Chucking Chukky

It's official... Chukky Okobi, the heir apparent to the most stable position in (possibly) the whole professional sports arena -- starting center for the Pittsburgh Steelers -- is going to have to take his multi-million dollar contract elsewhere.

Time ran out on the 2001 5th round selection out of Purdue. Drafted to fill-in behind the recently acquired (and now retired) Jeff Hartings until he could assume the starting role, Okobi was a perennial also-ran who could never impress the coaching staff enough to win the position.

Sean Mahan, the off-season free agent signing from the Tampa Bay Bucs, now assumes the mantle passed from ol' Ray Mansfield, to Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, and then Hartings. Ironically, Mahan was also a fifth-round draft choice, but that was two years after Okobi's draft year.

While none of the Steelers linemen played particularly well in the preseason, Mahan showed a steadiness the new coaching staff likes as we enter the '07 season.