Tag Archives: Brian Cushing

Three Big Names Back From Suspension

Week 5 is upon us and that means those four game suspensions to start the season are finally over. Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes, and Brian Cushing are all eligible to play this week though Roethlisberger won’t play until next week because the Steelers have a bye this week. So how will the return of these impact players affect their teams?

It’s interesting to note that despite missing one of the best players, all three of these teams are 3-1.

Ben Roethlisberger

Pittsburgh’s star QB officially returned to team activities on Monday, and you know his teammates were glad to see him. The day before, the Baltimore Ravens showed why the Steelers can only go so far without their top guy on the field. Charlie Batch simply does not have the arm to make the key throws that Big Ben would normally make when the game is on the line.  While Pittsburgh fans may still hold resentment over their starting quarterback’s questionable off-field behavior, they have to be breathing easier knowing that it won’t be up to the defense to win games every Sunday.  With a bye this week, Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense will have that much more time to get in sync, and you know they’ll be ready to go week six versus the Browns.

Santonio Holmes

Prior to week two, Jets fans were in a panic over their team’s seemingly lackluster offense.  Four weeks without Santonio Holmes?!?!  How will we survive without his big-play capabilities?  Today, fans may still be clamoring for Holmes’ return, but probably not as passionately.  Since their week one loss to the Ravens, the Jets and their offense have looked strong, and that can largely be attributed to their running game.  Specifically, a fellow named LaDainian Tomlinson, who has exploded the last few weeks, proving to naysayers that he has more than enough left in the tank. But back to Santonio Holmes – the talented wideout will certainly make the Jets passing game much more dangerous.  He’s a legitimate down field threat that opposing head coaches  must account for.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the running game perform even better now with the presence of an extra threat to distract opposing defenses.

Brian Cushing

The Houston Texans’ star rookie linebacker shortened his 2010 season by testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.  In addition to the games lost, Brian Cushing’s reputation took a hit, leaving some to wonder how effective he would have been without the drugs.  Even still, its hard to ignore Cushing’s impact on the Texans defense last year.  In his rookie campaign, Cushing recorded 134 tackles, 87 of the solo variety.  And although Houston has gotten off to a fast start to their season,  defense has been a question mark.  Cushing’s return will definitely serve as a boost for a defense that hasn’t quite matched up to the offense’s high-flying, aggressive reputation.

Is Brian Cushing a Liar?

Much has been made about the Brian Cushing saga.

From his four game suspension for violating the league’s policy for performance-enhancing drugs to the AP revote on his rookie of the year award to his vehement denial, it has has been one of the dominating storylines of the offseason.

Now, one of the most prominent admitted users of performance-enhancing drugs in the NFL, Bill Romanowski, is speaking out about Cushing:

“Now, as far as Brian Cushing, here’s the deal: The only way you can get that substance that he took, hCG, in your body is to inject it, okay?” Romanowski said. “So let’s get that clear. So his sob story on TV was, I’m just going to say, was a total lie, okay? … Do you think when he was getting injected in his ass that he didn’t know what was going on? Well, bullcrap. Let’s get real. Be honest about it, Brian.

“I’m sorry you got caught but be honest about it. What that substance is is a substance from pregnant women’s urine and what it does is when you have taken a cycle of steroids it turns your system back on from being shut down. It is very, very common in bodybuilding. That is a bodybuilding supplement, or a bodybuilding drug, where when these bodybuilders go on massive doses of steroids for months at a time, they will take that drug to turn their normal system back on and get it working again.”

I have to agree on Romanowski on this one. He knows more about performance-enhancing drugs that most people, so I trust his opinion.

By denying he ever injecting hCG, he is only making the matter worse for himself.

He’s digging himself a deeper hole, and one that he might never be able to get out of.

If he just kept quiet and said he has to take responsibility for his actions then all of this would go away.

Instead, he’s adding fuel to fire. There’s no way to prove that the hCG was present in his body naturally, and saying that was the case only makes him sound arrogant.

Now this will situation will forever cloud the rest of his career.

Unless of course, he has a teary press conference where he admits to using performance-enhancing drugs. Then, he will be forgiven by the public and the media, who unsuccessfully tried to strip away his rookie of the year award.  Because America loves to forgive and give people a second chance.

We’ve seen it over and over again with athletes from Michael Vick and Mark McGwire.

What America doesn’t like is a whiny, arrogant, millionaire athlete and that’s what exactly what Brian Cushing is in the eyes of the public.

This act that Cushing is putting on is embarrassing not only for himself, but also for the league.

Texans Draft Review

Houston Texans
Picks: LB Brian Cushing, DE Connor Barwin, G Antoine Caldwell, CB Glover Quin, TE Anthony Hill, TE James Casey, DB Brice McCain, DB Troy Nolan

The Texans finished 2008 with the same record as they had in 2007, 8-8.  The Texans have yet to make the playoffs in their 7 year history and hope to make their first playoff appearance with the help of this draft class.  Their first round pick was Brian Cushing, a linebacker out of USC.  Cushing fills a huge need at strong side linebacker and should start immediately.  Cushing is a good pass rasher from the linebacker position and can also stop the run but needs to work on his coverage.  In the second round the Texans took defensive end Connor Barwin.  Barwin only played end for one year in college after switching from tight end as a senior but did lead the Big East in sacks as a senior.  Barwin will give the Texans a good pass rusher off the bench and playing opposite Mario Williams should only help him.  Antoine Caldwell is a versatile offensive lineman that can play both guard and center.  He could start this season or at least be a top backup at both positions.  Glover Quinn is a nice player that should provide depth to a secondary that needs some.  The selection of Anthony Hill will give the Texans a great blocking tight end behind starter Owen Daniels.  Their next pick James Casey is an intriguing one.  Casey played tight end, fullback, and running back in college and it will be interesting to see where the Texans play him.  The Texans may not have gotten any starts but they got solid players who filled needs and will play a role on the team.
Grade: B+