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The countless thousands who wanted the Steelers to trade or release Rashard Mendenhall after his controversial tweets about Osama bin Laden in May must not have been at Heinz Field Thursday night for a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Mendenhall was cheered when he was introduced with the offense. His ovation might not have matched the ones for teammates Maurkice Pouncey, Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward, but it was significant. Then, Mendenhall contributed in a big way to long, time-consuming touchdown drives on the first two possessions. The cheers turned into roars. The game turned into a 24-14 Steelers blowout.

Ah, fans.

Many are so predictable. The reaction to Mendenhall was more proof that they either easily forgive or conveniently forget a star player's perceived transgressions as long as that player performs well for their team.

Osama Who?

"I didn't really think about it. I was just focused on the game," Mendenhall said. "But it was cool."

This was the first chance Steelers fans had to eyeball Mendenhall since his rather eventful offseason. He didn't take long to make 'em glad the Rooneys and coach Mike Tomlin didn't overreact to his bin Laden tweets, which questioned bin Laden's role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and why so many were so quick to celebrate his death. Mendenhall ran hard, starting with the first play when he put a move on defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins for a 4-yard gain. He stepped out of a tackle try by safety Kurt Coleman for a 9-yard pickup. On maybe his most impressive play, he blocked defensive end Trent Cole to give Roethlisberger time to escape to his left, then drifted behind the coverage and made a one-handed catch of Roethlisberger's pass for a 12-yard gain.