Why not Mexico?

Good morning,

Some stuff after a long Memorial Day weekend:

--- Steelers President Art Rooney II said last week that the NFL should play games in Germany and Mexico. The NFL used to play an annual preseason game in Mexico – the Steelers played the Colts in Mexico City in 2000. They played a regular season game there in 2005 between Arizona and San Francisco and then stopped, even though that game drew the largest crowd in league history to that point, 103,467.

Here’s the reason they stopped playing in Mexico: The NFL deemed it too dangerous. They never said that, but Jerome Bettis told me that his parents missed only two of his games – home or away – during his 13-year Hall of Fame NFL career. Their preseason game in Tokyo in 1996 (they made it to Ireland for the game in 1997) and the 2000 game in Mexico City. Bettis told me the reason his parents did not attend the 2000 preseason game was the players were told it was best to keep their families at home because of the danger in Mexico City.

It’s a shame for the Steelers in one sense because they are wildly popular in Mexico and a number of fans make annual trips to Pittsburgh in groups for a game at Heinz Field.

--- Those who may be concerned that the Steelers would give up a home game to play in Mexico or Germany after Rooney’s remarks should know that the team’s lease requires it to play 10 games at Heinz Field each season, two in the preseason, eight in the regular season. It is a convenient way for them to not give up a home game to play in London or anywhere else in the future.

--- Ray Fittipaldo writes about the opening of spring practices today and he notes that no contact is permitted via the CBA. But there is contact, plenty of it. You cannot run practices that feature 11 players on offense going against 11 on defense and not have contact. There are 90 players on the roster and there is room for only 53, which means many of them are fighting for jobs, for careers. They will be going all out to try to secure a position on the team.

--- Here is a story on West Point grad and war vet Alejandro Villanueva, one of those players who is trying to make the team as an offensive tackle, from a different perspective, that of the National Catholic Register:

--- Chat today, 1:30.

--- One Ask Ed question this morning (send them to ebouchette@post-gazette.com )

--- YOU: I have a question on the new rule. Let’s say a team decided to kick the PAT from the 15 yard line (33 yard kick). But they got a 5 yard penalty, which means they would have to re-kick from the 20 yard line (38 yard kick). That drops the success rate. So now if the team wants to go for a 2-point conversion instead, do they go to 7 yard line or 2 yard line?

ED: Let me say first of all I think the rule is stupid, a gimmick and I don’t think it will last long. If they want to gimmick up the extra point, they should have taken my suggestion from awhile back: Put a moving windmill in front of the goalpost and make the kicker time it right to put it through, just as you do on your local miniature golf or putt-putt course. I’m not going to waste my time trying to find the exact language of the new rule, I am just going to assume that once you choose to kick, you must kick.