Steelers' Draft: Colbert knows who to tap in draft
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Steelers Director of Player Personnel Kevin Colbert talks about the upcomming NFL draft at a press conference Monday afternoon at the team's South Side headquarters.
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Ten years ago, Kevin Colbert approached his first NFL draft with the Steelers and Bill Parcells wanted their first-round choice for the New York Jets.
It was Parcells, among the biggest names in the league, vs. the new guy in the new job with the eighth overall draft choice. Colbert was on the job only two months by the time of the draft, having replaced Tom Donahoe, who was dismissed as director of football operations after the 1999 season.
Parcells pushed and pushed, Bill Cowher remembers. And the Jets had ammo with four first-round draft choices available.
"I knew Parcells wanted him," Cowher said.
"Him" was Plaxico Burress, a 6-foot-5 1/2 wide receiver at Michigan State who looked like every quarterback's dream. In order to get him, Parcells was offering a quarterback. Even after the Steelers resisted the Jets' trade invitations before they drafted, Parcells suggested a trade later that day that would send his first draft pick, quarterback Chad Pennington, and other considerations.
Colbert and Cowher refused.
"The value was unbelievably disproportionate," Cowher said. "I was born at night but not last night."
The PG's preview lineup leading up to the start of the draft:
SATURDAY: What makes a great offensive lineman, a position where the Steelers rarely draft use an early pick, but a position of need for them going into the draft.
SUNDAY: Ed Bouchette takes a look at one of the most unique drafts in 75 years of drafts. Also: A breakdown of the top prospects.
MONDAY: A look back at the 2000 draft -- Kevin Colbert's first -- and how it impacted the team.
TUESDAY: Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert talk about the draft. • Join Ed Bouchette for a special NFL draft chat at 1:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: A look around the district at the fortunes of the top talent coming out of area colleges.
THURSDAY: Ed Bouchette offers his annual mock draft of the first round. Who will the Steelers take?
Burress and Pennington have had their moments, good and bad. Burress has been by far the better player, sometimes spectacularly so with the Steelers and Giants, where he caught the winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLI. But he now is lodged in a jail cell in the middle of a two-year sentence on weapons charges. Pennington never fulfilled his promise, partly because he has been injured so often. The Jets released him after the 2007 season and now he must fight for his starting job with the Miami Dolphins.
First Published April 19, 2010 12:00 am
