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Birth of The Nation: the Steelers of the '30sThis is the first in a series on the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, September 09, 2007 By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A 1933 team photo from the first year and the Steelers were named Pittsburgh Pirates. The city of Pittsburgh emblem is on their jerseys.

In the beginning, with makeshift lights barely penetrating the darkness of a sooty Wednesday night in the depths of the Great Depression, the National Football League team that gave birth to The Nation flickered to life with the kick of a football shaped like an elongated pumpkin and painted white for better visibility.

They were called the Pirates and played in Forbes Field, because, in the humble roots of its genesis, pro football was the realm of rapscallions that took a back seat to baseball and just about every other sport.

The midweek start was one of necessity rather than the product of NFL marketing geniuses. At the time, the state's blue laws -- enacted for the "prevention of vice and immorality" when George Washington was president -- banned spectator sports, including baseball, on the Sabbath.

The blue laws would be rescinded within two months, which meant the reign of the Thursday morning quarterback was short-lived. Because Fridays and Saturdays were set aside for high school and college football, Wednesday was as good a day as any. Given the next four decades of the franchise's existence, however, it would have been wise to heed the old English rhyme that Wednesday's child is full of woe.

The date was Sept. 20, 1933. Kickoff was scheduled for 8:30 p.m., presumably to give spectators time to get there on a work night. A 20-minute delay of the start was not explained, but it most assuredly was not because of a pre-game music act or wardrobe malfunction. Prohibition was still in effect, so it was illegal to slake the thirst with an adult beverage before, during or after the game, and there wasn't a single beer ad underwriting the show.

But whatever the name or wherever it played, it was Pittsburgh's NFL team from the start.

In a color scheme taken from the city flag, the home team wore gold jerseys with black stripes. Each jersey was adorned with the city crest, which was based on the coat of arms of William Pitt the Elder, first Earl of Chatham, whose name was given to the city that started out as a frontier outpost protecting three rivers. And the franchise, then as now, was in the hands of the

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Rooney family.

The first game was a 23-2 loss to the New York Giants, with the first points in franchise history the result of Johnny Oehler blocking a punt for a safety. Dee-fense! Dee-fense! Yet somehow, a mystical bond was established between town and team, as documented by Chet Smith, sports editor of The Pittsburgh Press, which sold for three cents.

"Nearly 20,000 spectators whooped and hurrahed," he wrote. "They saw... enough savage and spectacular football to insure the professional league a permanent home here if it continues to furnish as much entertainment in the future."

If he had only known.

This year, the franchise that became the Steelers marks its 75th season with a diamond jubilee studded with the diamonds of five Super Bowl rings. If the steel industry faded long ago, the Steelers still provide a sense of identity for a reborn city and an extended community of fans. Heinz Field is laid out so that the long axis of the playing field aligns directly with The Point, symbolically joining the team and the origins of the community. Think of one as a football and the other the air that inflates it.

All for $2,500

The pro league had existed for 13 seasons before Arthur J. Rooney, a 32-year-old politician and sportsman, was awarded a franchise on July 8, 1933. The entry fee was $2,500; the franchise is now valued at $880 million by Forbes Magazine.

Mr. Rooney was a boxer of note, but his first love was baseball, and he played for the Wheeling Stogies in the minor leagues before an arm injury ended his career. But he also founded and played for a couple of sandlot football teams -- the Majestics, which became Hope-Harvey (Hope being the fire station where the team changed clothes, and Harvey being the doctor who tended player injuries), and the J.P. Rooneys.

He played against the legendary Jim Thorpe, and he told friends he thought his sandlot teams could beat NFL clubs, so he joined the league.

The NFL was interested in Pittsburgh, which was the womb of pro football. In fact, the receipt of $500 paid to Pudge Heffelfinger in 1892 by the Allegheny Athletic Association is considered the birth certificate of pro football by the NFL Hall of Fame. The city was also centrally located on the railroad system used by the early NFL.

But the NFL also wanted Mr. Rooney for a practical reason. With his political connections, he could rescind the state law that banned the playing of sports, the operation of movie theaters and shopping on Sundays.

"He had the clout to get the blue laws lifted," said Art Rooney Jr., the second oldest of his five sons. "The movie industry sent him free passes every year until he died in 1988 because he got the law changed to allow Sunday events."

In many ways, 1933 was the beginning of the modern NFL. The league adopted its own rules to distinguish it from the college game. It also split into two divisions of five teams each to set up a championship game at the end of the season -- the forerunner to the Super Bowl, America's unofficial national holiday.

Also in 1933, City Hall was occupied by the last Republican to reign as mayor. President Franklin Roosevelt unveiled the New Deal. Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Imperial Japan was taking military steps that would lead to Pearl Harbor.

Unlikely hero

History was made in several ways on Sept. 27, 1933, the date of the franchise's first victory.

With Forbes Field a mud pit after an all-day rain, Butch Kottler intercepted a pass and raced 99 yards for Pittsburgh's first-ever touchdown. The length of the return still stands as a franchise record. Then after tying the Chicago Cardinals in the final minute, an unlikely headliner waddled onto the field to boot the extra point in a 14-13 win.

He was Christian (Mose) Kelsch, who at 37 was the oldest player in the NFL and five years older than the team founder. A North Sider who never went to college but played on the Majestics sandlot team, Mr. Kelsch was described in the newspapers as double-chinned and ample around the middle. Helmets were optional in those days, just as motorcycle helmets are today in



Pennsylvania, and Kelsch's bald pate was exposed as he tallied the winning point without wearing headgear. Yinzers of any era could exult in the moment.

Also part of that game were the only two African-Americans playing in the NFL at the time.

From the U.S. Army to Major League Baseball, America was racially divided. Yet the year the Pittsburgh Crawfords became a charter member of the Negro National League and 14 years before Jackie Robinson broke through baseball's racial barrier, Pittsburgh's Ray Kemp and Chicago's Joe Lillard met on the same football field.

A 1926 graduate of Cecil High School, Mr. Kemp worked as a coal miner for a year before playing football at Duquesne University. While most NFL players were paid $100 a game, Mr. Kemp got $40. Still, a miner at the time would have had to load 16 tons a day for 14 days to earn that paycheck.

Not that race relations were exemplary at the time. Mr. Kemp played four games that year, the last one coming in New York. While his white teammates stayed at a Manhattan hotel, Mr. Kemp was relegated to the Harlem branch of the YMCA.

From 1934 to 1946, there were no black players in the NFL. The Steelers re-integrated in 1952 when they drafted offensive lineman Jack Spinks of Alcorn State.

Good day at the track

In seven seasons under five coaches as the Pirates, the franchise was 22-55-3, never had a winning season and lost money in every year but 1936. The red ink for the decade totaled $100,000.

"You had two thrills in those days," Mr. Rooney once said. "One came Sunday trying to win the game. The next came Monday trying to make the payroll."

He was such an avid horse player that he and his bride, Kathleen McNulty, honeymooned at Belmont Park in New York following their 1931 marriage. As regularly as his football team lost, the horses he bet on at the race track would win. And hiswinnings kept the franchise afloat in tough times.

One day in August 1936, Mr. Rooney, who was later known as The Chief, parlayed $20 into a $21,000 haul at the Empire City Trotting Club, now known as Yonkers Raceway and owned by the Rooney family. The next day, he headed to Saratoga Race Track, pushing his car at times along the way, according to family history. He hit six longshots in what may have been the best day at a track ever, winning somewhere between $200,000 and $358,000. His take was at least $2.9 million in today's dollars, and the track offered a Brink's truck to take the money home.

"He was the greatest horse player of the 20th century," said Art Jr. "Did you ever see the movie 'Seabiscuit'? The Chief said he won more money on Seabiscuit than the guys who owned the horse."

There were plenty of notable football moments, too.

One NFL record the franchise still shares was set on Oct. 22, 1933, in a scoreless tie at Cincinnati witnessed by 900 fans. The teams combined for 31 punts, a total matched by the Bears and Packers that same day but never surpassed.

The first Sunday game in Pittsburgh history came on Nov. 12, 1933. The election results rescinding the blue laws hadn't been certified yet, but Mr. Rooney avoided any legal complications by having police superintendent Franklin McQuade at the game as his guest.

The home team lost, 32-0, to the Brooklyn Dodgers, and papers noted that the only thing desecrated on that Sabbath was the scoreboard. Attendance was announced at 12,000, putting the season total for five home games at 57,000. That was 3,000 less than the crowd that watched the Pitt-Duquesne match-up on Nov. 11 that year.

In its inaugural season, the Pirates finished last and were out-scored 205-67.

The 1934 team is notorious not for its 2-10 record, but for its uniforms. The jerseys had wide, bold vertical stripes that would have looked more appropriate on a road gang, according to NFL Films.

A championship was actually in reach in 1936 under coach Joe Bach. After beating the Eagles in a road game played in



Johnstown -- yes, Johnstown -- the Pirates were in first place at 6-3 and needed only to win one of their final three games to play in the NFL championship game. Not only did they lose all three, they took a train to Los Angeles to play an exhibition game in what was essentially a bye week before their final game against the Redskins, who crushed them 30-0 to win the division.

"The story is that Bach and my father got into a fistfight on the train that lasted across state lines until a priest broke it up," said Art Jr.

Bold moves were tried to jump-start the franchise, but most of them backfired. Future Hall of Famer Johnny Blood McNally was installed as a player/coach in 1937, and he returned a kickoff 92 yards for one touchdown and scored again on a 50-yard reception in the opening game.

Blood was fired after an 0-3 start in 1939, which followed a six-game losing streak from the previous season. But he made his mark in other ways, sometimes missing games and leaving the players to fend for themselves.

"Blood never worried about his players. His players worried about him," Mr. Rooney once recalled. "He was the first of the free spirits."

On the road to anywhere

In 1938, two days in August stand out in franchise history.

On the 16th, Chicago's George Halas traded Edgar (Eggs) Manske to Pittsburgh in return for a No. 1 draft choice. Mr. Manske played six games in Pittsburgh and scored two touchdowns before he ended up back in Chicago that same season.

The draft pick turned out to be Sid Luckman, who made the cover of Life magazine as college football's best passer. Mr. Luckman revolutionized the quarterback position in the T formation, leading the Bears to four NFL championships and six other appearances in title games during his 12-year, Hall of Fame career.

Through the prism of history, many experts rate it as the worst trade of all time.

On the 17th, Byron (Whizzer) White played his first game as a pro in an intrasquad match-up in Johnstown. Years later, when he was a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice White still talked about the rocks on that Johnstown field.

An All-America runner, passer and kicker from Colorado who was also a Rhodes Scholar, Mr. White signed for the unheard sum of $15,800 -- the largest NFL contract to date. He became the first rookie to lead the NFL in rushing (587 yards on 152 carries with a league-leading four touchdowns), but the team finished last at 2-9. Mr. Rooney tried to offset his investment byscheduling six extra games during the season with non-NFL teams such as the Boston Shamrocks. It was, however, Mr. Rooney's worst year to date at the gate, and the future justice's only season in Pittsburgh.

Because baseball was the undisputed national pastime and Rooney U. did not have its own home, it was not uncommon for the football Pirates to play home games in places like Buffalo, N.Y., or New Orleans.

In addition, the schedule could be changed depending on advance ticket sales.

In 1939, for example, the Pittsburgh team took an 11-hour, pre-Turnpike bus ride to Philadelphia for the season opener. But Eagles owner Bert Bell had sold only 1,700 tickets and didn't have enough cash to pay the $5,000 guarantee to the visiting team.

Mr. Bell persuaded Mr. Rooney to postpone the game because of rain, even though a major league baseball game was played the same day in Philadelphia. It was rescheduled for Thanksgiving Day, and the Eagles won -- their lone victory of the season -- in front of 20,000 fans. Three days later in Pittsburgh, the home team won its only game of a 1-9-1 season.

That 24-12 win on Nov. 26, 1939, was the last time the football Pirates took the field. Shortly thereafter, a contest was announced to chose a new nickname.

Art Rooney once said he only had one real job in his life. He reported to work in the morning and lasted a half a shift before he walked out, not even bothering to pick up his pay. He also had a brief flirtation in running for office.



In 1939, he was persuaded to run as a Republican for Register of Wills in Allegheny County.

As a candidate, he told the voters: "Frankly, I'm not certain I'd know what to do if I won. In fact, I don't even know where the office is located. But if you elect me, I will hire the best people I can find."

He lost. Football would be his destiny.

First published on September 9, 2007 at 12:00 am

Next Sunday: The Forties. Robert Dvorchak can be reached at [email protected] or at 412-263-1959.



