Dec 15, 2002 By -jim Wexell 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – The last time Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed played against a team that had scorned him – or passed on him at one of his seven tryouts this season – he tied a team record with 6 field goals in 6 attempts against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Get the record book ready for alterations. Not only did the Carolina Panthers pass on Reed, they didn’t allow the hometown kid to attend either of the two tryouts they held to replace kicker John Kasay.

Kasay went down with a hernia after the second game of the season. The first replacement, Jon Hilbert, was cut after the third game, and the second replacement, Shayne Graham, missed a 24-yard attempt in the final seconds of a 17-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers. It was Carolina’s first loss after starting the season 3-0.

“They had two open tryouts and I was in Charlotte,” said Reed, who kicked at the University of North Carolina. “I called them myself and left a message that went, ‘I live 15 minutes from your stadium. I’ll drive myself and tryout if you’ll give me a chance.’ They returned my phone call to my agent and said they weren’t looking for any rookies and that threw me out of that.

“A lot of teams are looking for experience and that’s understandable.”

Reed, who has converted 11 of 13 field-goal attempts in three games with the Steelers, doesn’t consider this a big game for him personally, but if he does well the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might begin worrying. Reed tried out for the Bucs this year and will have his chance to show them what they missed next Monday night.

Injury Report

Hines Ward (hamstring) returned to practice Friday but wasn’t sure whether he’d play today or end his 77-game playing streak.

“I’m a good healer,” Ward said optimistically.

Inside linebacker James Farrior (sternum) wasn’t as enthusiastic but sounded dutiful when he said: “I’m playing. I have no choice.”

Left tackle Wayne Gandy (calf) practiced on a limited basis Friday and is the most likely of the Steelers’ three questionable players to miss the game. If Gandy can’t play, Oliver Ross will play left tackle. He played the position once last year and held Baltimore Ravens end Michael McCrary to half a sack.

The Panthers go into the game without middle linebacker Dan Morgan, who was placed on injured reserve this week with a dislocated shoulder.

The Panthers’ top blitzing linebacker, Hannibal Navies, is expected to return after missing two games with a sprained ankle. He’s listed as questionable, as is left tackle Todd Steussie, who sprained his right knee in the first half of last week’s game.

Steussie and Navies are expected to play, along with tight end Wesley Walls, who was carted off the Panthers’ practice field Thursday after aggravating the injured plantar fascia of his right foot.

Last week, Walls became the NFL’s all-time leader in receptions for a tight end with 429. He caught two passes to break a tie with Mike Ditka. Wells also moved into third on the tight ends’ all-time touchdown list. Walls has 53 to rank behind Jerry Smith (60) and Shannon Sharpe (54).

He Hate Whom?

Carolina special-teams tackles leader Rod “HeHateMe” Smart of XFL fame explained to the Charlotte Observer how his nickname came about.

“I was always saying, ‘he hate me,’ all through camp in (Las) Vegas,” Smart said. “Football is very political at the pro level, and because I came in as the last back, if I didn’t get a (carry), I’d talk to the other running backs and say, ‘he hate me, man; this coach hate me.’ I was always saying that.”

So Smart put the name on the back of his Las Vegas Outlaws uniform. He contemplated having his name formally changed in order to put it on his NFL uniform, but has instead attempted, unsuccessfully, to have the name copyrighted.

“We probably would have had it already,” Smart said, “but somebody else had a similar name – ‘Hate Me.'”