Round One: PAHN-cey

A look at the draft…

First Round Selection: Maurkice Pouncey (a name Pittsburghers will over-pronounce for years to come), Center/Guard, Florida.

PAHN-cey, as we will dawn him, was an overachiever at Florida. His attitude on and off the field played a role in that. Considering our woes of late, a good kid in the first round who is also a versatile lineman, was a solid choice. There was better talent out there, but the front office decided to turn back to the early days of the Old Man, when our last first round center was drafted in 1937.

Mike Basrak was Duquesne University’s first All-American, MVP of the ’37 Orange Bowl (in which the Dukes beat Miss. St. 13-12), and the 5th overall pick that year in the draft. He eventually became an officer in the US Navy, and then coached high school football in Skokie, IL for 19 years, throughout the 50s, 60s, and early part of the 70s. Pouncey was never the MVP of any game for the Gators, linemen don’t receive such high acclaim as they once did perhaps, but let’s take a look at the run down.

First of all we know that he got more action from Tim Tebow than any girl on campus—Tim’s girlie hands sliding down his big prison back side…lucky guy. And now he gets to be violated by—Ben Roethlisberger! Really can’t wait for that relationship to blossom though. Jokes aside, Maurkice is the man…

He started 39 games at Florida, despite leaving after his junior season. He won the Rimington Award, which is given to the nation’s top center; the only Gator to ever win the prestigious trophy. Last year Pouncey led all SEC linemen with a 91.57% blocking grade, at which time he threw 119 “key blocks” that led to 20 TD’s. But his two most outstanding feats, as I believe, were his penalty free football (ZERO penalties in 919 snaps!), and what I love most about him= he did not allow a single QB sack or pressure in any of the team’s 14 games.

As a freshman he played in 13 games, and started 11 of those games at guard. He subsequently became only the seventh true freshman to ever start a season opener for the Florida Gators. And at Lakeland H.S. (high school football dominatrix in Florida), he and his twin brother (who will leave UF next year for the draft…nudge nudge), led the school to it’s 45th consecutive victory, 3rd consecutive Florida 5A state championship, and back-to-back USA Today National Champion honors. All they did was anchor a line that allowed for over 4,000 rushing yards…and they both graduated with honors.

“He’s a guy that we viewed as an interior capable offensive lineman with position flexibility,” (ok Johnny Cochran) said Tomlin at a draft press-conference. “Right guard first, then we’ll see what else he can do…it made it a fun and easy evaluation to watch him play against guys like Shaun Cody and [Dan] Williams from Tennessee…he communicated to other lineman, and his QB, about certain things like safety rotation; things you almost can’t coach.” Kevin Colbert added, “Florida talked very highly about his intelligence and ability to communicate...he was able to relay info to (Steelers’ first year) OL coach [Sean] Kugler…and we were all very impressed at the way he was able to sit down and nail out what all 22 guys on the field should be and would be doing.”

Mansfield, Webby, big Double-D, Hartings…PAHN-cey. He’s a proven leader on the field, and exactly what the Pittsburgh Steelers needed with their first round pick. Stay tuned for 2nd round analysis on Va. Tech’s OLB Jason Worilds…the next Greg Lloyd (sans the “gun in his 14 year-old son’s throat for a bad report card” type of incidents we hope)??? Quite possibly.
Remember this draft Pittsburgh…this could be the one that leads us, once again, back to greatness…

ZEUS