False fire alarm forces Steelers up at 3 a.m.
Fitzgerald, Manning, Olsen finalists for Walter Payton Man of Year honor
STOUGHTON, Mass. — The Steelers received an early wake-up call when the fire alarm went off at their Hilton Hotel at Logan Airport in Boston on Sunday morning, around 3:40.
It’s an old trick that has happened on rare occasions to visiting college and pro football teams, especially on the morning of a big game such as the one the Steelers played Sunday against the New England Patriots for the AFC Championship. Already, some are dubbing it Alarmgate. However, this one cannot be connected to the Patriots. Massachusetts State Police quickly arrested a 25-yearold East Boston man and charged him with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and pulling a false alarm at the hotel.
According to information posted by the MSP, Dennis Harrison was found walking on the hotel property after he pulled the alarm. He was not a hotel guest and “had no legitimate reason to be on hotel property.” He was being held by state police pending bail. Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said the disturbance was quickly handled by officials.
While fire trucks did show up, the hotel was not fully evacuated.
Former Steelers guard Alan Faneca, one of the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame vote in two weeks, said in a Tweet: “Never played a game in NE where that did not happen. Every single time.”
After playing his first 10 seasons with the Steelers, Faneca played in two more with the New York Jets, who played in New England each year as a member of the AFC East Division.
Faneca told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this week that it felt like a bit of poetic justice during the 2015 Super Bowl, when the fire alarm blared twice in three nights at the Patriots’ hotel in Arizona.
“I laughed when that happened,” Faneca said. “I thought it was pretty ironic when it happened to them.”
MAN OF THE YEAR: Larry Fitzgerald, Eli Manning and Greg Olsen have been chosen as finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award that recognizes an athlete’s contribution to the sport and to society.
The winner among the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver, New York Giants quarterback and Carolina Panthers tight end will be announced on Feb. 4, the night before the Super Bowl, at NFL Honors in Houston. The Associated Press individual NFL awards also will be handed out then, on the eve of the Super Bowl.
“Larry, Eli and Greg are not only top-tier athletes, but also men of great character, integrity and generosity of spirit. Their passion for community and helping others is having a positive impact on countless individuals and communities, and it’s something we should all celebrate,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Sunday.
A total of $1 million will be donated in the name of the Man of the Year, with $500,000 going to a charity of his choice and $500,000 supporting the expansion of Character Playbook across all NFL markets.
The two runners-up will each receive a $125,000 donation to the charity of their choice and a $125,000 donation in their names to expand Character Playbook, a digital learning initiative. The 2015 winner was Anquan Boldin.
DOME FINALE: What a send-off for the Georgia Dome, the Falcons’ home since 1992, which will be torn down and replaced next season by $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
With the home team comfortably ahead, the raucous crowd of more than 71,000 basically partied through the whole second half, bouncing along to rap music that turned the stadium with the big top-like roof into the world’s largest dance club.
The intensity of the celebration was understandable, given the Falcons’ largely forgettable history and the heartache doled out by all of Atlanta’s pro sports teams. The Braves, way back in 1995, are still the city’s only team to capture a big league championship.