Quote:
Originally Posted by TheVet
I gotta believe that he'll be in camp soon, tender signed, with negotiations ongoing. The strange thing about this situation is that it seems to be in the best interests of both parties for Wallace to report. For Wallace to achieve his goals, he needs to come to an agreement with the Steelers, or else have a great season this year. All the positive outcomes seem to require that he be in camp, learning this offense.
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This is where the absence of veteran leaders may show. In 2005, Bettis, with an assist from Cowher, was a broker in getting Ward in to camp so negotiations could resume
Jerome Bettis, I'm told, is a big reason that Hines Ward is back with the Steelers today.
Those lines of communications that were kept open? Bettis, with a helping hand from Bill Cowher. Bettis kept talking to Ward, urging him not to do anything drastic that would either hurt himself or the team.
As you may have seen the day after the AFC championship game in January, Ward has tremendous respect for Bettis. So, while many were ripping the Bus for what he told me in Sunday's story regarding Ward's contract holdout, it was Bettis who helped end it.
What happens now? Ward said all the right things last night, and I believe a contract will happen over the next two weeks. He'll have to give a little, but I think what he did yesterday will move the team off its previous stance and he will benefit by it.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...return-595915/
With Ward gone, Ben would be the most likely vet to persuade Wallace to get into camp to jump start negotaitions, but I have no clue if there is any bond between #7 and #17.