Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network is reporting that the Steelers will not bring back receiver Hines Ward for the 2012 season.

“He has one year left on his deal worth $4 million,” said La Canfora. “According to my sources, he won’t be back there. So that’s $4 million off the books.”

Kind of cold there, huh, Jason? The man has given a lot to that franchise so I’m sure true Pittsburgh fans aren’t looking at him as just “$4 million off the books.”

Ward, 35, has won two Super Bowls as a member of the Steelers and three Pittsburgh MVP awards (2002, 2003, 2005). He’s also appeared in four Pro Bowls (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) and was the Super Bowl XL MVP.

The former Georgia Bulldog has totaled exactly 1,000 receptions for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns over his dazzling career after being selected in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He’s only played for one team since ’98.

Assuming he doesn’t retire, Ward may get looks as a No. 3 on a receiver-needy team. But considering he doesn’t play special teams, he isn’t likely to return to Pittsburgh – even on a restructured deal. It would be weird to see Ward in anything but black and yellow but stranger things have happened.

After all, Jerry Rice was once a Seattle Seahawk.

Hines Ward expressed his frustrations to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette about not having more opportunities to make plays on the Steelers’ final drive against the Packers in Super Bowl XLV. But as usual, he was professional about it.

Ward thought they’d do it right until the end, when they had a first-down on their 13 and two minutes to go. However, without criticizing anyone, he was not happy he did not get much of an opportunity on that drive. Heath Miller caught the first pass for 15 yards. Ward caught the next for 5 yards — which wasted about 30 seconds because Antwaan Randle El acknowledged he lined up on the wrong side. The next three passes all were aimed at Mike Wallace but never connected.

“I’m thinking deja vu, here we go again,” said Ward, who caught seven passes for 78 yards and one touchdown in the game. “Two minutes, let’s go down there. I really felt like I was in a zone, that anything that came my way it was going to get caught no matter what. I didn’t get an opportunity. I would like to have gotten opportunities [on the final series] but it didn’t happen.”

Spoken like a true competitor. Ward has been around long enough to know that criticizing coaches or teammates gets you nowhere fast. If you’re a winner, you want the ball in your hands in crunch time and there’s no doubt Ward is a winner. I’m sure Mike Tomlin appreciates that his veteran receiver wanted more chances to make plays in the clutch and expressed his frustrations without throwing anyone under the bus.

On a related topic, Ward will have two surgeries this week, one on his left knee and the other on his left thumb. As of right now, the Steelers expect him to be back in uniform next year if there’s a season.

I thought the Jets were being rather quiet this week. Turns out they were just waiting for Sunday to talk a little trash.

The Jets’ defensive backs are well aware of Hines Ward’s reputation of throwing blindside blocks and will apparently look to deliver a message to him early.

From ESPN.com:

“We’re going to deal with him early so he knows what type of game it’s going to be, and that none of that stuff is being tolerated,” Jets safety James Ihedigbo said.

Like a tone-setting hit?

“Hell yeah,” the safety said.

Safety Eric Smith hesitated to say what would happen if Ward serves up any cheap shots on Sunday. Why? Because Smith is worried such words might incur a fine from the league.

“If I finish what I said and then do what I planned on doing, I’m going to get fined,” Smith said.

Cromartie said that he doesn’t really care if Ward hits opponents with blindside blocks — as long as he can hit back.

“I really don’t care. You smash him in the mouth, he’s going to smash back, whatever,” Cromartie said. “Does he do it while you’re not looking? Yeah, he does. But who doesn’t?”

The Jets corner allowed that Ward’s hits “can be” dirty. When such hits occur, Cromartie suggests that players “grab [him] by the throat and choke [him].”

Only the Jets could make a conference championship game even more interesting than it already is.

The NFL has become a pass-first league, and with that, wide receivers and tight ends have become more important than ever—not just in west coast style offenses but in all offensive systems. Here we take a look at the current active leaders in receiving yards. Being that most of the guys on this list are nearing the twilight of their respective careers, you shouldn’t use this as part of your fantasy football research. Instead, just read and enjoy…..

1. Isaac Bruce, free agent (15,208)—He doesn’t have the flash or the mouth that some of these other guys have, but it didn’t hurt that Bruce played on those great Kurt Warner/Mike Martz Rams’ teams about a decade ago. And he still has skills, so someone is bound to sign the guy.

