By Teresa
Varley
Steelers.com
PHOTO
ALBUM
The Steelers traded
in their cleats for bowling shoes on Tuesday as they opted for a day at the
lanes instead of hitting the field for another OTA
practice.
“It’s good to get a
chance to hang out in a different environment” said cornerback Deshea Townsend.
“It’s always a lot of fun to do something other than football together. It gives
you a chance to know the kind of people your teammates are.
“It’s also another
chance to compete and everybody’s true competitive nature comes out. When people
get to talking the competitive side comes out. You get to see a lot of different
personalities.”
When you get that
many competitive athletes out there pride is definitely on the line.
Rookie Dennis Dixon,
who enjoys bowling in his free time, had a strong showing. He bowled a 207 in
his second game after getting the kinks out.
“The first game isn’t
always good. I had to warm up,” said Dixon. “But I wanted to show I am a good
bowler and I am willing to compete against anybody. We compete all of the time.
It’s fun to get away from football and compete in something else for a while.”
Punter Dan
Sepulveda, who was disappointed with his poor showing when he went bowling last
year, has been getting in plenty of practice since then and had the best score
of the day bowling a 237 game.
“It started last year
when I was awful,” said Sepulveda. “My highest game last year at Unity Bowl was
117. I can’t do that. I can’t let myself do that. I knew I was better than that.
I practiced and came out and showed a little improvement.”
Sepulveda might have
had a slight advantage though.
“I had my own ball,”
said Sepulveda. “It’s something I do carry with me. I keep it in my car. I made
sure it was in my car this particular day.”
And of course, that
didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.
“He had his own shoes
on too,” said a smiling Townsend. “Everybody else was forced to play with the
things they had there. I don’t think it’s fair. His score is tops, but it’s like
Spygate with an asterisk next to it.”
