First call: a former Steeler retires; Does Ben Roethlisberger announce games before the snap?

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Monday’s “First Call” brings us news of a retired former Steeler. We take a look at the details of Ben Roethlisberger allegedly rocking the games ahead of the snap.

Pirates All-Star Adam Frazier is in pretty exclusive company. The former Bronx pirate launchers are finding a better pace.

And we had sassy temperaments in a Pirates minor league game.

Chickillo checks

A former Steeler hangs up his crampons. Anthony Chickillo announced via Instagram that he was retiring.

The free agent linebacker spent his first five seasons in Pittsburgh. He appeared in 11 games for the Broncos last year after a stint on the Saints’ practice squad. The 28-year-old has totaled 108 tackles and 8.5 sacks during his professional career.

In the sixth round, Chickillo was selected by the Steelers in the 2015 NFL Draft at the University of Miami. Chickillo was most often used as a substitute for both outside linebacker positions and was a regular on special teams.

Chickillo’s most productive season came in 2016 when he recorded 2.5 sacks and forced two fumbles, while also totaling 29 tackles (eight for loss). He added three bags in 2017.

What does “say it” tell us?

A TikTok user named @theoashnfl posted a video on Friday claiming that Ben Roethlisberger has “a clue” as to whether the Steelers are going to run or escape the shotgun.

The theory is that every time Roethlisberger’s left foot is lifted off his heel, the play is going to be a pass. And when he’s caught off guard, the game is going to be a race.

SteelersDepot.com picked up the story and did a full review of the entire season. They claim the tip holds water 95% of the time on shotgun plays and almost 90% on passes. Additionally, the website claims that when variance occurs and the tell fails, the games were often reaction sweeps, shovel passes, and screen games – that is, stuff not conventional.

When Mason Rudolph was studied he had similar advice on passing, but not so much on runs.

So how much of an impact does all of this have? Was that Roethlisberger footwork part of what Washington defensive players were talking about when they said “Baltimore exposed some things” in the Steelers’ last win when they started 11-0 in 2020?

I guess it is possible. But let’s be honest, the Steelers threw so much last year that the defense could have guessed “pass” every time – regardless of the lineup – and were right 64 percent of the time. Also, as Steelers Depot points out, the lifted foot often occurs close enough to the snap that they don’t give defenders time to notice it anyway.

This is probably something Roethlisberger should take note of, but I think it’s less about lifting the foot and more about how he stands in a stiffer, more upright posture in running games, when he knows he’s not going to throw.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from all of this is that we have yet another argument for the Steelers to incorporate more clichés – especially more tracks – from the center.

Add Adam to the list

Adam Frazier joins an elite list of pirates.

The second baseman enters the All-Star break with 115 hits. That’s good enough to lead Major League Baseball to the unofficial halfway point.

As AT&T SportsNet pointed out on Sunday’s show, Frazier is only the fifth hacker to lead MLB in heats at the break. And he’s the first since Matty Alou did so in 1969 with 146 hits.

The top three on the list were Paul Waner with 106 in 1937, Dick Groat in 1960 with 110 and Donn Clendenon with 107 in 1965.

When it comes to most breaks from a pirate’s hits, Frazier also ranks pretty high on this list.

Frazier and Bryan Reynolds represent the Pirates at the All-Star Game in Denver on Tuesday night.

Ex-Buccos back to back

Former hacker Gerrit Cole made a splash in baseball on Saturday night for his 129-pitch shutout.

And for telling manager Aaron Boone that he was not allowed to take him out of the game in the ninth inning.

The Yankees won the game 1-0 behind Cole’s 12 strikeouts.

Then, on Sunday, another former pirate, Jameson Taillon, mistook the mound for the Bronx Bombers. He pitched six innings against the Astros, giving up just two runs on two solo homers.

Despite a solid start, Taillon’s ERA is still 4.90. That said, the right-hander seems to find a groove.

Houston spoiled Taillon’s victory, however. The Astros recovered from 7-2 to win 8-7 on six runs in the ninth inning. Second baseman Jose Altuve hit a home run to win.

Oh, wait. So Altuve is okay with his shirt coming off now? Go figure it out.

Bradenton clear bench

Things got a little spicy between the Pirates’ Low-A team at Bradenton on Saturday. The Marauders were playing the Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia Phillies), and a bench cleanup incident occurred.

Marauders pitcher Jared Jones hit Threshers batsman Rixon Wingrove in the leg. At the start of the seventh round, Wingrove loaded the mound and the benches cleaned (attention, there is an expletive in the tweet which shows the video).

It seems that no punches were thrown. Jones stepped back from Wingrove to avoid the altercation. Wingrove is 6 feet 5 inches and 260 pounds. Jones is 6 foot 1, 180 pounds.

Pirates starter Steven Brault pitched a scoreless inning and two-thirds for the Marauders, throwing 39 shots and striking out three. He’s in rehab in Bradenton.

Wingrove and Jones were both kicked out. The game was suspended at 4-4 in the ninth inning due to lightning. A resumption date for the suspended match will be announced at a later date.

Tim Benz is an editor for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.



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