Rooney: Steelers released Cedrick Wilson because of arrest

The Associated Press
Published: March 20, 2008

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers released wide receiver
Cedrick Wilson on Thursday, hours after he was charged with
assaulting his estranged girlfriend at a suburban restaurant.
“We’re extremely disappointed with this incident,” team
chairman Dan Rooney told reporters. “The Steelers do not condone
violence of any kind, especially against women.”
Police in Pine Township charged Wilson, 29, after he allegedly
pushed Lindsey Paulat and then punched her in the face on Wednesday
night.
Wilson entered the Patron Mexican Grill shortly before 8 p.m.
and saw Paulat sitting at the bar, according to a criminal
complaint filed by Northern Regional Police.
Paulat told police Wilson pushed her on the shoulder and, when
she turned around, punched her in the left side of her face before
leaving the eatery promptly, according to the complaint. There was
redness and swelling on Paulat’s left cheek, and witnesses told
officers what happened, police said.
Officers later found Wilson as he was leaving his home in his
car, police said. He was arraigned around 4 a.m. Thursday on
charges of simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct and
freed on $10,000 bail.
Wilson, a backup receiver, is the second Steelers player
arrested this month on charges that he assaulted a woman.
Linebacker James Harrison, voted the Steelers’ MVP by his
teammates last season, was charged with simple assault and criminal
mischief for allegedly hitting his girlfriend on March 8. He faces
a preliminary hearing April 3.
Harrison remains with the team. Team spokesman Dave Lockett said
the Steelers viewed Harrison’s situation differently than Wilson’s,
but would not say why.
In January, Wilson and Paulat got into a fight that led police
to charge her with firing two gunshots after Wilson left his
suburban town house. Paulat, who is also the mother of Wilson’s
1-year-old daughter, Anya, is awaiting trial in that case.
Wilson’s attorney, Paul Goltz of Pittsburgh, and his agent, Tom
Condon, did not immediately return calls for comment Thursday.
Wilson, who played at Tennessee, signed with the Steelers as a
free agent out of San Francisco in March 2005. He caught 81 passes
for 1,162 yards and two touchdowns in three seasons with the
Steelers. For his career, he has 178 catches for 2,375 yards and
eight TDs.