PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is a busy man at training camp, even more so this year as the NFL rushes to get ready after a lockout.
He doesn't have time for socializing.
So his breakfast visit Saturday with receiver Plaxico Burress was strictly business. If the Steelers didn't have a genuine interest in signing Burress, they wouldn't have wasted their time - or his.
It's easy to look at the Steelers and say receiver is one area where they don't need help.
But that's not necessarily the case. Hines Ward is another year older and his body is breaking down for football, if not for competitive dancing.
Ward seemed to make it through last season, but that hasn't always been the case.
Mike Wallace is a viable deep threat. Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, rookies last season, showed steady progress.
That doesn't mean, however, that the Steelers couldn't benefit from adding a receiver with Super Bowl experience.
Burress is the tall receiver quarterback Ben Roethlisberger craved.
Other teams were interested in Burress, who signed with the New York Jets Sunday. After spending the last couple of years in prison, Burress probably needed to make as much money as he could in a hurry.
The Steelers may not have been in position to sign him, but there was no denying the interest.
Sneaking in
The way things are at Steelers camp now, players can enter the dorm without going through the gauntlet of TV cameras.
How can they deny loyal fans those shots of oversized men dragging their belongings into a building?
Nobody respects tradition any more.
Final exam
The Steelers had Flozell Adams take the conditioning run test when he reported to camp, then released him the next day.
That's just cruel. If you're going to cut a 36-year-old, 338-pound man with chronically bad knees, don't make him run before you show him the door.
Budding industry
Some estimates say Ben Roethlisberger's wedding cost more than $400,000.
If Terry Bradshaw had done all of his weddings on that scale, what a boost it would have been to the local economy.
Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com
