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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Cardinals sign Faneca

From the AP in a move that should surprise, well, no one:

The Arizona Cardinals have agreed to terms with free-agent left guard Alan Faneca on a one-year contract, three days after he was cut by the New York Jets.
The team did not release financial terms Tuesday.
The 33-year-old Faneca played the last two seasons for the Jets and has 128 consecutive starts over the past eight years.
Faneca spent his first 10 NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted him in the first round out of Louisiana State in 1998.
Faneca rejoins Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm, both former Steelers assistants. Grimm was Faneca’s position coach from 2001-06 and he earned his first Pro Bowl selection in 2001.

29 comments:

noel said...

Ooh, shocking.

As much as I always enjoyed Faneca's style with the Steelers he clearly wasn't the same lineman last year. He may have still punched guys in the mouth on running plays but he looked as lost as Kemo in protection at times. Given QB the situation in Arizona he doesn't seem to be a good fit.

Oh well, sucks to be them. I like the way our line is shaping up. I think they'll be better than many anticipate.

rocket9 said...

They don't call 'em PittsburghWest for nothing!

He's not remotely the player we remember but he can still play. Good for him.

SteelRose said...

Does anybody know when the Rooneys will announce Pounceys jersey number? The teams site has the updated 91 player roster complete with assigned jersey numbers- EXCEPT McFaddens and Pounceys. Now, we all know B-Mac is offering Keenan Lewis some cash for his old #20, but where the hell is Pounceys number!?!?! And whats taking the Rooneys so long with giving him the number he deserves... 63. Give him 63. Cowher tried to give 88 to Burress, he turned it down like an arrogant ass, only to shot himself. Mouncey IS an athletic, pulling CENTER, our FRANCHISE center- give him 63 NOW!!! What the hell are we waiting for!!!

steelrose said...

Pouncey, Pouncey- Im so jacked I cant type! 63 give him #63!!!

Anonymous said...

this has nothing to do steelers mr. racist lolley

Collin Williams said...

Who cares it's Dales's Blog. How was he just racist?

Anonymous said...

Collin's a stalker because he wrote a minute after me

Dale Lolley said...

That's rich. I'm a racist?
Your post has nothing do to do English mr. idiot anonymous.

Patrick said...

don't feed the trolls Dale. Just delete their bs.

Anonymous said...

i, personally, hope dixon emerges as the starter for the beginning of the season. his scrambling ability can be quite beneficial at times.

i know arians hates the wildcat, but do you think there could be some wrinkles thrown in with dixon under center?

Unknown said...

im hoping dixon really shows he can play so maybe after the season, someone will offer us a draft pick in the 2-3 round like they did for charlie whitehurst.

Anonymous said...

Faneca is a baby. He stole a bunch of money from the Jets, now he gets to go home to Daddy Grimm so they can cry together about how mean the Steelers were to them.

keevin said...

I think you are the baby anonymous ^^^

Faneca was a great player for us and helped us win the Super Bowl. Steelers didnt try to re-sign him and he left.

Kyle said...

actually they did try to resign him. they just tried to resign him for what he was worth and not what he Felt he was worth. then he acted very unprofessionally and after the season left.

Unknown said...

I remember when I first heard Alan Faneca was going to the Cardinals. The first thing that popped into my mind was, "Dale Lolley's a racist."

As for Faneca's departure here, I think his "unprofessionalism" is WAY overblown. The Steelers weren't willing to gamble that he could play at a high level for 5 more years, and he was. And so were the Jets. I don't blame him for accepting the obscene amount of money New York offered him any more than I blame Antwaan Randel El for going to the Redskins. I love loyalty to one's team, but we are talking about an enormous difference in money. I think 95% of players would have made the same decision.

And even though it was known he wasn't coming back, he still played as hard as he could while he was here. He didn't tear the team apart. He was voted Captain. He wasn't a locker room cancer. A lot of the fans stopped liking him, but he didn't do one thing detrimental to the team.

That's my take on it. Would you share your take with us, Dale?

Dale Lolley said...

I will never trash a player for taking more money to go somewhere else. It's part of the business. Do the owners hesitate to cut a player when they feel that player can no longer help them or isn't worth the money he's due to make?
Whether you like it or not, at the end of the day, pro sports is a business.
NFL careers are very short and those guys put their bodies in jeopardy every time they step onto the field. They should make as much as they can.

Anonymous said...

maybe i'm wrong, but i thought after he left some of the o-lineman suggested faneca made things hard on the new coaches and it was difficult at times in practices.

Patrick said...

Faneca always seemed like the typical jock with an attitude to me. But whatever, he was a hell of a player. I didn't personally care for his personality, but who cares - he certaintly never put the team in any situations like they are in now.

Anonymous said...

Dale,

Any news on Lamarr Woodley's contract extension? You mentioned the other day that they were done signing veterans, how does the lack of a Bargaining agreement affect his status? I would hate to see him go to another team, I believe he is a great fit for the Steelers.

Anonymous said...

No doubt Faneca was a great player, but that doesn't change the fact that the tantrum he threw before the 2007 season was downright infantile.

Dale Lolley said...

When I said they were done signing veterans, I meant outside veterans.

As for Faneca's "tantrum," I was there and it was hardly a tantrum. He was asked a question and responded honestly.
That was the thing about Alan, he almost always answered questions honestly and thoughtfully.

Anonymous said...

Boo hoo, how dare the Steelers force Faneca to honor the contract he signed which made him the NFL's highest paid guard at the time? Where's the appreciation? How will he feed his family?

Pistol said...

Congrats to Big Red!!! Glad to see one of the best Stillers of all time keep it going!

Dale Lolley said...

He did honor his contract. He wanted an extension. He didn't want to leave Pittsburgh. At that point, his only bargaining tool was to not show up at mini-camp or hold out of training camp.
He skipped one day of mini-camp. Big deal.

Unknown said...

i think its funny how people have such a double standard for the steelers or sports in general.

if at your work (if you work) there was an opening and it got filled by someone from the outside when you thought it should have been filled from within, are you upset? how is what happened with your steelers any different than what happens everyday in the real world?

i believe the steelers made the right call with tomlin. can i blame alan for being upset his guy didnt get the job? no. can i blame him for getting his payday? no. do you know anyone who moved away for more money? i do.

Unknown said...

here. read this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5149692

Pistol said...

Dale,

Does Tomlin really have that much say in the war room where everyone can want one player and he can trump it Cowher style??

Dale Lolley said...

I don't know if it's trumping power, but he has a lot of say.

Pistol said...

Dale,

Well it does make sense to me if he can because ultimately if the guy stinks its his arse.