Ed: Donahoe Still Working the Draft

Wednesday, 06 April 2011 12:09

Written by Ed Bouchette

Good morning,

   Talked to Tom Donahoe Tuesday. He’s been back in Pittsburgh for almost a year, moving from Buffalo, where he had been the Bills’ president and General Manager.

     Donahoe, who worked for 14 years for the Steelers rising from scout to their director of football operations, has graded about 200 college prospects on tape for the draft. He works part-time for ESPN as a researcher for them and on the radio once a week with Chris Mortenson. He’ll work with them at the draft in New York.

    Donahoe didn’t earn a Super Bowl ring during his time with the Steelers, which began in 1986 and lasted through the 1999 season. He provided them the talent to do so, however. Donahoe and Dick Haley teamed to draft the talent that fueled all those good Steelers teams of the 1990s. Haley left in 1991 for the Jets when the Steelers promoted Donahoe ahead of him as director of football operations. Before that, the two pretty much shared the duties with different titles after Donahoe joined the front office in 1987.

       It was Donahoe who discovered Bill Cowher and their relationship worked well – for about two years. After that, their personalities clashed and it ultimately led to Dopnahoe's firing after the 1999 season.

      Two of the  players drafted under him are still key members of the Steelers – Aaron Smith and Dancing start Hines Ward. Another, Carnell Lake, just became their secondary coach.

       I’ll have more on Donahoe as we approach the draft and some of his thoughts on it.

    Some other stuff:

  --- Send me your mock drafts. Put your name on them and where you are from. I will look at them and post a few here. I will save them and if anyone gets it right, publicly congratulate them and send you a link to where you can buy a Post-Gazette t-shirt (that’s supposed to be a joke). Send, as you do with your questions, to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it but if you send it to my PG email I also will get it. Put that you are PG plus in subject line.

    --- YOU: Do the Rooney's every practive their law degrees outside of football?

ME: Dan Rooney does not have a law degree. He pursued accounting. His son Art II was general partner of his law firm for many years before he joined the Steelers full time. As far as I know, he no longer practices law.

--- You have read little about  college prospects visiting the Steelers facility this week because the team suddenly decided to try to keep the names secret. Some names still emerge thanks to agents mostly, but there won’t be that complete list everyone had the past several years.

 ---  YOU: In light of the Bonds trial recently I was wondering how the lockout effects NFL drug testing. I would think that given no CBA and the lockout that there is no mechanism for testing at the moment. If that’s the case doesn’t that open up the possibility for a lot of guys to juice up until there’s an agreement. Not to be overly cynical…

ME: As you guessed, there is no testing done right now, so some players can roll the dice and do all kinds of things, I suppose. However, if the judge that begins hearing the arguments for and against the lockout today issues an injunction against it, all those drug testing mechanisms kick back in. Plus, if you weren’t taking steroids before, what would a few months window now do for you? And just because there’s no testing today, does not mean you will be able to pass the tests next month if you have to.

   --- YOU: I enjoyed your recollection on the departure of Rod Woodson.  I thought another element of his departure was that the Steelers could see him making the move to safety, and Woodson was insistent that he was a corner (that may have been the salary difference in the positions).  As it was, he left and played a mediocre season at corner for the 49ers then did become a safety – a very good one - for several years.

ME: I don’t recall a position switch ever being an issue between Woodsn and the Steelers. His play at corner had dropped off because of injury and that is why they would no commit big money to him. They underestimated him. Dan Rooney has said there are two players he regrets leaving the Steelers, Franco Harrison and Woodson.