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Labriola on grades, draft as theater, 1974 May 07, 2021 at 06:53 AM Ready or not, here it comes: • Finally, mock draft season is over, but the bad news accompaniment to that good news is it's now grading the draft season. Mock drafts may be pointless, but putting a grade on a team's draft 15 minutes after it's over adds a layer of meaningless to the pointlessness. • What makes these somewhat humorous is the same people who do the mock drafts then come back with their grades, and it always seems as though teams get good grades if they end up doing what the ...

Let's get to it: GRAHAM ANDERSON FROM PLYMOUTH, UK: Could you please remind us of the story where the Steelers forfeited a draft pick because Mr. Dan Rooney had made an agreement with a player that turned out to be against the rules? ANSWER: The player's name was Will Wolford, and the Steelers signed him as an unrestricted free agent during the 1996 offseason. Wolford had been a left tackle during his career with Buffalo and then Indianapolis, but the Steelers told him they were signing him to play guard, which meant a lesser rate. Dan Rooney told Wolford that if the team needed him to play l...

Let's get to it: EDITOR'S NOTE: In what has become an annual occurrence, I again provide what I hope serves as a cautionary tale for fans who have spent the last couple of days consuming the grades/critiques written in the immediate aftermath of the 2021 NFL Draft. In 1974, the NFL Draft was a two-day event, with the first five rounds being picked on the first day with the final 12 rounds picked the following day. What the Steelers accomplished on those two days in 1974 deserves to be recognized as the greatest accumulation of talent in professional sports history. Four of the team's firs...

Let's get to it: SCOTT SHILEY FROM BRICK, NJ: I really like what I have seen so far from cornerback James Pierre, even though it is a limited body of work. In your estimation, what do you believe is the best possible scenario for him this season if he were to have his absolute best preseason? Would you see him filling a role similar to Mike Hilton's, or do you think he has a chance to challenge for a starting cornerback role? ANSWER: Not to get ahead of ourselves, but James Pierre has to start by earning a spot on the 53-man roster. I don't disagree that Pierre earned a spot last season and...

Let's get to it: FREDRICK JOSEPH FROM FOREST, PA: Back in the 1960s my brothers and I were just growing up in Pennsylvania. Our family didn't have much, and we boys had to work for my Dad's home business to make ends meet. We even worked on Sundays. We seldom got to watch a game on TV. We did have a radio and would listen to the games while working in the garage. The announcers had a way of broadcasting the game that made it seem like we were there in the stands. The Steelers won very few games each season, but we were always hopeful of a miracle from Dick Hoak, Gary Ballman, or Roy Jeffers...