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On Tuesday October 12 the Pittsburgh Steelers lost rookie practice squad cornerback Mark Gilbert to the Detroit Lions. On Wednesday Pittsburgh filled its practice squad vacancy by signing cornerback Linden Stephens, 26, who played in 13 games for the Seattle Seahawks in 2020.
Linden Stephens’ NFL Journey
Stephens originally entered the league in 2018, signing with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Cincinnati. But he didn’t make his regular-season debut until 2019, when he appeared in three games for the Miami Dolphins, for whom he played a total of 55 snaps, this according to Pro Football Reference.
He was claimed on waivers by the Seahawks during the following offseason and played 199 snaps for Seattle in 2020, 164 of which came on special teams. He recorded three solo tackles for Seattle, the same number he had in Miami the year before.
In May 2021, Stephens signed with the Washington Football Team but was part of the team’s last round of cuts on August 31. Most recently he spent time on the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens, before getting released on October 4, 2021.
At the moment, he is the only cornerback on Pittsburgh’s practice squad and one of just two defensive backs, the other being rookie safety Donovan Stiner, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Florida.
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Linden Stephens’ Cincinnati Bearcats Career
The Ohio native played his college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats between 2014-17, appearing in 50 games with 21 starts. During that time frame he recorded 140 tackles, six interceptions, 26 passes defensed and had a forced fumble.
Linden’s father, Mac Stephens, played collegiately at Minnesota and had a short NFL career, as per Pro Football Reference. The former linebacker played in four games for the New York Jets in 1990 and another three for the Minnesota Vikings in 1991.
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Steelers’ Official Twitter Reacts to Cardinals’ Santonio Holmes Tweet
In completely random and totally unrelated news…. On Tuesday afternoon, the official Twitter account of the Arizona Cardinals sent a tweet which implied that wide receiver Santonio Holmes did not get both feet down in bounds on the touchdown catch that allowed Pittsburgh to beat Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII.
The Steelers’ official Twitter, which is typically very conservative in its approach, retweeted the message with an uncharacteristically bold reply.
It’s not clear why Arizona’s social media team decided to raise the issue at this time, but whatever.
Super Bowl XLIII was re-aired on NBCSN in June 2020. The rebroadcast featured a brand-new interview with Santonio Holmes in which he is seen crying tears of joy discussing his touchdown catch and Super Bowl MVP performance. You may recall that Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards in that game, including four receptions for 73 yards and the TD on the game-winning drive. NFL Films has named Holmes’ touchdown as the third-greatest catch of all-time time.
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