2. Terrell Owens, free agent (14,951)—This guy DOES have the mouth but the skills to back it up. I’m kind of surprised he is team-less right now, but that should also change soon.

3. Randy Moss, New England Patriots (14,465)—That season he and Tom Brady put together in 2007 was absolutely ridiculous (1423 yards, NFL record 23 TD catches). And Moss is only 32!

4. Torry Holt, New England Patriots (13,382)—Sure, he’s getting up there in age and fell off a lot numbers-wise in Jacksonville, but he’s still got something left. It should be especially interesting to see Holt and Moss playing in the same offense.

5. Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Falcons (11,807)—Arguably the greatest tight end to ever play the game. Gonzo has four seasons with over 1000 yards, almost unheard of for a TE.

6. Muhsin Muhammad, Carolina Panthers (11,438)—Like Bruce and Holt, Muhsin Muhammad has quietly put up numbers for years, and his 2004 season for the Panthers remains his best (1405 yards, 16 scores).

7. Derrick Mason, Baltimore Ravens (11,089)—All Derrick Mason has ever done in his career with Tennessee and Baltimore is get open. He’s topped 1000 yards three straight seasons on the run-first Ravens, and is the epitome of toughness and durability despite being just 5-10, 190.

8. Hines Ward, Pittsburgh Steelers (10,947)—He’s consistently one of the game’s Top ten receivers, but how will he fare with Big Ben out for a few games to start the 2010 season?

9. Joey Galloway, Washington Redskins (10,777)—Galloway resurrected his fine career with Tampa from 2005 to 2007, and is really in the twilight of his career after struggling in Tampa and New England the last two seasons, respectively. Now he’s trying to latch on with the new-look Redskins.

10. Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati Bengals (9952)—One of the game’s most animated players is also one of its best receivers year in and year out. And it’s always good to be able to back up the talk.

Source: Pro Football Reference

Photo from fOTOGLIF

I just watched Hines Ward on the NBC pregame show and was pretty shocked to hear him discuss the Ben Roethlisberger situation. Roethlisberger won’t play against the Ravens tonight due to a concussion that he suffered last week, leaving the Steelers with third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon, who will make his first NFL start.

Hines was surprisingly candid, as he acknowledged that the Steeler locker room was basically split as to whether Roethlisberger should play. He never came out and clearly said he supported the decision to have Big Ben sit, and Bob Costas tried his best to get Ward to acknowledge that head injuries like concussions should be treated differently.

In his defense, Ward was trying to explain the mentality of players who want to be on the field if they can walk. Frankly, it’s that mentality that necessitates a new policy on concussions, particularly in college and high school where this has become a real problem.

Entering the 2008 NFL season, the Steelers offensive line was supposed to be the one thing that would hold Pittsburgh back from being a Super Bowl contender.

But towards the end of the year the line gelled and while it still had issues run-blocking, the five starters became a cohesive unit and that became one of the big reasons the Steelers won their second title in four years.

Coming into this season, the offensive line wasn’t viewed as a strength, but it certainly wasn’t a weakness after the unit came together last year. Also, with former first round pick Rashard Mendenhall coming back, he would help keep Willie Parker fresh and the pair would form a nice 1-2 punch in Pittsburgh’s backfield.

But after watching the Steelers struggle once again to run the football in their 13-10 overtime win over the Titans on Thursday night, it appears that Pittsburgh still has issues moving the ball on the ground.

The Steelers’ running game ranked 23rd last year and Pittsburgh did nothing on Thursday night to quiet the concern that it will be more efficient in that area this season. Tennessee’s run defense is good (even without Albert Haynesworth commanding double-teams from his DT position), but Pittsburgh managed just 36 yards on the ground for a paltry 1.6 YPC-average. That’s brutal – I don’t care if they were playing against a concrete wall on every play.

The Steelers running game was non-existent and even when they would break off a decent run, one of the linemen would get a penalty to kill the play. And when the Steelers needed to pick up a huge third down inside Tennessee’s 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Mewelde Moore found zero running room and was shut down for no gain.

The Steelers wound up winning the Super Bowl last year without a running game, but that was an aberration. Teams usually have to run the ball to have success and while Pittsburgh’s passing game looked great at times again on Thursday night, one would think that their lack of a running game will eventually cost them.

The Steelers used to run the ball at will – now they rely on the pass to get them out of jams. How long can they keep winning that way, great defense or not?

