| Steelers are still hoping for big things for NT Alameda Ta'amu and have decided to keep him despite off-the-field issues. (US Presswire) |
The Steelers are sticking by NT Alameda Ta'amu.
The rookie was kept on the active roster after his roster exemption expired Wednesday afternoon. Ta'amu was suspended for two weeks after being arrested early Oct. 14. He was charged on 15 counts, including felonies, after an alcohol-fueled chase with police on Pittsburgh's South Side.
Ta'amu was reinstated Monday, but the team had a two-day period to make a corresponding move. Under similar circumstances earlier this month, the Steelers cut TE Weslye Saunders after he served his suspension. (Saunders has since signed with the Indianapolis Colts.)
"It was a big mistake, one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made in my life," Ta'amu told reporters, including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, after practice Wednesday. "It won't happen again.
"I was embarrassed to call my family. It was out of my character to do something like that. I promise it will never happen again."
Ta'amu played at University of Washington and was a fourth-round pick by the Steelers in this year's draft. He was seen as an eventual replacement for 35-year-old NT Casey Hampton. Ta'amu made the 53-man roster coming out of training camp but hasn't yet been activated for a game. NT Steve McLendon is above him on the depth chart, and it's likely that even if Hampton and McLendon got hurt, starting DE Ziggy Hood would be slotted in at nose tackle.
To make room on the roster, the Steelers released S Damon Cromartie-Smith. Cromartie-Smith was on the practice squad for the first seven weeks of this season until being signed to the active roster Saturday. He also spent all of his 2010 rookie season and all of the 2011 season on the practice squad until he played in the final four regular-season games and lone playoff game last season.
Once the decision to keep Ta'amu was made, it's likely that the choice of whom to cut was between Cromartie-Smith and CB DeMarcus Van Dyke. They were going to play almost exclusively on special teams.
Ta'amu's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8.
Follow Steelers reporter Chris Adamski on Twitter @CBSSteelers and @BuzzsawPGH.