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C/LS Kyle Andrews (official thread)

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AJHawkfan

AJHawkfan

Wanna make $14 the hard way?
Kyle just signed a free agent contract with the Steelers and will be playing in NFL Europe this year.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=citadel-2_500505_68&prov=citadel&type=story


Steelers sign 19
SteelCityInsider.com - Scout.com
February 17, 2006 at 6:39pm ET

Not many, if any of these changes will factor into next year's roster, but some of the names are familiar.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers added 19 first and second-year free agents to their roster and allocated 12 of the players to play in the NFL Europe League.

The players added are: center Kyle Andrews, punter Mike Barr, offensive lineman Ulish Booker , quarterback Shane Boyd, offensive lineman Tim Brown , linebacker Matt Farrior, wide receiver Adam Herzing, running back Mike Jemison, tight end Erik Jensen, fullback John Kuhn , center Brandon Newton, linebacker Malcolm Postell , quarterback Rod Rutherford, linebacker Richard Seigler , linebacker Ronald Stanley , running back Fred Staton, offensive lineman Brandon Torrey, wide receiver Isaac West and wide receiver Walter Young .

All players except Booker, Brown, Jensen, Kuhn, Rutherford, Seigler and Stanley will be allocated to NFL Europe.

Booker, Brown, Jensen, Kuhn, Rutherford, Seigler, Stanley and Young each spent part or all of the 2005 season on the Steelers' practice squad. Practice-squad players automatically become free agents immediately following the end of a team's season.

Barr, Booker and Stanley were in training camp with the Steelers in 2005 but were released prior to the regular season. Booker was resigned to the practice squad in November of this past year and Stanley was added last month during the AFC Playoffs.

Young spent the last two seasons on the Steelers' practice squad, while Brown, Kuhn, Jensen, Rutherford and Seigler were signed throughout this season to the practice squad during the season.

Rutherford, a native of Pittsburgh who played at Pitt, was placed on the practice squad Reserve/Injured List last month. Jemison played at Pitt before transferring to Indiana (Pa.), while Postell also attended Pitt.

Following is a list of the Steelers' recent free-agent signings:

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. NFL Exp. College

Kyle Andrews* C 5-11, 254 1 Ohio State
Mike Barr* P 6-2, 230 2 Rutgers
Ulish Booker OT 6-6, 319 2 Michigan State
Shane Boyd* QB 6-1, 232 1 Kentucky
Tim Brown OT 6-5, 313 1 West Virginia
Matt Farrior* ILB 6-1, 230 1 Florida
Adam Herzing* WR 6-3, 190 1 Cal-Poly
Mike Jemison* RB 5-11, 216 1 Indiana (Pa.)
Erik Jensen TE 6-2, 253 1 Iowa
John Kuhn FB 6-0, 255 1 Shippensburg
Brandon Newton* C 6-2, 296 1 Hofstra
Malcolm Postell* LB 6-1, 231 1 Pitt
Rod Rutherford QB 6-2, 223 2 Pitt
Richard Seigler LB 6-2, 238 2 Oregon State
Ronald Stanley LB 6-0, 244 1 Michigan State
Fred Staton* RB 5-10, 251 1 Tusculum
Brandon Torrey* OT 6-3, 277 1 Howard
Isaac West* WR 6-0, 187 1 Furman
Walter Young* WR 6-4, 220 3 Illinois

*Allocated to NFL Europe
 
Link

5/23

NARDIELLO: Andrews quietly joiins Steelers


It wasn’t like the signing of a first round draft choice with all the media attention and the hype. The signing of free agent Kyle Andrews of Middletown was far more subdued.