Today is all that matters as Tomlin era beginsLet there be no question as to whose Steelers these are as they take the field this afternoon Sunday, September 09, 2007 By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Peter Diana / Post-Gazette

Mike Tomlin -- I've made a conscious effort not to worry about it or compare what we're trying to do to the past. We can't duplicate it and we're not even going to try.

Bill Cowher talked to Mike Tomlin just once since he succeeded him.

"Do it your way," Tomlin said, recalling the only guidance given him by his predecessor as Steelers coach. "I'm sure he received the same advice from Chuck Noll.''

Today, in Cleveland, where Noll was born and where he played in the NFL, and where Cowher landed his first coaching job, Mike Tomlin makes his debut as the third Steelers coach in 39 years.

He will start building his reputation as a coach for real today, but he has already earned his status in the locker room. There, what began as skepticism among veteran players has developed into a clear-cut relationship: He's the boss, and they do what they're told.

"There's no doubt," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "Everyone knows he's the boss, and everyone's ready to be led by him."

Page 1 of 3Today is all that matters as Tomlin era begins


Tomlin established his authority immediately and has consistently applied it, the players say. It may have been Noll's team for 23 years, then Cowher's for 15, but for the past seven months, it has belonged to Mike Tomlin and he's done it his way.

It's not autocratic, not repressive, not draconian. Tomlin has grasped control of the baton and wielded it in a way that's commanded respect from his players and all those around him.

"In the first couple days here, he set the tone and let you know who's running the show,'' defensive end Aaron Smith said. "He's a stern, honest, down-to-earth guy. He's not above coming and talking to you about something off the wall. But then when it's time to work, it's time to work. He's a fair guy, too, I think."

They still can have their fun, even with the head coach, but there's also a separation Tomlin has established in their workday. Once they take the field, it's all work and no play. Practice, under Tomlin, is no day at the beach. There's even a sign to remind them all as they leave their comfy, carpeted, climate-controlled locker room: "Take the Field.''

"It means when you go out those doors, that's it, we're all business,'' Smith said. "You see the sign every day when we walk out the door ..."

There's a reason for it that the players understand.

"He's like the rest of us," Smith said. "We all want to win, we want to improve on what we did last year. I think we're on the right track."

The right track, the only track for a football coach is victory. There are as many different approaches to coaching as there are coaching jobs, but there's just one bottom line: Win and you're in, lose and you go the way of Bill Austin. He was the fourth Steelers coach in the past 42 years, and he was shown the door after his three teams went a combined 11-28-3.

But Austin's is not the legacy Tomlin wants to follow or continue. Noll's teams won 209 games, including four Super Bowls. Cowher's teams won 161 games, including one Super Bowl. Now that's the right track.

"I've made a conscious effort not to worry about it or compare what we're trying to do to the past,'' Tomlin said. "We can't duplicate it and we're not even going to try. I've just got a vision of what we need to do to move forward and the guys have done a nice job accepting that, to move forward."

And Tomlin is the guy driving the bus.

"You respect him,'' said Hines Ward, one of four team captains who will wear the hockey-like 'C' on their jerseys for the first time in franchise history today. "He's a straight-shooter, it is what it is, what's on tape is on tape. He's not going to take excuses. He'll mention it, but he won't call you out; it's more constructive criticism: 'Let's make sure this doesn't happen again,' and you move on, you grow.

"We're men. He treats everyone like a man. he's not going to belittle anybody, but he's going to call it like he sees it.''

The players from Super Bowl MVP Ward on down had to prove themselves to a new coach. Some, like Ward, did. Others, like Max Starks, lost their starting jobs.

"He wasn't going on past history, what you did, but what you do on tape,'' Ward said. "That's



how the makeup of this team is, 53 men who did what coach Tomlin wanted them to do on tape."

Today, they unveil for real this latest version of the Steelers coach and his team. His philosophy, the way he treats players, the way he talks to the public, how he holds himself along the sideline all will be documented from here on out. But only one thing will matter: His record.

"Most people get a coaching opportunity because there is lack of success or a long-term period of lack of success," Tomlin said this week. "This is a unique opportunity and unique circumstance. I'm grateful to have it."


Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email protected].



BLOG 'n' GOLD: Live from ClevelandSept. 9, 2007 Sunday, September 09, 2007

Ed Bouchette files from Cleveland Browns Stadium:

Coach Mike Tomlin made some interesting decisions today on his roster. Coaches may only have 45 players active on the days of games, plus a No. 3 quarterback.

Today, Tomlin decided he would go with two fullbacks, including veteran Dan Kreider, who lost his starting job to young Carey Davis.

He also decided to not dress wide receiver Willie Reid, who at one point this summer figured to return punts and kickoffs for the Steelers. Instead, Allen Rossum, acquired in a trade from Atlanta on the final cutdown day, took over that spot.

By not dressing Ricardo Colclough, Tomlin moved rookie cornerback William Gay ahead of him. And by not dressing tackle Trai Essex, it means that left guard Alan Faneca likely is the emergency backup if something happens to left tackle Marvel Smith. Tackle Max Starks did dress, but the coaches did not like how he performed at left tackle this summer.

Rookie halfback Gary Russell did not dress, nor did rookie guard/center Darnell Stapleton nor injured linebacker Marquis Cooper.

Brian St. Pierre, whose injured big right toe kept him from practicing until Friday, dressed as the No. 3 quarterback.

Tony Grossi has covered the Browns for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland since the 1980s and on Sunday he ranked the 32 organizations in the National Football League.

He placed the Steelers No. 1.

"The common thread of the best ones is stability and continuity,'' Grossi wrote. He ranked New England second and Indianapolis third. The Arizona Cardinals ranked last and the Detroit Lions No. 31. He ranked the Browns a No. 26.

First published on September 9, 2007 at 1:02 pm

Page 1 of 1BLOG 'n' GOLD: Live from Cleveland


Miller doesn't believe it is better to receiveSunday, September 09, 2007 By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A dozen times, in a dozen different ways, the question was asked:

Don't you wish you could play in an offense that, you know, actually throws the ball to the tight end?

A dozen times, the Steelers' Heath Miller listened politely and refused to bite.

"You probably could drop back and hit the tight end on every play if you wanted," he said. "But I don't know how successful your offense would be. That's not going to get you down the field. That's not going to get you many points.

"I'd rather win games."

Is that a team man or what?

The Steelers are lucky. Miller could be a lot more selfish. He's not just good as a receiver, he's superb.

You're talking about some of the best hands on the team, a guy who is Ben Roethlisberger's most dependable receiver after Hines Ward. You should want to see Big Ben throw the ball to Miller on third down. He'll either beat his man to get the first down or drag him to the marker. Most defenders need a lot of help to get him down.

"I have all the faith in the world in him," Roethlisberger said last week. "If you even put it close to him, he's going to make the play."

That prompts the same question that's asked around here every year at this time:

Opening numbers Numbers of note that come into play for the Steelers' 75th season opener this afternoon in Cleveland: 0: Wins for Steelers head coaches in their first game vs. the Browns since 1950.

4: Consecutive opening-day wins for the Steelers.

7-1: Steelers record at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

13-1: Steelers record in the teams' past 14 meetings.

55-55: Series record.

111: Games in the series including today -- most between

Is this the season the Steelers are going to finally throw to the tight end?

"The coaches have talked about using more multiple-tight end groupings," Miller said. "That helps. The more you're on the field, the more opportunities you have. But I really don't think they've put anything special in for me."

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That's unfortunate, although I'm still holding out hope.

It's one thing to under-utilize the tight end as a receiver, as the Steelers have done for years. It's something much worse to do it with Miller, who had the ridiculously low total of 34 catches last season, down from 39 in '05, his rookie season. It's a crying shame 16 NFL tight ends had more catches last season. You don't mind the guys named Winslow Jr., Heap, Gonzalez and Gates. But George Wrighster? Ben Utecht?

Steelers coaches have been talking internally since April about using Miller more. Here's hoping they start to do it today, when the team opens the season in Cleveland.

Sure, it's unrealistic to expect Miller to match the 89 catches the Browns' Kellen Winslow had last season. But is 60 or 65 so hard to imagine?

Not that Miller has to have any catches to be effective, Roethlisberger was saying.

"He's very valuable to our offense because he draws the safeties in. He opens things up on the outside because teams have to respect him in the passing game, especially in the red zone."

Miller made it clear he'll gladly take what he gets. At one point, he said, "I think Hines and all of us realize when we run the ball well, we're a tough team to beat."

At another point: "We've got a lot of guys who can make plays. We're a better team when we spread the ball around."

And still later: "Hines, Nate [Washington], Santonio [Holmes], those guys are able to get deep and spread the field. We have to take advantage of that."

By then, you just want to shake Miller and tell him he needs to pull a Keyshawn Johnson and scream, "Throw me the damn ball!"

We'll probably be waiting awhile.

It's too bad. Miller is wasting a wonderful opportunity. He has Roethlisberger's ear, more than anyone on the team. He and Big Ben shared a hotel room in Cleveland last night, just as they do on every trip.

"Nah, we don't ever talk about football," Miller said. "We get enough of that during the day. Sometimes, you need to get away from it a little and relax."

The man grinned.

"I'm not much of a lobbyist, anyway."

Who could have guessed?


Ron Cook can be reached at [email protected].

any two AFC teams

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Game One Matchup: Steelers vs. BrownsGerry Dulac breaks down the oldest rivalry in the AFC Sunday, September 09, 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Willie Parker ran for 223 yards against the Browns in their second meeting last year.

Game plan

What the Steelers will do: They rushed for a season-high 303 yards in the previous meeting, a game in which Willie Parker set a club-record 223 yards. But that game was on a cold and blustery December night at Heinz Field when the Browns seemed disinterested. Expect new coordinator Bruce Arians to experiment with some spread formations and three-tight end sets against their 3-4 defense, which is aging along the line. If S Sean Jones is in the box, Ben Roethlisberger will try to throw in the middle of the field to TE Heath Miller.

What the Browns will do: RB Jamal Lewis was acquired from the Ravens in the offseason in an attempt to give them a workhorse. Lewis, 28, is 11 pounds lighter than last season and looked quick and decisive in the preseason. They have also bolstered their offensive line by signing LG Eric Steinbach and No. 1 draft choice Joe Thomas, but are unsettled at right

Page 1 of 3Game One Matchup: Steelers vs. Browns


tackle because Ryan Tucker is serving a four-game suspension. They have fast, young linebackers, especially OLB Kamerion Wimbley, and their secondary is better with the addition of rookie CB Eric Wright and the development of S Sean Jones.

Keep an eye on ...

Browns return specialist Josh Cribbs ... A former college quarterback who could develop into a dual threat this season. Cribbs was such an outstanding kick returner -- he had a 92-yard scoring return against the Steelers last season -- the Browns decided to use him as a punt returner, too. The result: He had a 70-yard punt return for a TD vs. the Bears in the final preseason game. He could also be used as a running/passing threat this season, similar to the way the Steelers used Antwaan Randle El.

Data

Game: Steelers at Cleveland Browns.

When: 1 p.m.

Where: Cleveland Browns Stadium.

TV: KDKA.

Radio: WDVE-FM (102.5), WBGG-AM (970)

Intangibles

This is the debut for Mike Tomlin, and he is up against this historical footnote: No Steelers coach since 1954 (Buddy Parker, Mike Nixon, Bill Austin, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher) has won his first game against the Browns. However, the past two who were hired at age 34 -- Noll and Cowher -- won their regular-season debut.

Keys to victory

To win, the Browns must ...

1. Get men around Ben. Roethlisberger has been given more control of the offense, and the Browns need to disguise defensive looks.

2. Give the ball to Jamal. The Browns will look for Lewis to set the tempo and teach them how to beat the Steelers.

3. Don't get the Willies. Parker has been a fast starter, rushing for 115 and 161 yards in his past two season openers.



To win, the Steelers must ...

1. Fry Charlie. QB Charlie Frye won the starting job almost by default after he led the Browns to just one TD on 11 possessions in the preseason.

2. Slow Winslow. The Browns will try to split him wide in two tight-end sets to get him matched down the field against a linebacker.

3. Make Wright guess wrong. The Browns' rookie corner must be careful not to gamble against Santonio Holmes, who will go deep.




Ed Bouchette On The Steelers: It's a MysteryDespite Tomlin's reasoning, acquisition of Allen Rossum still doesn't make senseSunday, September 09, 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Sean Mahan

Coach Mike Tomlin wanted to improve his team when the Steelers acquired return man

Page 1 of 4Ed Bouchette On The Steelers: It's a Mystery


Allen Rossum from the Atlanta Falcons last week for an undisclosed, conditional draft pick that's likely a seventh-rounder.

