Steelers are still always the guys in white hats
PITTSBURGH – Their uniforms are predominantly black, as are their helmets, but the Steelers still manage to wear the white hats. They are the good guys whenever they play, be it in the regular season, playoffs or Super Bowl.
They are the antithesis of Oakland Al Davis or the Dallas Cowboys, total opposites of the Terrell Owenses and the Ray Lewises and the Randy Mosses of today’s NFL.
For every Rodney Harrison late hit fine, the Steelers offer a James Harrison, who has played fine as a fill-in.
They are the NFL’s version of the Boston Celtics and anyone who beats the New York Yankees.
How do they do it year after year, team after team?
Suffice to say, it’s no accident.
“It starts at the top and works its way down,” defensive end Aaron Smith said. “It starts with Mr. Rooney and works its way down through coach Cowher and his assistants and to the players. We come in here and work hard, all the time.
“All we are about is playing football and playing it well. They brought in some great veterans who kind of set the tone for the younger players. Players like Jerome Bettis and Alan Faneca and Kimo von Oelhoffen. Those guys have been around in this the league and it really helps set an example for the younger guys of how to be a professional.”
So, while some teams are forced to deal with a running back pleading guilty to lesser charges or a linebacker plea bargaining his way out of a double homicide, the Steelers biggest controversies this season has been limited to on-the-field behavior.
Was it Hines Ward being accused of blocking too well or Joey Porter being benched for his involvement in a foolish pre-game name-calling session?
Take your pick.
As a trickle down, instead of answering questions about Moss leaving the sideline two seconds before a game ends or whether Owens should or should not spend his free time catching naked actresses, the Steelers are answering questions about football.
Strange concept, isn’t it?
The toughest questions this week, as the Steelers prepare to put their 15-1 record on the line in an AFC divisional playoff game against the New York Jets, relate to whether Bettis or Duce Staley will start at running back.
And, even then, the answers come a lot easier than you might imagine.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Bettis said. “We’re both going to play, I guarantee you that.”
How’s that for controversy.
No, Joe Willie Namath, he isn’t.
Instead, he is just what Cowher wanted, what the coach has been striving for in his first 12 seasons as coach of the Steelers, what he really hasn’t had until this season.
While the two-pronged big back running attack is relatively new in Pittsburgh, the attitude Bettis exhibits isn’t.
Pressed on the issue, Bettis was asked if it is important to know ahead of time whether he or Staley will start.
“No,” Bettis said. “The Philly game, I found out driving to the game.”
All he did that day was run 33 times for 149 yards in his first start of the season. It was supposed to be Staley’s big chance to go against his former teammates, but he was deactivated due to a hamstring injury suffered a week earlier against the Patriots.
“It is frustrating,” Bettis said in the closest thing to controversy the Steelers produce. But Bettis realizes, perhaps from his vast experience that saying so is one thing and acting frustrated is something totally different.
There will be no pouting. There will be no declarations. There is no room for anything but playing as hard as you can for as long as you can until the coaches tell you to do something else.
If it’s that way for a future Hall of Famer like Bettis, believe it’s that way for the last player on the 53-man roster and for the team’s other stars, like All Pros James Farrior, Faneca and Jeff Hartings.
Cornerback Willie Williams first came here in Cowher’s second season as a sixth-round draft pick. Williams overachieved with the Steelers and signed a free agent contract with Seattle before returning this season. He should know what being a Steeler is all about.
“Bill Cowher is in his 13th season here and he has always been consistent,” Williams said. “That filters down throughout the roster. You’ve got to have the right mix of people to win football games.”
And nowhere in that mix is there any room for troublemakers, malcontents or hangers-on. Just football players.
Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com.