Andrews was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers while they were in the midst of the attention-getter Super Bowl. The signing of the former Middie was almost like an after-thought. They quickly assigned Andrews to the Rhein Fire of the National Football League Europe after a three-day stint for kickers, punters and long snappers in Tampa, Fla. Apparently, the Fire was in need of a long snapper for their kickers.
For the Middletonian, signing with any team in the NFL would be a “dream come through.” Signing with the NFL champions is something special. He can’t wait until his role with the Fire is over so he can join the Steelers with the hopes of making the club as its long snapper for field goal kicker Chris Gardocki and punter Jeff Reed.
He hopes that his work with the Fire has impressed the Steelers. The Steelers had signed a long snapper before the 2005 season got under way. Now they have signed another and the competition will be intense.
The 24-year-old Middletown native is 6-foot, 245 pounds and was battling the odds at Ohio State University when he joined the team as a walk-on.
Andrews had two years of long snapping for OSU before he was passed up in the 2005 draft. In his two years with the Buckeyes, he was part of the 2002 National Championship team, and won the Ike Kelley Special Teams Player of Year Award in 2004. He never had an errant toss.
He was rated as one of the three best long snappers in the country as a senior at OSU and his snaps set up Mike Nugent for his many game-winning field goals. Andrews’ snaps were always perfect and Nugent was almost perfect with his boots. Andrews was just as efficient with his long snaps to the OSU punter.
Nugent played his first pro season with the New York Jets this year, and they paid him a large bonus for signing. The other half of the combination was not even considered until this year. But Andrews sees this as a big chance for a pro career and is busy working toward achieving that goal.
He had been pursuing a law enforcement career in Ohio and Louisville in the event no one was interested in signing him. That part of his life is now put on hold until he is through playing football.
Now he’ll have that opportunity and he’ll have it with the Super Bowl champs. He finds himself with another Ohio star, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
 
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Andrews gives snapping a shot
Former Middie lineman is trying to make the Steelers as a long snapper.Cleveland native enjoying playing with the Browns.

By Dale Grdnic
Contributing Writer

LATROBE, Pa. — Kyle Andrews has battled the odds from the outset as far as his football career has been concerned, but the perennial long shot has always succeeded.

From being an undersized middle school lineman and defensive end at Middletown to walking on at Ohio State, Andrews found his niche and excelled. Now, he’s trying to beat the odds again with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Andrews, listed as a first-year pro, is in training camp with the Steelers at Saint Vincent College and trying to make the roster as a long snapper. It’s difficult enough for an undrafted free agent to make an NFL team, but for a specialist like Andrews it’s going to be especially tough.

“Sure, I know that,’’ Andrews said. “But I’ve been fortunate enough to get a shot, and I’m going to make the most of it. That’s all anyone can ask.’’

Andrews needs to look no further than Steelers second-year long snapper Greg Warren for a true success story. Warren walked on at North Carolina and eventually signed a free-agent contract with the Steelers last spring. He beat out veteran snapper Mike Schneck during training camp and went on to win a Super Bowl ring in his first NFL season.

“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from Greg and kicker Jeff Reed,’’ Andrews said. “They played a year together at North Carolina, and they obviously worked well together last year. And (punter) Chris Gardocki, he’s been in the league for 16 years. They’ve all been a big help so far.’’

Andrews primarily works with two other young players, first-year punter Mike Barr and rookie place-kicker Mark Brubaker.

“Kyle, he’s a good snapper,’’ Barr said. “He was over in Europe with me. He played with the Rhein Fire, and I played for the Frankfurt Galaxy. But we worked together. He was my roommate in (NFL Europe) training camp. And he’s a real good snapper and a good guy.’’

NFL Europe is a chance for young players to gain game experience and maybe even enjoy parts of the world they might never return to in the future. Andrews, not surprisingly, took the entire experience in stride playing in Dusseldorf, Germany.

“It was a great experience,’’ Andrews said. “I’m happy they sent me over there. Sure, it was different being in a different country where I don’t speak the language. That made it tough the first couple weeks, but all the guys were really nice guys. So, it was an enjoyable experience.

Andrews noted that European fans can get pretty wild, utilizing whistles and other noisemakers to help them turn up the volume, and the Fire opened the season 4-0.

Andrews was somewhat surprised by the Steelers’ opening run test, a series of 14 40-yard dashes that is a true test to see if players’ offseason conditioning has gotten them in shape for training camp.

“Obviously, this is a little different from college, so I’m just trying to get used to things. But things are going well so far, and I’m doing the best I can. We have room to improve, for sure, but it’s all right.’’

Andrews has remained optimistic, even though stints with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills didn’t pan out last year and the Steelers situation might not be the best. But he is also realistic.

“It’s great that the Steelers thought enough about me to bring me out here,” Andrews said. “I’ll be able to get some experience, maybe play in some preseason games and see what happens. They say it could take five years for a specialist (kicker or snapper) to get in, but I don’t know why.

“That’s a long time to wait. Playing at Ohio State, in NFL Europe and being able to say that I was in a camp, that I gave it a shot, I don’t think I’ll feel like I was shortchanged. I got an opportunity, and I made the most of it. That’s all I can ask for right now.’’


By Barry Wilner
Associated Press
Click to expand...

http://www.middletownjournal.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2006/08/06/mj080606andrews.html
 
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