Rossum, now with his fourth NFL team, made the Pro Bowl three seasons ago after he averaged 12.4 yards a punt return, and a year after he averaged 14.0 yards. Since then, Rossum averaged 8.5 yards in 2005 and 8.0 yards in 2006.

Rossum was a good punt returner and he still may have it in him at one month shy of his 32nd birthday. But Tomlin had a better punt returner on his own team, Santonio Holmes. Holmes averaged 10.2 yards on punt returns last season and scored a touchdown, one more than Rossum scored in his past two seasons.

It's not the seventh-round draft choice the Steelers will give up for Rossum that's a problem -- they routinely cut their seventh-round pick after his first training camp anyway -- it's the roster spot they gave up. Because they acquired Rossum, they released second-year center Marvin Philip, leaving them with no backup center with NFL experience at the position. And because they signed Philip to the practice squad, they did not sign 6-9 Jason Capizzi, who showed promise as a rookie left tackle in training camp.

Tomlin explained that he did not want Holmes to return punts because he wanted him to concentrate on his position as the team's starting split end. But wasn't this supposed to be a new era in which starters played on special teams?

Holmes would not be the first starting wide receiver to return punts. Lynn Swann, Louis Lipps and Antwaan Randle El all returned punts and none of their careers as receivers seemed to be held back because of it.

This comes, of course, after the Steelers used two draft picks on a rookie punter when they had one on their roster capable of handling the job.

A fine line between success and failure

When Hines Ward said "We didn't get sorry overnight," he meant virtually the same talent on the Steelers did not reflect their 8-8 record last season after they went 15-1 in 2004 and won the Super Bowl in 2005.

The same could be said about the offensive line. The line has been identified as the most problematic area of the 2007 Steelers, mainly because of its perceived problems in 2006 and the changes to it this season.

The same line that blocked for the Super Bowl champs was intact last season when quarterback sacks increased by 17 -- or 53 percent -- to 49. But more goes into sacks than blocking by the five men in the line. There are "hot" routes to be run, there is blocking by others such as tight ends and third-down backs, and decisions made by the quarterback himself.

That same line provided enough blocking for Willie Parker to rush for 1,494 yards, third-most in club history.

As for the changes, Marvel Smith and Alan Faneca remain on the left side. Smith, 29, has made a Pro Bowl. Faneca, 29, has made six of them. Linemen normally get better with age, even into their mid-30s, not regress. Kendall Simmons has started at right guard since he was drafted in the first round in 2002.



That leaves new center Sean Mahan and new right tackle Willie Colon. The Steelers had a long, distinguished line of centers before Mahan and it remains to be seen if he can uphold it. However, Jeff Hartings, a two-time Pro Bowl selection at center, did not have one of his better seasons last year before retiring after six seasons as a Steelers' starter.

As for Colon, this may be his first year starting, but he also beat out Max Starks, who started at right tackle the past two seasons. It should be presumed that if Colon beat out Starks, he must be better than Starks; thus, there should be improved play at right tackle this season.

Most every team has problems in its line and most every team, if it loses its left tackle, is in trouble and must do things such as move a guard to that spot. While the line right now does not look to be a strength of the 2007 Steelers, it's not among the bottom half of the league, either.

Silent linemen

You can find video clips of center Mike Webster hunkering over a football, then turning his neck around to tell Terry Bradhsaw something. Often, it was to tell Bradshaw to get out of a play or some other instruction.

That won't happen this year with the Steelers. The offensive linemen, who always called out adjustments to the blocking protection or shouted other commands, have been told not to do that this season.

As guard Alan Faneca noted, "We can't do it." It's probably to avoid confusion with linemen trying to tell Ben Roethlisberger one thing and the quarterback trying to issue his own instructions. It should prove interesting to see how it works.

To the dogs

Perhaps it is mere coincidence that with the Michael Vick dogfighting conviction still ringing through the land, both the New York Giants and the Steelers quarterbacks announced this week that they will throw their support to the dogs.

The Giants joined with Purina to create Pets First, a performance-based charitable venture that will allow both organizations "to share their passion and commitment for the well-being of local animals.''

Roethlisberger announced he will present weekly grants to police departments' K-9 units, starting with Cleveland.

If others follow, Vick could be the best thing to happen to dogs since Saint Roch.

Under the wire

Vested veterans such as Chukky Okobi likely will be signed this week by teams. Had they been signed last week, they would have been guaranteed their full year's salary.

That is how the Steelers acquired Najeh Davenport last year. The Packers cut their veteran running back and no one wanted to sign him that first week because of the salary guarantee. The Steelers caught a break by playing the first game on Thursday and signed him on Friday.



Head to Head: Steelers S Troy Polamalu vs. Browns TE KellenWinslow Jr. A closer look at the game within the game Sunday, September 09, 2007 By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

NFL Photos/Getty Images

Troy Polamalu, left, and Kellen Winslow Jr.

Troy Polamalu plays in a division that includes Todd Heap of the Baltimore Ravens and last year played against Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez and San Diego's Antonio Gates. But the Steelers' Pro Bowl safety considers Kellen Winslow Jr. to be the most-gifted and athletic tight end in the National Football League.

Stopping Winslow, the sixth overall pick in the 2004 draft, will be among the Steelers' chief concerns when they play the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m. today. And some of that responsibility will fall on Polamalu, whom Winslow considers the focal point of the Steelers' defense.

"He's probably the most athletic tight end in the game, actually by far," Polamalu said.

"He's so fast and his size ... he's just as big as the other tight ends, but he's so much faster than everybody else. And he has great hands. He really would be an excellent wide receiver

Page 1 of 2Head to Head: Steelers S Troy Polamalu vs. Browns TE Kellen Winslow Jr.


if he was strictly a wide receiver. He's that athletic."

In the rubble of a 4-12 season, Winslow was one of the few bright spots for the Browns in 2006. In his first full season as a starter, he caught 89 passes -- the most by an NFL tight end and tying a club record set by Ozzie Newsome -- for 875 yards and three touchdowns. But he was a non-factor against the Steelers, catching eight passes for only 55 yards in two meetings last season.

His biggest contribution turned out to be a stiff arm that flattened former outside linebacker Joey Porter and a late hit on inside linebacker James Farrior that led to Porter calling him a derogatory name, resulting in a $10,000 fine by the NFL.

"Even though people have open shot on him, they never do get a good shot," said Polamalu, who did not play in the second game against the Browns because of injury. "He's not only strong, he's rubbery as well.

"When you get free hits on guys, usually you can knock them right down. Several times, he's had his back turned and spread out and people hit him hard and he stays up. A lot of times, he delivers the hit as well."

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator, Rob Chudzinski, who was the tight ends coach in San Diego the past two seasons. Winslow is hoping his addition will mean even more involvement and big plays in the Browns' offense.

Chudzinski likes to use a lot of pre-snap motion that will involve Winslow shifting wide when the Browns use two tight ends. They will do that in an attempt to match Winslow against a linebacker and utilize his speed to get behind the coverage.

Sometimes, though, he will face Polamalu.

"I think Polamalu is what makes their team go," Winslow said.

"When you are playing a guy like Polamalu, you know you have to be ready for him."


Page 2 of 2Head to Head: Steelers S Troy Polamalu vs. Browns TE Kellen Winslow Jr.


Steeler lineman Simmons has to watch blood-glucose levelsbefore, during, after the game Controlling diabetes takes a very big man Sunday, September 09, 2007 By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Steelers offensive guard Kendall Simmons has learned to manage type 2 diabetes.

Before Steelers' training camp began in 2003, Kendall Simmons' weight had plummeted so far his wife suggested he play basketball rather than football.

But even before he learned why he had shed 43 pounds in one month, he found himself almost unconscious on an examination table in a doctor's office.

The doctor's guess was type 2 diabetes, but the official diagnosis did not come until after Mr. Simmons' blood-sugar level had spiked to almost 1,000 -- 10 times higher than normal -- putting him on the cliff's edge of a diabetes coma.

So Mr. Simmons spent the first two weeks of training camp practicing insulin injections rather than quarterback protection schemes. And before he could even attempt to block linemen, he had to learn to curb the carbs and test his blood sugar.

Video

Kendall Simmons talks about diabetes

Page 1 of 4Steeler lineman Simmons has to watch blood-glucose levels before, during, after the game


Mr. Simmons, 24 at the time, got a crash course in diabetes -- a difficult disease for anyone to control, but especially so for those who are insulin-dependent and even more so for someone with such a physically demanding job.

With type 2 diabetes, the body becomes insensitive to its own insulin, the hormone produced in the pancreas that allows glucose to enter cells and be used as energy.

The result is high blood glucose levels that, without treatment, can lead to a diabetic coma. Tight control is necessary to avoid chronic high blood sugar levels that can lead to heart disease, strokes, renal failure, blindness, circulation problems often resulting in lower-limb amputations, and a host of other ailments.

Initially, Mr. Simmons said, he had no clue about what diabetes entailed. His grandmother had had type 2, and it was a factor in her death at 92. But nobody in the family ever discussed it, even though he remembers her giving herself shots of insulin and eating peppermint to prevent low blood sugar.

"I don't have time to be sick right now," he remembers telling his doctor. "I just came off a good year, and I'm trying to avoid the sophomore slump. I need to gain ground."

The previous season he'd won the Joe Greene Great Performance Award, given to the Steelers' top rookie. The career of the first-round draft choice was soaring.

But the disease probably had stalked him for months in the off season, if not longer, given his severe symptoms at time of diagnosis. In June that year, he weighed 330 pounds, prompting him to begin working out and dieting, as he always did, to lose 15 to 20 pounds before camp.

But not 43 pounds.

Dropping to almost linebacker weight, at 282 pounds, proved puzzling. But in retrospect, his symptoms were classic. He was drinking gallons of liquids and urinating often. He felt tired because his body couldn't turn glucose into energy. He was losing weight, despite eating and drinking large volumes. "It came on slowly and continued taking over," he said.

Then, during his 13-hour drive to training camp, he said, he drank more than a case of water, along with Gatorade and Cokes. Upon arriving at St. Vincent College near Latrobe, he was sent to the doctor -- and luckily so.

Mr. Simmons, nearly unconscious, found himself facing something far more threatening than a defensive lineman.

"Why me?" he said he asked himself repeatedly after diagnosis. He said he "questioned the man upstairs" and wrestled with fear that his football career might be over.

After two weeks, Mr. Simmons returned to training camp, this time with his blood sugar under better control and with a management strategy he had to refine so he could play football. The fact he started and played all 16 games that year was a sizable accomplishment.

"It was hard to bounce back. It was hard to control it," he said of his diabetes-induced sophomore slump as a Steeler. "It was one bad year."

But in retrospect, he said, "things happen for a reason." He said it provided him balance necessary to pursue a healthier life for him, his wife, Chelsea, and their two children.



"It made my family life better, and we have grown together as a result," he said.

Awareness that the diabetes gene is present in his family cannot be ignored. He said his family now eats healthier foods.

His daily goal is balancing insulin and sugar levels so he can compete without worrying whether his blood sugar is too high or low.

He accomplishes that with the oral medication, Glucophage, and two types of insulin -- Lantus, which works for 24 hours, and Humalog, a quick-acting insulin of short duration. At his size, he sometimes goes through 70 or more units per day.

Using a blood-glucose monitor to test his blood three to six times a day, he said he got over a general fear of needles quickly. Keeping everything in balance is somewhat like keeping opponents from reaching the quarterback: Most times he's successful, but once in a while a sack occurs.

Mr. Simmons said it took several years "to come to grips with" diabetes.

"It was like playing with one arm tied behind my back," he said of his first year after diagnosis. "I had ups and downs. Even when I would feel good, I really didn't feel good because of the ups and downs."

But four years after diagnosis, Mr. Simmons takes his diabetes in stride, employing the knowledge and discipline he's acquired to keep the disease under control on and off the field. He said he reads food labels, and knows the number of carbs on each item on his favorite restaurants' menus. He counts those carbs and knows how much insulin is needed to counteract them.

His A1C -- an average of his blood sugar over several months -- is 6.3, or just over the normal range of 4.5 to 6 but within the levels of compliance established by the American Diabetes Association.

This year, he said, he's focused on his role as a starting offensive lineman for the Steelers: "Now I'm at the point where I've had it so long I know how to get through it," he said.

But in past seasons, diabetes has had an occasional impact on his game.

He has experienced episodes of low blood sugar, which he describes it as weak feeling, which can get much worse if he isn't careful.

Although it's yet to happen during games, more extreme incidents of low blood sugar make him feel like hyperventilating. "I sweat real bad," he said. "I shake all over."

