The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Levi

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Levi Brown, former Nittany Lion second team All-America offensive tackle, is coming back to Pennsylvania. The former Arizona Cardinal has been traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are desperately in need of protection for Big Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers offensive line flat-out sucks this year, suffering a major blow when All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey was lost for the season due to a Game One injury. Both the running and passing games have tanked because of the O-line’s ineptitude.

Behind a porous offensive line, Big Ben has been a juicy target for opposing pass rushers.

Brown brings with him an expiring contract with $3.6 million due to him; however, the Steelers are only $1.9 million under the NFL salary cap. Some creative restructuring will be necessary.

Levi has been with the Cardinals for seven years, but according to head coach Bruce Arians, he has underperformed. That he has fallen out of favor in Arizona is obvious, as the Steelers had to give up only a conditional late-round draft pick. That means the Cards were anxious to dump the big contract and move on. That puts Brown one step from the NFL bone yard.

I think a better move would have been to trade Todd Haley for Bruce Arians. Just sayin’.

Morelli Cut by Cardinals

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Saturday was cut-down day in the NFL, and unfortunately, this Turkey must report that fleeting Arizona Cardinal quarterback Anthony Morelli inevitably succumbed to the final roster pare-down to 53 players. The former Penn State bust has probably seen the last of the NFL, but ya nevah know! For those of you who would like to follow Morelli’s descent into obscurity, visit his web site. Sadly, he still lists himself as a Cardinal.

Just in case you want one more taste of what we lost when Morelli graduated, view the pre-season play that might have cemented his ultimate fate in (or out of) the NFL. Here is a video of what might be Morelli’s final overthrown 89-yard pick-six, the Denver Broncos being the beneficiaries. He might have been able to save the TD (and possibly his ass) if he could have managed to tackle the defensive back who intercepted his errant pass, but nooooooooooooooo…

Battle of the Third-Stringers

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Morelli alert!

Former PSU quarterback Anthony Morelli is waging the fight of his life for the Arizona Cardinals #3 quarterback position.

Matt Leinart is listed as first on the depth chart, and Kurt Warner is second. Those two might switch places several times during the pre-season and into the regular season. Although they are battling for the starting slot, hey both have guaranteed jobs. Not so #3. That’s where the real battle is.

The two contenders for third-string quarterback are Brian St. ??? ???? ????? Pierre and Penn State’s own Anthony Morelli. St. Pierre, whom you Nittany Lions fans might remember as one of the fine quarterbacks produced by Boston College, has been a career third-stringer in his six year NFL career, mostly with the Steelers, but including a brief stint with the Ravens. ????? ??? ???? He has been played very little, unless you count scout team service. As a Steeler, he played for Ken Whisenhunt, former Steelers offensive coordinator and current Cardinals head coach. The Cardinals signed him to a one-year contract this year. Some would say that this gives him the inside track.

I don’t know about that. After all, St. Pierre can hardly be described as an experienced NFL quarterback, and Whisenhunt did not regard him highly enough to give him any reps in Pittsburgh. Indeed, he was cut twice, and relegated to the scout team on another occasion. To Whisenhunt, Morelli is something new and strange. ???? ????? Very strange.

From the Arizona Republic, August 15:

“That’s been one of our strongest competitions in camp, as far as guys stepping up and getting better,” the coach said. “I can sit up here and say all the time that I think competition makes us a better team, but in that area, I’ve really seen it. I’ve seen dramatic improvement in all of those guys in terms of what we’re trying to get done.”

Morelli stepping up and getting better? What the hell took him so long? I wonder if his dad is telling Whisenhunt how to coach his son. As I saw no quote by Morelli, I’ll assume that Dad is still not allowing him to talk to the media.

Will I ever stop bashing Morelli? Or will Morelli prove that it was not his lack of talent, brains or football acumen, but rather the crappy quarterback coaching at Dear Old State that was to blame for his failure at PSU.