Quick-Hitters:

- Even great veterans make mistakes from time to time. Hines Ward knows better – he never saw Michael Griffin and he’s lucky his fumble didn’t wind up costing the Steelers a win. (Although his hit on the Tennessee DB in overtime was nasty.)

- The Steelers’ defense did a great job of not giving in during the second half without safety Troy Polamalu, who hurt his knee in the second quarter and didn’t return. Hopefully Polamalu’s injury isn’t serious – fans deserve to see that guy play every week. (How amazing was his one-handed interception in the first quarter?)

The moment every TSR reader has been waiting for is finally here: It’s time for me to hand out my Super Bowl pick.

I know, I know – you guys have been dying for this blog to come out since the Super Bowl XLIII matchup was set, but I wanted to take my time. I decided to go back and re-watch every single Arizona Cardinal and Pittsburgh Steeler game from this season in order to figure out each teams’ tendencies and therefore make the ultimate prediction.

But when I turned on my DVR to begin re-watching all the games I saw I had a couple of “Reno 911” episodes saved and I got lost in all the hilarity. (That Jim Dangle is one funny S.O.B.)

Needless to say, I didn’t re-watch one game, didn’t find one tendency and therefore my “ultimate prediction” is just going to be a flat out guess. Either way…

This is how I see Sunday’s big game playing out. The game will be tight for almost the entire first quarter, with both defenses playing well earlier on. The Steelers will strike first with a touchdown, then add a field goal to go up 10-0 midway through the second quarter. But thanks to the “don’t prevent the score” defense that every team seems to use right before halftime, Pittsburgh gives up a score right before Bruce Springsteen starts warming up, which in turn gives the Cardinals hope.

Your halftime score: an uneventful 10-7 Pittsburgh lead.

But the second half is where the action starts to heat up. All of a sudden the Steelers begin drumming up pressure and Kurt Warner has zero time to throw. Pittsburgh’s front seven starts suffocating Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower, all the while moving the pocket back so Warner can’t step up and deliver passes in a timely manner.

This leads to multiple sacks for the Steelers, which they turn into great field position. The Arizona defense, which in the first half had played damn near perfect football, starts to cave. Willie Parker starts finding open running lanes, which opens up the passing game for Ben Roethlisberger, who converts several third down conversions that essentially takes the life out of the Cards’ defense. Pittsburgh strikes twice for touchdowns in the third quarter, taking a 24-7 lead into the fourth.

Early in the fourth, Arizona offensive coordinator Todd Haley takes advantage of an overly aggressive Pittsburgh front seven and the Cardinals start attacking the edges and seams of the Steeler defense. All of a sudden, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breatson start to make plays in the open field and Warner gets into a rhythm. The Cards reach paydirt on a 1-yard James touchdown run and with still 11 minutes to play in the game, ‘Zona is still very much alive at 24-14.

Thanks to the offensive resurgence, the Cardinal defense forces a three and out and with the Pittsburgh defense still tired, Warner hits Fitzgerald on a reverse, pitch-back bomb to get the score within a field goal at 24-21 with seven minutes left to play.

But that’s as close as the Cards get to victory. Thanks to Parker, the Steelers drive into Arizona territory, eating up most of the clock. Big Ben then finds Heath Miller in the back of the end zone on a broken 3rd and 7 play to put Arizona away.

Super Bowl XLIII Final: Steelers 31, Cardinals 21.

Not that it matters because everything I just wrote will happen exactly as I laid it out, but feel free to post your score prediction for the game. Remember, only the people who don’t post a prediction are wrong…and those who predict the losing team to win.

- Despite the best efforts of Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin to keep the story under raps, Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger apparently underwent an x-ray on his ribs on Wednesday. Big Ben suffered the injury in the AFC Championship Game, but there is no indication that he’ll miss the Super Bowl. (Rotoworld.com)

- Hines Ward returned to full practice on Thursday and is on track to start Sunday against the Cardinals. (FanHouse.com)

- Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Steelers’ defense won’t let Kurt Warner enjoy a fairy-tale ending to his 2008 season. (Los Angeles Times)

- Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News wrote an excellent piece featuring the top two safeties in this year’s Super Bowl: Adrian Wilson of the Cardinals and Troy Polamalu of the Steelers. (Dallas Morning News)

- Need picks for the Super Bowl? Head to our partners at Sports Gaming Edge.com for daily picks & previews from some of the best handicappers in the business. They’ll give you top picks throughout the year.