On the field, Mr. Simmons said he knows his sugar is low when he loses pep in his step, and begins feeling unusually weak and tired.

Good control is a balancing act.

When his sugar runs high, he said, he feels like he's trying to run in quicksand. Thus the goal, especially during games is a safe zone of 100 to 160, which provides just enough excess sugar to power his performance.

Before a game, he tests several times with the target of starting the game at 160. That is an



above-normal reading but destined to drop quickly with exercise.

By halftime, his blood sugar drops to 100. Sometimes, he takes glucose tablets to raise it high enough to get him through the second half.

After a game he typically is at 70 or 80 -- a low reading, but not yet dangerously low. At that point he's ready to head straight to a restaurant to eat.

Teammates, including defensive lineman Aaron Smith, who has diabetes in his family, keep an eye on him and react when Mr. Simmons blood-sugar levels dip too low.

"I try not to think about it because then I'll mess up on other things," Mr. Simmons said. "When I get to the sidelines, they do a really good job of looking out for me."

During a game against the Tennessee Titans, he said, his sugar levels dropped too quickly, but he did not have the freedom to come out of the game. When he finally reached the sideline, he took glucose tablets to boost his blood sugar.

But Mr. Simmons' trials and tribulations led to an upbeat ending.

He helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl in 2006, with Steeler rushing yards throughout the years typically leading the league. For now, he is working to maintain his starting position under new head coach Mike Tomlin.

Once he retires, he will need to lose about 50 pounds to maintain his blood-sugar levels and even get off insulin injections, he said. He also knows he must eat a healthy diet and exercise the rest of his life.

"If you get it, it's not the end of the world," he said. "I learned how to deal with the highs and lows, and I learned to prepare."

Mr. Simmons also offered this thought -- one that would have surprised the 24-year-old shortly after that 2003 diagnosis.

"It made me stronger," he said.


David Templeton can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-1578.



Birth of The Nation: the Steelers of the '30sThis is the first in a series on the Steelers' history Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, September 09, 2007 By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A 1933 team photo from the first year and the Steelers were named Pittsburgh Pirates. The city of Pittsburgh emblem is on their jerseys.

In the beginning, with makeshift lights barely penetrating the darkness of a sooty Wednesday night in the depths of the Great Depression, the National Football League team that gave birth to The Nation flickered to life with the kick of a football shaped like an elongated pumpkin and painted white for better visibility.

They were called the Pirates and played in Forbes Field, because, in the humble roots of its genesis, pro football was the realm of rapscallions that took a back seat to baseball and just about every other sport.

The midweek start was one of necessity rather than the product of NFL marketing geniuses. At the time, the state's blue laws -- enacted for the "prevention of vice and immorality" when George Washington was president -- banned spectator sports, including baseball, on the Sabbath.



The blue laws would be rescinded within two months, which meant the reign of the Thursday morning quarterback was short-lived. Because Fridays and Saturdays were set aside for high school and college football, Wednesday was as good a day as any. Given the next four decades of the franchise's existence, however, it would have been wise to heed the old English rhyme that Wednesday's child is full of woe.

The date was Sept. 20, 1933. Kickoff was scheduled for 8:30 p.m., presumably to give spectators time to get there on a work night. A 20-minute delay of the start was not explained, but it most assuredly was not because of a pre-game music act or wardrobe malfunction. Prohibition was still in effect, so it was illegal to slake the thirst with an adult beverage before, during or after the game, and there wasn't a single beer ad underwriting the show.

But whatever the name or wherever it played, it was Pittsburgh's NFL team from the start.

In a color scheme taken from the city flag, the home team wore gold jerseys with black stripes. Each jersey was adorned with the city crest, which was based on the coat of arms of William Pitt the Elder, first Earl of Chatham, whose name was given to the city that started out as a frontier outpost protecting three rivers. And the franchise, then as now, was in the hands of the Rooney family.

The first game was a 23-2 loss to the New York Giants, with the first points in franchise history the result of Johnny Oehler blocking a punt for a safety. Dee-fense! Dee-fense! Yet somehow, a mystical bond was established between town and team, as documented by Chet Smith, sports editor of The Pittsburgh Press, which sold for three cents.

"Nearly 20,000 spectators whooped and hurrahed," he wrote. "They saw... enough savage and spectacular football to insure the professional league a permanent home here if it continues to furnish as much entertainment in the future."

If he had only known.

This year, the franchise that became the Steelers marks its 75th season with a diamond jubilee studded with the diamonds of five Super Bowl rings. If the steel industry faded long ago, the Steelers still provide a sense of identity for a reborn city and an extended community of fans. Heinz Field is laid out so that the long axis of the playing field aligns directly with The Point, symbolically joining the team and the origins of the community. Think of one as a football and the other the air that inflates it.

All for $2,500

The pro league had existed for 13 seasons before Arthur J. Rooney, a 32-year-old politician and sportsman, was awarded a franchise on July 8, 1933. The entry fee was $2,500; the franchise is now valued at $880 million by Forbes Magazine.

Mr. Rooney was a boxer of note, but his first love was baseball, and he played for the Wheeling Stogies in the minor leagues before an arm injury ended his career. But he also founded and played for a couple of sandlot football teams -- the Majestics, which became Hope-Harvey (Hope being the fire station where the team changed clothes, and Harvey being the doctor who tended player injuries), and the J.P. Rooneys.

He played against the legendary Jim Thorpe, and he told friends he thought his sandlot teams could beat NFL clubs, so he joined the league.



The NFL was interested in Pittsburgh, which was the womb of pro football. In fact, the receipt of $500 paid to Pudge Heffelfinger in 1892 by the Allegheny Athletic Association is considered the birth certificate of pro football by the NFL Hall of Fame. The city was also centrally located on the railroad system used by the early NFL.

But the NFL also wanted Mr. Rooney for a practical reason. With his political connections, he could rescind the state law that banned the playing of sports, the operation of movie theaters and shopping on Sundays.

"He had the clout to get the blue laws lifted," said Art Rooney Jr., the second oldest of his five sons. "The movie industry sent him free passes every year until he died in 1988 because he got the law changed to allow Sunday events."

In many ways, 1933 was the beginning of the modern NFL. The league adopted its own rules to distinguish it from the college game. It also split into two divisions of five teams each to set up a championship game at the end of the season -- the forerunner to the Super Bowl, America's unofficial national holiday.

Also in 1933, City Hall was occupied by the last Republican to reign as mayor. President Franklin Roosevelt unveiled the New Deal. Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Imperial Japan was taking military steps that would lead to Pearl Harbor.

Unlikely hero

History was made in several ways on Sept. 27, 1933, the date of the franchise's first victory.

With Forbes Field a mud pit after an all-day rain, Butch Kottler intercepted a pass and raced 99 yards for Pittsburgh's first-ever touchdown. The length of the return still stands as a franchise record. Then after tying the Chicago Cardinals in the final minute, an unlikely headliner waddled onto the field to boot the extra point in a 14-13 win.

He was Christian (Mose) Kelsch, who at 37 was the oldest player in the NFL and five years older than the team founder. A North Sider who never went to college but played on the Majestics sandlot team, Mr. Kelsch was described in the newspapers as double-chinned and ample around the middle. Helmets were optional in those days, just as motorcycle helmets are today in Pennsylvania, and Kelsch's bald pate was exposed as he tallied the winning point without wearing headgear. Yinzers of any era could exult in the moment.

Also part of that game were the only two African-Americans playing in the NFL at the time.

From the U.S. Army to Major League Baseball, America was racially divided. Yet the year the Pittsburgh Crawfords became a charter member of the Negro National League and 14 years before Jackie Robinson broke through baseball's racial barrier, Pittsburgh's Ray Kemp and Chicago's Joe Lillard met on the same football field.

A 1926 graduate of Cecil High School, Mr. Kemp worked as a coal miner for a year before playing football at Duquesne University. While most NFL players were paid $100 a game, Mr. Kemp got $40. Still, a miner at the time would have had to load 16 tons a day for 14 days to earn that paycheck.

Not that race relations were exemplary at the time. Mr. Kemp played four games that year, the last one coming in New York. While his white teammates stayed at a Manhattan hotel, Mr. Kemp was relegated to the Harlem branch of the YMCA.



From 1934 to 1946, there were no black players in the NFL. The Steelers re-integrated in 1952 when they drafted offensive lineman Jack Spinks of Alcorn State.

Good day at the track

In seven seasons under five coaches as the Pirates, the franchise was 22-55-3, never had a winning season and lost money in every year but 1936. The red ink for the decade totaled $100,000.

"You had two thrills in those days," Mr. Rooney once said. "One came Sunday trying to win the game. The next came Monday trying to make the payroll."

He was such an avid horse player that he and his bride, Kathleen McNulty, honeymooned at Belmont Park in New York following their 1931 marriage. As regularly as his football team lost, the horses he bet on at the race track would win. And his winnings kept the franchise afloat in tough times.

One day in August 1936, Mr. Rooney, who was later known as The Chief, parlayed $20 into a $21,000 haul at the Empire City Trotting Club, now known as Yonkers Raceway and owned by the Rooney family. The next day, he headed to Saratoga Race Track, pushing his car at times along the way, according to family history. He hit six longshots in what may have been the best day at a track ever, winning somewhere between $200,000 and $358,000. His take was at least $2.9 million in today's dollars, and the track offered a Brink's truck to take the money home.

"He was the greatest horse player of the 20th century," said Art Jr. "Did you ever see the movie 'Seabiscuit'? The Chief said he won more money on Seabiscuit than the guys who owned the horse."

There were plenty of notable football moments, too.

One NFL record the franchise still shares was set on Oct. 22, 1933, in a scoreless tie at Cincinnati witnessed by 900 fans. The teams combined for 31 punts, a total matched by the Bears and Packers that same day but never surpassed.

The first Sunday game in Pittsburgh history came on Nov. 12, 1933. The election results rescinding the blue laws hadn't been certified yet, but Mr. Rooney avoided any legal complications by having police superintendent Franklin McQuade at the game as his guest.

The home team lost, 32-0, to the Brooklyn Dodgers, and papers noted that the only thing desecrated on that Sabbath was the scoreboard. Attendance was announced at 12,000, putting the season total for five home games at 57,000. That was 3,000 less than the crowd that watched the Pitt-Duquesne match-up on Nov. 11 that year.

In its inaugural season, the Pirates finished last and were out-scored 205-67.

The 1934 team is notorious not for its 2-10 record, but for its uniforms. The jerseys had wide, bold vertical stripes that would have looked more appropriate on a road gang, according to NFL Films.

A championship was actually in reach in 1936 under coach Joe Bach. After beating the Eagles in a road game played in Johnstown -- yes, Johnstown -- the Pirates were in first place at 6-3 and needed only to win one of their final three games to play in the NFL championship game. Not only did they lose all three, they took a train to Los Angeles to play an exhibition



game in what was essentially a bye week before their final game against the Redskins, who crushed them 30-0 to win the division.

"The story is that Bach and my father got into a fistfight on the train that lasted across state lines until a priest broke it up," said Art Jr.

Bold moves were tried to jump-start the franchise, but most of them backfired. Future Hall of Famer Johnny Blood McNally was installed as a player/coach in 1937, and he returned a kickoff 92 yards for one touchdown and scored again on a 50-yard reception in the opening game.

Blood was fired after an 0-3 start in 1939, which followed a six-game losing streak from the previous season. But he made his mark in other ways, sometimes missing games and leaving the players to fend for themselves.

"Blood never worried about his players. His players worried about him," Mr. Rooney once recalled. "He was the first of the free spirits."

On the road to anywhere

In 1938, two days in August stand out in franchise history.

On the 16th, Chicago's George Halas traded Edgar (Eggs) Manske to Pittsburgh in return for a No. 1 draft choice. Mr. Manske played six games in Pittsburgh and scored two touchdowns before he ended up back in Chicago that same season.

The draft pick turned out to be Sid Luckman, who made the cover of Life magazine as college football's best passer. Mr. Luckman revolutionized the quarterback position in the T formation, leading the Bears to four NFL championships and six other appearances in title games during his 12-year, Hall of Fame career.

Through the prism of history, many experts rate it as the worst trade of all time.

On the 17th, Byron (Whizzer) White played his first game as a pro in an intrasquad match-up in Johnstown. Years later, when he was a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice White still talked about the rocks on that Johnstown field.

An All-America runner, passer and kicker from Colorado who was also a Rhodes Scholar, Mr. White signed for the unheard sum of $15,800 -- the largest NFL contract to date. He became the first rookie to lead the NFL in rushing (587 yards on 152 carries with a league-leading four touchdowns), but the team finished last at 2-9. Mr. Rooney tried to offset his investment by scheduling six extra games during the season with non-NFL teams such as the Boston Shamrocks. It was, however, Mr. Rooney's worst year to date at the gate, and the future justice's only season in Pittsburgh.

