Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced in a press conference today that the team has suspended rookie nose tackle Alameda Ta'amu following his arrest on Sunday. The first wave of punishment for the fourth-round pick from the University of Washington in the 2012 NFL Draft is to be suspended for two weeks without pay.
Coach Tomlin told the press,
Due to his actions this past weekend, we are going to suspend him for two weeks. Over the next two weeks and our next two games, against the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins, the suspension is without pay. He will not participate in any organized team activities, he won’t be in meetings, he won’t be on the practice field and obviously he will not be at our facility. We deemed his actions were a detriment to our efforts. We are treating it as such. The other ramifications of the situation, obviously I am not at liberty to discuss at great detail. We thought it was very important that we act and act quickly in terms of addressing this, so we can focus our efforts on the men playing and to meet this week’s challenge. It’s a disturbing incident, one we take very seriously as members of this community and the organization that we are.
When he was asked how the team came to the decision to suspend Ta'amu, Tomlin replied, "I'm not going to get into the decision of our inner workings and our mechanism and how we come to a decision. That's the decision that we came to and we stand by."
According to Tomlin, Ta'amu's suspension can be lengthened during the legal process if they choose, but Tomlin would not speculate on whether Ta'amu would have to prove anything to the organization or team before he is allowed to return.
Ta'amu signed a four-year deal worth $2.565 million, including a signing bonus of $433,312 and a 2012 base salary of $390,000. During his two-game suspension, Ta'amu will lose a total of $45,882.
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