Eugene Robinson. Robinson spent the first 11 years of his career with the Seattle Seahawks as an unheralded and undrafted defensive back out of legendary pro factory, Colgate. He made the Pro Bowl with Seattle twice(1992 and 1993). After the 1995 season, Robinson pulled a Lil Wayne and hitched himself to the Packers wagon just in time for Green Bay's Super Bowl run. Robinson earned his first Super Bowl ring after the Packers beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, after a season that saw him rack up 55 tackles and 8 interceptions. The next season, Robinson was equally clutch, picking off Steve Young in the NFC Championship in the Packers win over San Francisco. In the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year, Robinson would pick off John Elway in the end zone but the Packers would still lose to Elway's Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII. Unsatisfied with taste left in his mouth by Elway, Robinson signed with Atlanta the following season and was an integral part to their miracle run to the Super Bowl where the Falcons would face......wait for it.....Elway's Broncos. With the foul taste of defeat stuck in his mouth, Robinson thought he would pregame by leaving a foul taste in someone else's mouth. On the night before the Super Bowl(in which he would receive the Bart Starr Award for "high moral character" as well as earn his third trip to the Pro Bowl), Robinson got busted for offering an undercover female police officer 40 bucks to give him a pregame blowey. With the scandal of the previous night looming, Robinson took the field and strapped on the goat horns. He got burnt crispy on a 80 yard touchdown by Rod Smith and then missed a tackle on a long Terrell Davis run that set up a touchdown en route to a 34-19 beatdown at the hands of Denver. Robinson spent one more season in Atlanta before heading to Carolina, where he inevitably retired. For his career, Robinson finished with a respectable 1,415 tackles, 57 interceptions(good for 12th all-time) 22 fumble recoveries, seven and a half sacks and two touchdowns. Still, he'll forever be remembered as the guy who paid a hooker so he can be gettin' gettin' some head prior to the Super Bowl and, for that(to borrow Daniel Tosh's famous line), we thank him.
So, let's give a obligatory applause to two has-beens whose former teams will do battle tomorrow.....Kendrell Bell, and Eugene Robinson, folks!!!
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