Because baseball was the undisputed national pastime and Rooney U. did not have its own home, it was not uncommon for the football Pirates to play home games in places like Buffalo, N.Y., or New Orleans.

In addition, the schedule could be changed depending on advance ticket sales.

In 1939, for example, the Pittsburgh team took an 11-hour, pre-Turnpike bus ride to Philadelphia for the season opener. But Eagles owner Bert Bell had sold only 1,700 tickets and didn't have enough cash to pay the $5,000 guarantee to the visiting team.



Mr. Bell persuaded Mr. Rooney to postpone the game because of rain, even though a major league baseball game was played the same day in Philadelphia. It was rescheduled for Thanksgiving Day, and the Eagles won -- their lone victory of the season -- in front of 20,000 fans. Three days later in Pittsburgh, the home team won its only game of a 1-9-1 season.

That 24-12 win on Nov. 26, 1939, was the last time the football Pirates took the field. Shortly thereafter, a contest was announced to chose a new nickname.

Art Rooney once said he only had one real job in his life. He reported to work in the morning and lasted a half a shift before he walked out, not even bothering to pick up his pay. He also had a brief flirtation in running for office.

In 1939, he was persuaded to run as a Republican for Register of Wills in Allegheny County.

As a candidate, he told the voters: "Frankly, I'm not certain I'd know what to do if I won. In fact, I don't even know where the office is located. But if you elect me, I will hire the best people I can find."

He lost. Football would be his destiny.


Next Sunday: The Forties. Robert Dvorchak can be reached at [email protected] or at 412-263-1959.



'The Bus: My Life In and Out of a Helmet' by Jerome Bettis and Gene Wojciechowski How Bettis managed to stay on that 'Bus' Sunday, September 09, 2007 By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Revelations about what goes on in the National Football League regarding injuries and personnel moves aren't the only surprises Jerome Bettis delivers in his new book.

When he was 16 living in inner-city Detroit on a street with crack houses, Bettis led a double life, he claims. On the one hand, he was a sergeant-at-arms in the National Honor Society who would get his mouth washed out with soap by his father if he swore.

On the other, he was a street-smart dealer who carried guns and sold drugs to buy trendy shoes and leather jackets.

But why reveal this personal secret after a storybook ending to his career with the Steelers led to a network television job and the opening of his restaurant near Heinz Field? Or why confess to shoplifting gum and toys to bring in pocket money?

Although he was always good with the media and answered questions even in the tough times, Bettis canceled a scheduled interview when the publication of some excerpts created a stir two weeks ago.

In his book, Bettis said the guns and drugs were the norm in the ghetto.

"I can explain what I did, but I can't justify it," Bettis said. "I've kept it to myself for so long because there was a part of me that was uncomfortable about it. In fact, it wasn't until years later that I could actually admit to my own parents I had sold drugs, and why I lied about it. But now, I want people, especially kids, to understand that I made a mistake, a big one, but that I learned from that mistake."

Bettis wrote the book with sports writer Gene Wojciechowski. Normally, such as-told-to fare is a way for a retired athletic star to polish an image. Bettis is remarkably candid about his personal life, even though such admissions are sure to cause more of a stir. Well, the man never backed down from contact in his football career either.

A Notre Dame football product who was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, Bettis was traded to the Steelers, not developed by them. His bruising style and effervescent

"THE BUS: MY LIFE

IN AND OUT OF A HELMET"

By Jerome Bettis and Gene Wojciechowski Doubleday ($23.95)

Page 1 of 2'The Bus: My Life In and Out of a Helmet' by Jerome Bettis and Gene Wojciechowski


personality, however, made him a fan favorite in a football-obsessed town.

He bowled, had his own TV show and the Allegheny County Port Authority painted a bus with his jersey number, 36.

Fans are intimately familiar with his close call in a playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts on the road to Super Bowl XL. Bettis fumbled at the 1, and only an improbable tackle by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger saved him from going out as a goat.

In one sense, the close call is the point of his book. If he hadn't had an epiphany about the drug culture after a one of his friends was shot, the football world might never have heard of Jerome Bettis. He could have been killed like one of his partners or sent to jail for life like one of his cousins.

The difference was not much thicker than the leather belt -- he called it Blue Thunder -- that his father used to mete out discipline.

"The fine line between ending up in the back seat of a police car or ending up on the front page of the sports section was probably as thin as Blue Thunder. But I made it. Barely," Bettis wrote. "I was lucky. Simple as that. That could have been me ..."

Bettis talks freely about the vagaries of taking pain-killing injections before games, the circumstances surrounding a knee injury that he manipulated to avoid being cut from the team in 2000 and his views on such topics as quarterback Kordell Stewart and former Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham.

What's a bus ride without a few bumps and awkward turns, anyway?


Sports writer Robert Dvorchak can be reached at 412-263-1959 or [email protected].

Page 2 of 2'The Bus: My Life In and Out of a Helmet' by Jerome Bettis and Gene Wojciechowski


African Americans continue to fill head-coaching positions in NFL By John Harris TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 9, 2007

Five years ago, the sight of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel standing on opposite sidelines would have been the talk of the National Football League, if not all of sports.

Today, as the Steelers prepare to open the season at 1 p.m. at Cleveland Browns Stadium, it barely registers.

Two African-American head coaches on the same playing field and three in the AFC North in a league that, as of 2002, had four such coaches in the modern era is a clear sign of progress. It's also a cautionary tale for the NFL.

Tomlin's hiring was an apparent by-product of the league's Rooney Rule, named after Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, who also chairs the NFL's Committee on Workplace Diversity. Tomlin has acknowledged the Rooney Rule as a factor in his hiring.

The Rooney Rule was created in December 2002 to bring more minority coaches into the hiring process. An agreement between the Committee on Workplace Diversity and the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which promotes minority hiring for NFL head-coaching jobs, resulted in teams interviewing at least one minority candidate for head coaching jobs.

"We feel that a few years from now, you're not going to need a Rooney Rule," Rooney said.

However, without owners such as Rooney, who recounted recently how he had to sell some of the more resistant owners on the process, there may not be a Rooney Rule.

And, hence, no Mike Tomlin being an NFL head coach at age 35.

"It's hard to say the Rooney Rule didn't have anything to do with it," said Rooney, who said meeting Tomlin for the first time "was a whole different thing. We heard so many things about him, and then he came in and he was that way. The more we talked, he was the same way that he conducted himself, but he was more so."

The Steelers hired Tomlin after his first season as the Minnesota Vikings

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defensive coordinator. Prior to that, Tomlin coached Tampa Bay's secondary for five seasons.

It was at Tampa Bay under coach Tony Dungy that Tomlin became regarded as a legitimate NFL head-coaching candidate.

In his annual December meeting with the NFL Diversity Committee, Fritz Pollard Alliance chairman John Wooten recounted a conversation with Doug Williams, the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Williams is a personnel executive with Tampa Bay.

"Doug was telling me how (the Buccaneers) missed Mike in terms of his leadership and ability to go into that locker room and pull those players together and motivate them," said Wooten, a former Pro Bowl offensive lineman who blocked for Browns' Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown.

Tomlin assumes control of a franchise that has won five Super Bowls, including Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

"I'm still coming to grips with what that means," Tomlin said.

Crennel took over a franchise that had gone 30-66 since its return to the league in 1999. He is 10-22 entering his third season.

"In 1999, this program started over. Two years after that, it started over. Four years after that, it started over again," Crennel said. "I think people understand we are starting from scratch. It takes time to build a team."

Crennel, who waited more than two decades before receiving his first head-coaching opportunity, may have been hired two years too soon, suggested Fritz Pollard Alliance counsel Cyrus Mehri.

Pollard was the league's first African-American head coach, in 1921.

"Going into Cincinnati was like going to Siberia for (Bengals coach) Marvin (Lewis). Tony Dungy, going to Tampa Bay at that time, was a disaster. That's been the pattern (for minority coaches)," Mehri said. "But what we're seeing as part of the evolution of change is that black coaches are getting the more coveted positions. Herman Edwards going to Kansas City. Lovie (Smith) going to Chicago. Now, Tomlin going to the Steelers."

Tomlin and Crennel comprise one-third of the league's six minority coaches in a league where more than half of the players are African-American.

Two of those coaches -- Dungy of Indianapolis and Smith -- met in Super Bowl XLI. They became the first African-American coaches to appear in a Super Bowl, with Dungy becoming the first to win it.

"My skin color is black, but I am a head coach," Crennel told the Cleveland media at his inaugural news conference. "The best thing I can do for other



minority candidates is be successful and be a role model."

Navigating the racial tightrope can be a difficult chore for African-American coaches. Proud of their heritage, they would prefer not to make their race an issue. They want to be judged solely by their performance.

Former Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon is the only other African-American to coach a major pro sports team in Pittsburgh. McClendon said he has two words of advice for Tomlin, whom he has never met.

Just win.

"Pittsburgh is a great sports town where fans are passionate about their teams," said McClendon, fired as Pirates manager in September 2005 after compiling a 333-446 record in five seasons. "I can honestly say it had nothing to do with race. It's all about performing on the field. Unfortunately, we just didn't have a very talented club."

McClendon said that because minority head coaches tend to be few in number, they generally are subject to more scrutiny.

"The one thing we've always got to be conscious of is the camera's always on," McClendon said. "Because, whether we want to or not, we do have to represent the black community. Realize that the camera will always be on him. Even at times when it's not on other people, it'll be on us."

Tomlin's rapid ascension in the NFL has been linked in some circles to the Steelers caving under pressure from commissioner Roger Goodell to ensure at least one new minority coach be brought aboard.

"People have this false belief that the league put pressure on Dan Rooney. The owners are the ones in the drivers seat, not the commissioner's office," Mehri said. "The Rooney Rule is not about who you hire. The Rooney Rule is about establishing a professional hiring process. If Dan Rooney had hired somebody other than Mike Tomlin, he still would have fulfilled it, and we still would have applauded him for going through the process."

Rooney also interviewed former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, a Hispanic, along with Russ Grimm, Ken Whisenhunt and Chan Gailey for the Steelers job.

"(Tomlin) showed us in interviews and conversations he was a special guy," Rooney said. "That's the way it went. We didn't have to interview him, because we had already interviewed Rivera, as far as the Rooney Rule."

Good intentions or not, Tomlin said when he was hired that the Steelers didn't hire him because of the color of his skin.

"Once you get into the competition phase of it and you're competing for work, men like the Rooneys want to win and they want to hire men who give them the



best chance to do that," he said.

ACTIVE AFRICAN AMERICAN COACHES AND RECORDS

Romeo Crennel, Cleveland -- 3rd season 10-22

Tony Dungy, Indianapolis -- 12th season 114-62

Herman Edwards, Kansas City -- 7th season 48-48

Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati -- 5th season 35-29

Lovie Smith, Chicago -- 4th season 31-21

Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh -- 1st season 0-0

John Harris can be reached at [email protected] or 412-481-5432.

Images and text copyright © 2007 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.

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Steelers WRs expect to have productive season By Scott Brown TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 9, 2007

The Steelers conjure up many images -- an unyielding defense befitting a place called the "Steel City," a punishing ground game, Terrible Towel-waving fans -- but not game-breaking wide receivers.

That is the opinion of none other than Hines Ward

"You look back throughout history," the 10-year veteran said last week. "What receiver do you know other than (Lynn) Swann and (John) Stallworth that anybody outside of this organization really cared about?"

True, the Weegie Thompson Fan Club disbanded long ago. This year's wide receivers will have to make themselves known outside of the organization if the Steelers are to have a successful season, which isn't a repeat of last year's disappointing 8-8 campaign.

The regular season starts today when the Steelers visit Cleveland, and there are two schools of thought about the team's wideouts.

• They are too small, too callow and in the case of Ward, the four-time Pro Bowler who is poised to break Stallworth's team records for career receiving yards and touchdown receptions, maybe even a little too old at the lead spot.

• Ward is still one of the better wideouts in the game, Santonio Holmes is a star waiting in the wings, Cedrick Wilson is perfectly fine for a No. 3 receiver and Nate Washington just needs to become more consistent to give the Steelers another big-play threat.

Which scenario comes closer to playing out this season could go a long way toward determining whether the Steelers return to the playoffs.

"I know what they can do and how special they are," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said.

Such a statement might cause a few eye rolls considering Roethlisberger needs those wideouts to go over the middle and stretch out for tough catches.

But Roethlisberger has been effusive in his praise of the wide receivers since it became clear the Steelers were going to spread the field more this season. Rather than expose the Steelers' wideouts, Roethlisberger has remained steadfast in his belief that the new offense will showcase them.

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"They might surprise some people outside this locker room," he said, "but they won't surprise me."

Ward, who was recently voted a captain by his teammates, is the unquestioned leader of the group.

He plays with attitude, an edge and the kind of toughness that personifies the Steelers. Ward, 31, is poised to eclipse 1,000 yards in receiving after just missing the mark last year (he had 975 yards on 74 catches).

"I know Santonio and Wilson have really good speed, which you have to be concerned about," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said, "but Hines Ward totally can do it all."

Opposing coaches might be saying the same thing about Holmes soon enough.

He overcame a slow start to his rookie season in 2006 to catch 49 passes for 824 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Holmes, the Steelers' first-round pick in 2006, averaged 16.8 yards a catch last season and figures to only get better. As the former Ohio State star said, the more comfortable he has become at this level, the more the game has slowed down for him.

"When you know what's going on, you have no worries, you're getting out there free-minded just doing your job," said Holmes, who will start opposite Ward this season.

The main job for Washington this season is cut down on the drops.

He led the Steelers in yards per catch (17.8) last season, but he has been maddening at times because of his inability to consistently catch the ball.

He is only in his third season, while Holmes and Willie Reid, the team's fifth wide receiver, are in their second season.

If experience is a concern, there is also a question mark about their size - or specifically their lack of a tall, rangy wideout that would make for an attractive target for Roethlisberger when the Steelers are near their opponents' end zone.

"You look the past four years and I'm probably one of the top four guys in the red zone, and I'm not 6-5 or whatever. It's blown out of proportion," said the 6-foot Ward, who has 58 career touchdown receptions. "You throw it up, I like our chances with the receivers we've got."

So does Roethlisberger.

"There are lot guys talking about Hines being over the hill and that other guys are too young," Roethlisberger said. "You know what, that's fine. We'll just shut up and play."



WIDE RECEIVERS BY THE NUMBERS

1 - NFL games in which Willie Reid, the Steelers, No. 5 receiver, has played.

3 - Total catches Nate Washington had in the Steelers' final three games last season.

6 - Touchdown receptions Hines Ward needs to break John Stallworth's team record for career touchdown catches.

26.2 - Average age of Steelers' wide receivers.

37 - Receptions by Cedrick Wilson last season, the second-highest total of his career.

320 - Receiving yards Santonio Holmes had in the Steelers' final four games in 2006.

Scott Brown can be reached at [email protected] or 412-481-5432.





Even keel, high-powered motor lift Harrison By John Harris TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 9, 2007

Stand beside Steelers right outside linebacker James Harrison and it's easy to understand why all 32 teams passed on him in the NFL draft.

Forget the generous 6-foot listing in the team's media guide. Harrison is 5-10, give or take an inch.

"Too short,'' was the scouts' battle cry regarding Harrison going undrafted. As if that justifies all 32 teams passing on a perfectly good football player.

He is what they call a physical specimen, all 242 evenly-distributed pounds of him. He looks like he's been lifting weights since kindergarten. His upper body ripples with muscles.

Observe Harrison explode to the ball-carrier, wrap up and tackle with the impact of a seven on the richter scale, and you want to place dunce caps on those scouts who overlook the size of a player's heart.

Even the Steelers didn't know what to do with Harrison after signing him as an undrafted free agent in 2002. They released him three times before deciding to keep him.

A few days ago, Harrison stood in front of his locker at the Steelers practice facility and recited why he isn't the least bit miffed about going undrafted.

"I'm where I'm at right now. Whatever path I took to get here, that really doesn't matter,'' Harrison said.

Harrison is asked again, more directly this time, if he uses anger about being overlooked in the draft and then released three times within a year as motivation.

"I don't need to use that as fuel because I'm sure there's thousands of other people out there that went through the same situation or something similar in a different field and perservered,'' Harrison said.

Man-to-man, James. Coming from Kent State, where you had 15 sacks and finished third in the Mid-American Conference's defensive player of the year voting as a senior, you never felt the urge to tell those scouts that you were right and they were wrong?

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Harrison has the answer for that: "Of course, early, just the fact that you were an undrafted free agent and after getting cut, what, three times, you finally stick. After that, it was just a point of how much I need to do to try to get a starting position.''

Ironically, Harrison's first NFL start was in 2004 against the Cleveland Browns. He was an emergency replacement for Joey Porter, who was ejected because of a pre-game brawl with running back William Green. Harrison finished with six tackles and a quarterback hurry in the Steelers' 24-10 victory.

Say hello to Porter's permanent replacement. Harrison makes his second career start against the Browns on the road in today's 2007 opener.

Harrison -- a converted Steelers fan who grew up a "die-hard'' Browns fan in nearby Akron -- received acclaim during the 2005 season when he picked up and body-slammed a man who wandered on the field during the Steelers' 41-0 win in Cleveland.

"I felt like he was a threat,'' Harrison said. "He was a Browns fan. He's probably drunk and mad. I didn't know what he was going to do."

There's something about playing in Cleveland that brings out the best in Harrison.

John Harris can be reached at [email protected] or 412-481-5432.



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Q&A with Steelers DE Eason By The Tribune-Review Sunday, September 9, 2007

Nick Eason will see the Steelers-Browns rivalry from a decidedly different side today when the two teams meet in Cleveland. Eason, a defensive end, played the previous three seasons for the Browns before signing with the Steelers last April.

The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder goes from a team that is again expected to finish last in the AFC North to one that is a year removed from winning the Super Bowl. Then again, Eason's probably been called a lot of things during his life, but dummy is not one of them. He earned a degree in sociology from Clemson in three years and is currently working toward a master's degree.

Eason recently talked about moving from one rival team to another and how he pursued academic excellence better as well as he did quarterbacks when he was at Clemson.

Q: Does it go without saying this game will be a little more special for you since it's the first time you're returning to Cleveland?

A: "Of course. To get a 'W' would be more special for me. Obviously, they didn't think I belonged there, otherwise I would still be there. That's the way I look at it, so you kind of take it personal. Both teams will be up for this game, and I'm just looking forward to being a part of it."

Q: What's the best thing about being in Pittsburgh?

A: "I feel at home. You come from a rival team and you kind of don't know what to expect from your teammates. I've probably exchanged words with these guys when I was wearing the orange helmet, but now I'm in black and gold and there are a lot of quality guys here. I'm glad to be here and glad to be a part of the Steeler Nation."

Q: With whom did you exchange words?

A: "Of course, linebackers are known for that here and defensive backs. I got into a little jabbering with (Ryan) Clark and (Ike) Taylor after the game when it was a pretty close game (in Cleveland last season). It's all in the past. I'm just glad to be a part of this team right now."

Q: How did you graduate from Clemson in three years, especially given how time-consuming football is?

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A: "My parents are both educators and, quite interestingly, my mom really didn't believe I was graduating so soon. I told her 'Well, I've got to order my cap and gown' and she told me 'You just got there a couple of years ago.' It was kind of amazing to her because sometimes you can take courses in high school to get college credit but I didn't do that and to be able to (graduate in three years) was just a great accomplishment. At the time, I was the first Clemson football player in school history to do that."

Q: Did your mom believe you enough to show up for the graduation ceremony?

A: "She showed up. It was an August ceremony and so the family came up and I had practice that evening because we were still in training camp. From there on out, I was announced (at Clemson games) as a graduate student. It's an honor for me."

The Tribune-Review can be reached at or .



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Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vs. Browns DBs By Mike Prisuta TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 9, 2007

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vs. Browns DBs

STEELERS QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER: Entering his fourth season, Roethlisberger is being given the keys to the kingdom by first-year offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who will count upon Roethlisberger to be much more of a difference-maker than a game manager this season.

Roethlisberger will be making changes in the blocking assignments at the line this season, a task that used to be handled by retired center Jeff Hartings. Roethlisberger has also been involved in game-planning for the first time and is being encouraged to call audibles. It's clear that Arians wants this to be Roethlisberger's offense, and he wants to attack with a franchise quarterback taking advantage of what the Steelers consider to be an array of downfield weapons.

They'll be counting on the Roethlisberger who led a charge to the Super Bowl in 2005, not the one that threw 23 interceptions in 2006.

BROWNS DBs: Second-round pick Eric Wright is starting at left cornerback, opposite fifth-year pro Leigh Bodden. The safeties are fourth-year pro Sean Jones and third-year man Brodney Pool. The Browns have ability in the secondary but lack experience.

The three holdovers combined for eight interceptions a year ago, when Cleveland ranked No. 15 against the pass. More consistency will be required this time around, particularly against teams such as the Steelers, who have announced their intention to go to a no-huddle offense more often.

THE MATCHUP: The Browns had Roethlisberger right where they wanted him last Nov. 19 in Cleveland. His totals through three quarters included seven completions in 15 attempts for 48 yards and three interceptions, one of which had been returned for a touchdown, and the Browns led, 10-3. But in the fourth quarter, the Steelers went no-huddle, and Roethlisberger went 18 for 29 for 224 yards and two scores as the Steelers escaped, 24-20. The Browns can ill-afford a similar meltdown if they hope to snap their seven-game losing streak against the Steelers. EDGE: ROETHLISBERGER

Mike Prisuta can be reached at [email protected] or 412-320-7923.



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09/09/2007

Steelers at Browns: The Storylines By: Chris Harlan

TOMLIN TIME: The Mike Tomlin era begins today, when the 35-year-old first-year head coach paces the sideline during his first regular-season game as coach of the Steelers. And he's quickly learning about the rivalry with Cleveland. "I am aware of it and I think that is one of the most exciting things about being a part of the AFC North for me," Tomlin said. "It is just how close and special these kinds of rivalries are. Bus trips. Short flights. They create an interesting element and I am enjoying it and starting to understand what it is about." Tomlin is the second-youngest head coach in the NFL behind only the Oakland Raiders' Lane Kiffin, who's 32. A former defensive assistant with the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tomlin was hired in late January when Bill Cowher retired after 15 seasons as Steelers head coach. HIM AGAIN: Jamal Lewis has always run well in Cleveland, but that's mostly because the 28-year-old RB was playing against the Browns. Now he's playing for the Browns. Lewis, who topped 1,000 yards in five of his six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, signed with the Browns during the off-season as a free agent. Lewis rushed for 1,132 yards and nine TDs in 2006. Now the Browns' featured back, he provides Cleveland with the dominant runner they've been missing since at least the mid-'80s. PORTER HOUSE: This used to be Joey Porter's day to do something crazy. Sometimes he'd get ejected before kickoff. Sometimes he'd try to start a fight at midfield. Sometimes he'd call an opposing player a derogatory name. His antics helped keep the rivalry going. Now, though, the former Steelers LB is in Miami meaning today's game is likely to be a little tamer. THE BOTTOM LINE Which Ben Roethlisberger will show up? The quarterback who won 14 games as a rookie in 2004 and won Super Bowl XL in 2005? Or the guy who threw 23 interceptions last year? That, ultimately, will decide this season. But even Bad Ben could win this game. Prediction: STEELERS 20, BROWNS 10

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09/09/2007

Steelers vs. Browns: Key Matchups By: Mike Bires

JAMES HARRISON VS. JOE THOMAS Three years ago, Harrison made his first pro start in Cleveland when he filled in for Joey Porter, who was ejected for his role in a pre-game fight. But this year, Harrison has taken over full-time at right outside linebacker now that Porter plays for Miami. For much of today's game, Harrison will line up across from Thomas, the rookie out of Wisconsin taken by the Browns with the third overall pick of the NFL Draft. Thomas, the first tackle ever drafted by the Browns in the first round, was last year's Outland Trophy winner as the best offensive lineman in college. The Browns expect Thomas to anchor their O-line for years to come. STEELERS KICK COVERAGE VS. JOSHUA CRIBBS Never before in their storied 75-year history had the Steelers devoted as much time in training camp to special teams as they did this summer. Today, we'll see if the time was well spent - at least in regards to covering kicks. In Cribbs, a third-year pro out of Kent State, the Browns boast one of the NFL's top return specialists. In his first two years in the league, Cribbs returned only kickoffs. As a rookie, he returned one 90 yards for the Browns' only touchdown in a 13-10 loss to the Detroit Lions. Last year in a 24-20 loss to the Steelers in Cleveland, Cribbs returned a kickoff 92 yards for a TD that gave the Browns a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead. This year, Cribbs returns both punts and kickoffs. MIKE TOMLIN VS. ROMEO CRENNEL Never before in franchise history has a Steelers' first-year coach had this much pressure placed on him for a regular-season opener. In 1969, Chuck Noll had no pressure on him at all. He had inherited a team coming off five straight losing seasons, including a 2-11-1 record in '68. In 1992, Bill Cowher took over after Noll's last seven teams went 51-60, including 7-9 in '91. Tomlin, however, has a team that went 15-1, 11-5 and 8-8 the past three years and is just two seasons removed from the franchise's fifth Super Bowl title. He's also the first African-American head coach the Steelers have ever had. Meanwhile, Crennel (pictured) is definitely on the hot seat in Year 3 of his regime. After going 6-10 in his first year in Cleveland, Crennel slipped to 4-12 last year. And he's just 1-11 in the AFC North. If the Browns get off to a slow start this year, fans will be calling for Crennel's head and begging management to hire Cowher as Cleveland's next coach. - Mike Bires

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09/09/2007

Steelers vs. Browns: Five Questions By: Mike Bires

1. How has Browns running back Jamal Lewis fared against the Steelers over the years? Lewis, who spent the first six years of his pro career with the Baltimore Ravens, has rushed for over 100 yards in a game 30 times so far in his career. But only once has he rushed for 100 against the Steelers. That was in the regular-season finale in 2003 - Lewis was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year that season - when he rushed for 114 yards and 27 carries in the Ravens' 13-10 overtime win. Lewis, signed by the Browns as an unrestricted free agent in March, ranks 10th among active NFL running backs with 7,801 yards. In 12 games against the Steelers, he's averaged 61.0 yards per game. In 79 other games, he's averaged 89.5. 2. How has Steelers running back Willie Parker fared against the Browns? Parker, a fourth-year pro, has rushed for over 100 yards 13 times in his career. Two of those games were against the Browns, including last year's Dec. 7 snowfest at Heinz Field when "Fast Willie" set a franchise single-game record with 223 yards. In five games against the Browns, Parker has averaged 88.6 rushing yards per game. But before his record-setting 223-yard performance last year in Pittsburgh, he was held to just 46 yards in Cleveland on Nov. 19 when the Steelers rallied for a 24-20 win. Parker scored the game-winning touchdown in that game by catching a 4-yard shuffle pass from Ben Roethlisberger with just 32 seconds left to play. 3. Beside the Steelers, what other NFL franchises are wearing anniversary patches on their jerseys this season? Like the Steelers, the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins are celebrating their 75th anniversaries. The Cincinnati Bengals' jerseys features a patch commemorating their 40th anniversary. 4. Who is John Big Dawg Thompson? A season-ticket holder since 1978, he's the recognized "Canine in Chief" of the Browns' famous cheering section affectionately nicknamed the "Dawg Pound." Thompson is the large, rotund "Dawg" who always wears a dog mask and a No. 98 Browns jersey. He just may be the most recognizable sports fan in America. He's so serious about his status in the "Pound" that he legally changed his name several years ago from John Thompson to John Big Dawg Thompson. 5. Why does history suggest the Browns will win today? Today, Mike Tomlin tries to break a dubious streak. The Browns have won every game at home in the "Turnpike when the Steelers have had a new coach. The last eight times the Steelers changed coaches, each of those men lost their first game in Cleveland. The list:

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Tomlin era begins vs. Browns By F. Dale Lolley, Staff writer

[email protected]

CLEVELAND - As somebody who never played for either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Cleveland Browns and who doesn't hail from either city, Mike Tomlin is something of an outsider in the long-running series.

But that doesn't mean the Steelers' new head coach isn't quickly figuring out what a game against Cleveland is all about.

"A lot of things are important in this town in regards to the Steelers," said Tomlin. "I'm starting to understand that. ... I think that's one of the things that's been exciting about being part of the AFC North for me, how close and special these rivalries are. Bus trips, short flights, it creates and interesting element. I'm enjoying it. I'm starting to get an understanding what it's about. I'm sure I'll get a better understanding of it the longer I'm here because we're all products of our shared experiences. But I've got a great deal of respect for it and look forward to being a part of it."

Just the 16th coach in the team's 75-year history, Tomlin is also just Pittsburgh's third head coach since 1969 as well.

"He's got something to prove," Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said of Tomlin. "He's out here for a purpose. There have been only two coaches here in the last (38) years, so there's a lot of pressure on him.

"But he wants to go out and prove to everybody he can be a great coach."

Tomlin said earlier this week that he's not treating his first regular season game as a head coach any differently than any of the five preseason games he coached. But the players noticed a difference in him during the week leading up to today's opener at Cleveland (1 p.m.).

"He's definitely had a little extra hop in his step this week," said linebacker Larry Foote. "But we all have. We're all ready to go out and play a game that means something. We want to get him a W in his first game."

A loss to Cleveland would not only start the Tomlin era off on the wrong foot, it would give the Browns a rare victory in a series they once dominated.

The Steelers have won 13 of the past 14 meetings and 14 of 17 - counting one playoff game - since Cleveland re-entered the NFL in 1999. The overall series now stands even at 55-55 counting two playoff games.

And while the players may no longer look at Cleveland as their biggest rival within the AFC North, many of the fans still do.

"It might be overblown, but it doesn't seem odd coming from our fans and media and stuff," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "I saw Alan (Faneca) last night at the grocery store and we were

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signing autographs and stuff throughout the grocery store. People were coming up and saying, 'You have to win or our season's over.' Geez, it's the first game of the year. But we take that mentality that it's a must-win for us because it is a divisional game, it is the first game and it's a start."

The Steelers certainly want to get off to a better start than they did last season. Despite winning their season opener against Miami, Pittsburgh was just 2-6 at the midway point of last season before finishing 8-8.

Two of those victories last season came against Cleveland, including their second meeting last December when Willie Parker set a Steelers' record with 223 rushing yards in a 27-7 victory in which the Steelers outrushed the Browns 303-18.

That game was one of the low points in Cleveland head coach Romeo Crennel's first two seasons with the Browns, a tenure that has seen the Browns go just 10-22.

There is some added excitement in Cleveland this year, however, as the team made a draft-day trade to acquire a second first-round draft choice, a selection used on quarterback Brady Quinn.

But despite a solid preseason, Quinn won't start today against the Steelers. That honor will fall on three-year veteran Charlie Frye.

Frye is winless in two starts against the Steelers, including a start during his rookie season in 2005 when he was sacked eight times and had four fumbles in a 41-0 Christmas Eve mauling.

It was a much different story in his second start, as Frye led the Browns to a 13-3 lead early in the fourth quarter before Roethlisberger rallied the Steelers to a 24-20 win.

"Charlie has experience," said Crennel of his decision to start Frye. "He has the most experience of all the quarterbacks on our team. I think he has started 18 games, so I felt like that was worth something. I also thought in the competition we had in the preseason, I think he became a stronger quarterback, as a result of that competition, so I chose him."

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Steelers look like sure thing in first week There is no more unsettled week for making picks than the first one of the football season.

It's often difficult to read how a team will react to new things - coaches, players, schemes - particularly because many teams don't show too much in the preseason. So how those changes will affect a team is something that needs to be seen for a few weeks before it can properly be judged.

But as the Steelers prepare to open the season against the Cleveland Browns in head coach Mike Tomlin's first game, the oddsmakers have installed them as 41/2 -point favorites. That sounds a little low in this case.

Cleveland is an improved team this season, but not to the point where the Browns will be a contender for a playoff spot in the rugged AFC.

And the Steelers have the look of a team that may not be in the top tier of teams, but is certainly in that next group of five or six clubs who will be battling for a postseason berth. They have their warts to be sure, but the overall talent is far superior to Cleveland's.

The Steelers have dominated the series in recent years, winning 12 of the last 13 meetings and that shouldn't change this week.

Take Pittsburgh to win and cover as the pick of the week, 24-13.

Kansas City (plus 3)

at Houston

Who's idea was it to do a TV show on the Chiefs' training camp? Anybody who watched that program on HBO knows that this Kansas City club is in trouble, especially since star running back Larry Johnson will be limited early in the year after skipping most of training camp. Houston's not a great team by any stretch, but should be able to handle the Chiefs at home.

Take Houston, 20-14.

Denver (plus 3)

at Buffalo

The talk of the preseason has been how Buffalo's J.P. Losman is a quarterback ready to take the next step and become a superstar. Sorry, I'm not buying it, especially this week against Denver's secondary. New Denver running back Travis Henry also began his career in Buffalo before the Bills got rid of him when they drafted Willis McGahee. How did that work out? Henry should be highly motivated against his old club.

Take Denver, 27-20.

Jacksonville (plus 61/2)

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at Tennessee

Why are the Jaguars giving 61/2 points on the road to a Tennessee team that nearly made the playoffs last year? Mostly because the Titans dumped practically every good offensive player they have - including Henry - in the offseason, save for QB Vince Young. But the Titans aren't bad.

Take Tennessee to cover and win outright, 17-16.

Carolina (minus 1)

at St. Louis

Carolina is a team many feel could contend again in the NFC, but I really like St. Louis this season as a surprise team. The offense is explosive and the defense should be better this season.

Take St. Louis, 27-24.

Philadelphia (minus 3) at Green Bay

Donovan McNabb is back for the Eagles and looks healthy as he returns from a knee injury that forced him to miss most of the second half of last season. This will probably be Brett Favre's last hurrah this season.

It won't begin well. Take Philadelphia, 31-17.

Atlanta (plus 3)

at Minnesota

What a quarterback matchup - Joey Harrington versus Tavarius Jackson. The Vikings are better defensively than Atlanta. That should be the difference.

Take the Vikings, 13-9.

Miami (plus 3)

at Washington

The Dolphins will be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, but Washington isn't far behind in that conversation. The Redskins are playing at home and will unleash their two-headed rushing attack of Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts.

Take Washington, 23-17.

New England

(minus 61/2) at N.Y. Jets

This is a strange line. The Patriots are everybody's favorite to win the Super Bowl this season. The Jets, meanwhile, handed in their Cinderella slippers at the end of last season.



Take the Patriots, 30-14.

Tampa Bay (plus 6)

at Seattle

The Bucaneers couldn't travel any farther for their opener unless they were leaving the country. Seattle is usually pretty tough to beat at home.

Take Seattle, 24-10

Chicago (plus 6)

at San Diego

One of the marquee matchups of the first week pits a couple of possible Super Bowl contenders. But as we saw when Indianapolis dismantled New Orleans Thursday night, there's a difference between a contender in the AFC versus one in the NFC.

Take San Diego, 23-13.

Detroit (plus 2)

at Oakland

Hard to believe the Raiders are favored to beat anybody after their pitiful season last year. But Daunte Culpepper is a huge upgrade at quarterback compared to the bums the Raiders ran out last season.

Detroit will be improved this season, but Oakland's defense is pretty good.

Take the Raiders, 20-17.

N.Y. Giants (plus 6)

at Dallas

The Cowboys should be motivated to get new head coach Wade Phillips a win to open the season. The Giants may be motivated to get head coach Tom Coughlin fired as soon as possible.

Take Dallas, 31-21.

Baltimore (plus 21/2)

at Cincinnati

Cincinnati's defense still has many problems. Baltimore's defense won't be as good this season as it was last season, but the Ravens should be able to get a win here.

Take Baltimore, 23-21.



Arizona (plus 3)

at San Francisco

This is an intriguing game of two teams who are improving, but likely aren't ready to take the next step just yet. It should be a shootout and if that's the case, I like Arizona's talent a little better. Plus, 49ers running back Frank Gore will be seeing his first action after sitting out the preseason with a broken hand.

Take Arizona, 31-30.




Cowher's prediction objective, fair Give Bill a break. A few players and some of the Steeler Nation citizenry were upset a few days ago when Bill Cowher had the brazenness to do what every other sane person in North America has done for the past several months.

He picked the Steelers to finish third in the AFC North.

Of course, many of the fine citizens of the Steeler Nation immediately called him a traitor and one of his former players, James Farrior, said he was, "very disappointed" and thought Cowher, "had our backs."

Two things to keep in mind here:

1. Cowher was responding to a question.

2. CBS is paying him lots of money to be objective.

If they wanted a cheerleader, they would have hired Steely McBeam. If you were to check the first 1,000 or so NFL previews for 2007, you would find that on about 997 of them, the Steelers are picked to finish behind the Ravens and the Bengals.

That doesn't mean they will.

What it does mean is the Steelers have to prove themselves to a lot of people this season. They were 8-8 last year and playing in the toughest division in the NFL.

They have a rookie head coach.

Their quarterback led the league in interceptions last year.

The Ravens and Bengals are pretty good.

Cowher also said Mike Tomlin has a much tougher division to deal with than the one he had to face during his first season in 1992. The Ravens, Bengals and the Steelers, if you were to offer it to them now, would probably take a split of their two games with each other. A 10-6 finish for Mike Tomlin might require a better coaching performance than Cowher had to come up with in, say, 2001, when he finished 13-3 in a six-team division that had four sub-.500 teams.

Think maybe Cowher knows that?

I give Cowher credit for giving an honest answer. It also makes me think he's telling the truth when he says he's not interested in coaching again any time soon.

n Dave Littlefield is an idiot. We all know that, right? He should have been fired a long time ago. He signed Derek Bell to that long term ... oh, wait ... that was that other idiot, Cam Bonifay.

What is it about working in Pittsburgh that makes really smart baseball men turn into really stupid baseball men?

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I seem to remember everybody saying that Dave Littlefield was an up-and-comer when the Pirates hired him in 2001. Somehow, he was smart enough when he was working for the Florida Marlins that he was promoted from director of player development to assistant general manager within three years.

I don't recall anyone claiming he was stupid back in 2001, when the Pirates hired him. I seem to remember everyone saying his track record with the Marlins showed he was an astute baseball man and a perfect guy for the job.

I also seem to remember Cam Bonifay was named Major League Executive of the Year in 1997, after his fifth season as Pirates GM. Joe L. Brown, who built two world series winners, somehow managed to work in Pittsburgh and not get stupid. Brown is the only other Pirates executive to win the award.

Something happened to Bonifay between 1997, when he was Executive of the Year and the Pirates were named Organization of the Year by USA Today, and 2001 to make him really, really stupid. And he didn't get any smarter when he went to Tampa Bay as minor league director.

From what I understand, the Devil Rays have the same problem with smart baseball people. They're smart when they're hired and then become really stupid.

n I'm trying to imagine Barry Bonds delivering season tickets door-to-door the way Sidney Crosby did Thursday.

n Rodney Harrison of the New England Patriots was suspended for the first four games of the season for a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy. He admitted to using human growth hormone. I'm sure his is just an isolated case. Most of the guys in the NFL got that big naturally.

n The Steelers should hope Mike Tomlin starts his career the way Bill Cowher started his in 1992 and not the way the previous three coaches started theirs. In 1965, Mike Nixon lost his first five on the way to a 2-12 season before getting fired. Bill Austin tied his first game in 1966, won his second and lost the next five on his way to 5-8-1. Chuck Noll won his first one in 1969 and then lost the next 16, going 1-13 and then 5-9.

n Whomever the Nuttings hire to be the Pirates' general manager will be working with a payroll that is less than half that as the top three teams in the division. That means all they have to do to compete is hire a guy who's at least twice as smart. What's so hard about that?

John Steigerwald is a sports anchor for KDKA-TV and does a daily radio show on 93.7-FM. He writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.


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Less draft choices earning roster spots By F. Dale Lolley, Staff writer

[email protected]

If a player is drafted, even semi-early, it is apparently no guarantee of a roster spot any longer in the NFL.

Two teams - Oakland and Arizona - released players they selected in the third round of this year's draft, while New Orleans and the Steelers cut fourth-round selections.

And overall, more draft picks were released this year than usual. Teams released 25 percent of their picks, slightly up from previous years.

The highest picks to be released were defensive end Quintin Moses, the first pick of the third round by Oakland, linebacker Buster Davis, the 69th overall pick by Arizona; running back Antonio Pittman, a fourth-rounder by New Orleans; and defensive end Ryan McBean, the second of two fourth round picks by the Steelers.

Even with the increase in cuts, seven teams - Baltimore, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami, San Diego and the Jets and Giants - kept all of their picks.

The Dolphins, who had 10 draft picks, also kept three undrafted free agents on their 53-man roster, giving them 13 rookies.

In addition to McBean, the Steelers also released fifth-rounder Cameron Stephenson, a guard, and wide receiver Dallas Baker, their seventh-round pick.

Waiver watching

If you ever wonder if any shenanigans occur during the final round of player cuts before the season opens, you don't have to any longer.

According to the Associated Press, Minnesota coach Brad Childress admitted he and New England coach Bill Belichick had a conversation last week about two players that both teams wanted to pass through waivers.

According to Childress, Belichick called to ask him not to claim tight end Garrett Mills, offering to avoid picking up a player the Vikings cut. Childress declined.

"He didn't really care for that," Childress said Sunday morning on WCCO-AM. "He was trying to leverage, but you always find out who is honest and straightforward."

The Vikings claimed Mills, while the Patriots claimed linebacker David Herron from Minnesota.

Odds on Cleveland

During a conference call with the Cleveland media this week, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger

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said when he and his teammates discuss where Bill Cowher, their former coach, will end up, the top pick is Cleveland.

Cowher, who said last week the soonest he would return to coaching would be in 2009, resigned after last season to spend time with his family in North Carolina and is now working as an analyst for CBS.

"Honestly, there's talk around here among some of the players, we joke around, we think that might be his No. 1 spot," Roethlisberger said of Cowher going to Cleveland.

Cowher was a member of the Browns during his playing days and also coached there as an assistant to Marty Schottenheimer.

Glenn to miss season?

A story earlier this week on the Dallas Cowboys' official team web site quoted owner Jerry Jones as saying wide receiver Terry Glenn would miss the entire season with a right knee injury.

The story lasted on the Cowboys' site for just a few minutes before being pulled, replaced with a story that said Glenn would only miss a couple of weeks.

Oops.

Two QBs or not

two QBs

A few years ago, the decision to keep only two quarterbacks on your active roster was big news in the NFL. But not any more.

Heading into the first weekend of the season, 14 teams have just two quarterbacks on their rosters. That number is up from nine teams who did so in 2006 and four in 2005.

There are a couple of reasons for that.

First, when the NFL expanded the practice squad from five to eight players a couple of years ago, it opened up some spots to put a third quarterback to run the scout team.

Secondly, a third quarterback saw action in just four of 256 regular season games in 2006, with each of those third-stringers getting into the game as part of a coach's decision instead of an injury.

Odds and end zones

Denver cornerback Champ Bailey's 18 interceptions in the past two seasons are the most by a player in a two-year period since Dallas' Everson Walls had 18 in the 1981 and 1982 seasons. ... Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend's 15.5 career sacks are the most in team history for a defensive back. ... Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor enters the season needing 487 yards to become the 21st player in league history with 10,000 career rushing yards. ... New England quarterback Tom Brady has lost just once in 22 games played on artificial turf.


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September 9, 2007

PERSONNEL FILE

Steelers’ Parker Takes Aim at Being the New Nemesis

By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN

For the last few seasons, a running theme in the N.F.L. has been running back Jamal Lewis’s dominance

against the Cleveland Browns’ defense. The Browns ended that threat by signing Lewis in the off-season and

naming him the team’s starting tailback. A leading candidate to take over his dominance is WILLIE PARKER,

the Steelers’ fleet-footed running back.

Parker has rushed for 399 yards and 3 touchdowns in his last three games against the Browns, including a

223-yard shredding on Dec. 7. That was only part of a breakout season, Parker’s second year as a starter,

when he rushed for 1,494 yards and 13 touchdowns only three years after going undrafted out of North

Carolina.

Cleveland’s unproven offense will probably have the team playing from behind most of the game leading to

an abundance of carries for Parker. That is bad news for a defensive unit that ranked 29th against the run in

2006.

Not Done Yet

When the Eagles spent a second-round draft pick on quarterback Kevin Kolb, the incumbent Donovan

McNabb was understandably upset. In only 10 games last season, McNabb threw for 2,647 yards and 18

touchdowns.

McNabb has played in only 19 games over the last two seasons, which makes the move a bit easier to justify.

But a healthy McNabb will take the field today against a Packers defense that he easily handled last season,

throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for two more.

While the Packers’ defense has improved, Kolb’s presence should provide McNabb with plenty of motivation

to succeed.

They Have Legs

A game featuring a huge amount of star power on defense, the matchup between the Chargers and the Bears

could come down to which team gets more out of its kicking game. While Robbie Gould, the Bears’ place-

kicker, was a big story last season for not missing a field goal until Week 12, San Diego’s Nate Kaeding edged

him in accuracy (89.7 percent to 88.9 percent) and distance (a long of 54 versus Gould’s long of 49).

Not to Worry

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Be it Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, Trent Green or Damon Huard at quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs,

nothing has stopped tight end Tony Gonzalez from producing. Entering his 11th season, Gonzalez is likely on

his way to his 10th consecutive season with more than 600 yards receiving. The Texans, ranked 22nd against

the pass in 2006, should not provide much of a roadblock.

High and Low

A smattering of retirements that included Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, Corey Dillon and Tiki Barber has left

EDGERRIN JAMES as the leading active rusher in the N.F.L. with 10,385 yards. Facing a revamped San

Francisco defense tomorrow night, James will try to improve on the career-low 3.4 yards a carry that he

averaged in 2006.

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September 9, 2007

Retired From Coaching, Cowher Plays His Own Tune

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bill Cowher appeared at ease, nary a sign of that familiar intense look he wore on the sideline during 15 years

as the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Suddenly, and for the only time during an interview Tuesday, his body language changed briefly while he

spoke of a new endeavor — playing the piano.

It seems his teacher, Kim Russ, is pretty demanding.

“You’ve got to practice three or four times a week,” Cowher said. “She can tell when I don’t. She doesn’t make

me run laps or anything, but she gets on me pretty good if I don’t practice enough.

“I walk out of there, my back’s hurting, my neck’s knotted up and my fingers are really sore. I told her I had a

bad pinkie, she said she wanted to hear results — she doesn’t want excuses.”

Ah, the rigors of retirement.

Actually, Cowher said he was having a great time, and chuckled about a piano teacher getting on him perhaps

the same way he got on his players. He said he wanted to learn how to play the piano for years, but did not

have time in a profession he remembered as all-encompassing.

“I don’t miss it,” he said. “I find myself sleeping better. You’re not as stress-driven. You learn to cope being a

coach. You don’t realize it when you’re in the middle of it.”

Although he is only 50, Cowher insists he does not plan to coach again, but knows better than to close the

door.

“In all honesty, I hope I don’t coach again,” said Cowher, who was in Los Angeles to promote DirecTV’s

N.F.L. Sunday Ticket. “I have no plans to do it. I don’t ever want to say never. I don’t want to be a hypocrite.

But I have no plans to coach again and I can honestly say I don’t see it happening in the near future.”

Cowher left the Steelers in January with a long list of accomplishments that could land him in the Hall of

Fame someday: a 161-99-1 record, 2 Super Bowl appearances with 1 championship, 6 American Football

Conference championship game appearances and 10 playoff berths.

He did not stay unemployed long, quickly landing a job with CBS as a studio analyst, a job that has enabled

him to spend more time checking out the entire N.F.L. before the start of a season than he ever had while

coaching the Steelers.

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“I’m looking forward to the start of the season, doing the CBS thing,” he said. “It’s still a chance to be part of

the game. I spent the Labor Day weekend with my family at the beach. I’m going to move my girls to

Princeton next week.

“You can always go back to coaching. You can’t go back to spending time with your family.”

And that, Cowher said, was the determining factor in his leaving a job he no doubt could have held for many

years, if not the rest of his coaching life.

“After last year, I just thought it was time,” he said. “I wanted to spend more time with my family, smell the

roses. Balance is really important. It wasn’t so much the coaching, it was the fish bowl you live in.”

Cowher said while he was passionate about his job and loved the competition involved in coaching, he was far

less intense when he was away from it all.

“You can’t be like that all the time,” he said. “I never brought my job to my house, I never brought my house

to the job. That’s why I was able to sustain it all that time.”

Cowher and his wife, Kaye, have two daughters at Princeton — Meagan and Lauren. And their youngest

daughter, Lindsay, is a junior in high school in Raleigh, N.C.

He said if the expected offers were made, it will be flattering, but there is no way he will consider coaching

before Lindsay finishes high school.

“I’m not going to walk out of her life,” he said. “It’s nice to have options. It’s hard to say what the future holds.

I don’t have any long-term plans.”

As a studio analyst, Cowher will be watching several games at once before offering his opinions. And he will

be a Steelers fan.

“You don’t work for people like the Rooneys and at a place like that for 15 years and not pull for them,” he

said. “A lot of the coaches and players I worked with are still there. I’ll always pull for them, but objectively.

I’m going to analyze them like anybody else.”

Then, after a brief pause, Cowher said with a smile, “Like I was analyzed for the last 15 years.”

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Birth of The Nation: the Steelers of the '30sprod.static.steelers.clubs.nfl.com/assets/images/imported/Media... · Birth of The Nation: the Steelers of the '30s ... By Robert Dvorchak,