Minicamp was no place for phonies
From the notebook of a reporter who was blown away by the real-ness – if that’s a word – of this Steelers minicamp past: This was no place for phonies. Alan Faneca made sure of that from the get-go.
So we walked into the locker room – we, meaning the horde of reporters at the first day of minicamp – and went directly to Faneca’s locker. He had his back to us. The most veteran of reporters asked Alan if he had a minute. He stood up, bent down and then up to flip his hair back, and said, ‘Go ahead.’ The best reporter in the room was allowed to ask the first six questions or so to get the ball rolling.
When it was over, one reporter tried to joke with him, but Faneca didn’t want to play nice. We got the message and left him alone.
After every reporter left the locker room, a source told me Hines Ward tried to make small talk but Faneca waved him off. The source said Ben Roethlisberger then walked up to Faneca and began chatting. Alan put on his I-pod and walked away.
Faneca’s so-called rant was thoughtful and he never crossed the line. He just made the point that he wasn’t going to settle for the Steelers coming up a little and “winning” this contract battle as they had with Ward.
It was the best front-row seat I’d had to such fierceness since three of us had our Richard Huntley interview busted up by Earl Holmes’s fist in 2000.
That was ridiculous. Faneca’s fierceness was controlled, perhaps even sublime.
I thought he’d crossed the line initially, but upon re-examination of the quotes found that he hadn’t. I felt it was both impromptu and in control.
The line about abdicating leadership came close to crossing the line, but he’s right: If you’re going to question management, how can you justify some type of phony captain-ship?
Captaincy at minicamp is plain ridiculous, but even during the season it’s just the bequeathed honor of a figurehead. Faneca will play hard and will want to win and will expect that will-to-win from everyone else on game day. That’s all the leadership anyone should want.
The line about security came close to crossing the line of public decency, but I understood what he was getting at: contract security, not the type of security Latrell Sprewell rendered absurd when he asked reporters how he was expected to feed his family on $15 million a year.
Faneca has some crazy in him. I’ve seen it before. One time, after the infamous third strike was dropped and rolled back into play during the Angels-White Sox playoff series, a reporter, who had bet on the Angels, was whining about the ump’s call. I kept repeating what that catcher has heard since Little League: “Just tag him.” The argument got louder. I kept saying “Just tag him.” Faneca finally turned around and hollered, “Hey, shut the — up!” Man, that room got quiet.
I sense a bit of a crazy streak in Art Rooney II as well. I understand that NBC got the story wrong, that it wasn’t Rooney who made the remark that sent Faneca into shutdown mode Saturday morning. But I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been Rooney II. He’s no wallflower, that guy. It makes me think the two – Faneca and Rooney II – are made for each other and will respect each other’s bluntness. I might be the only one who has this feeling, but I think they’ll work something out.
On the other side of the room was more truth. Troy Polamalu had returned from a religious retreat on an island in Greece. He was pure … just pure. The reporters peppering him with questions about money, money, money made me laugh. The reporters pushing to get to Troy, banging their microphones off my head, those guys made me leave.
I got a chance to talk with Troy later. He’s leaving all of the renegotiations talk to his agent. It’s not a driving force for him at all. He just doesn’t want to be taken advantage of and trusts both his agent and the Steelers to be fair. He also promised me some books on spiritualism and his recent trip. I’m told by everyone who knows him to expect the books the next time I see him. Can’t wait.
The difference between the renegotiations of Polamalu and Faneca is that Faneca is 30 and looking for a third contract. It’s easy for Polamalu, 26, to expect to be treated fairly; Faneca understands he must take extraordinary measures to be paid fairly … and to remain in Pittsburgh.
Four of us reporters were sitting at lunch when Troy came up to reply to one reporter’s interview request. Troy told him not to rush his lunch, that he would wait in the hall until he was done eating. The reporter would hear none of it, of course, and immediately left to get the interview done. He came back a few minutes later shaking his head. “Is that guy for real?”
One more note on Polamalu’s politeness. Well, two more. One, Myron Cope wrote a short story that included a line from a restaurant owner who said that Polamalu and his wife were just in and he gave the waitress a $100 tip. The second note, when I approached Troy for our chat in the locker room, he couldn’t get his glove off to shake my hand. He was persistent, though, and finally did yank it off to follow the code of polite society. I didn’t care, but he did. That made me care a whole bunch in the end.
Polamalu’s quote on this team, that’s supposedly off to a troubled start, spoke to the real-ness I’m trying to get at here: “I think it’s troublesome but I think it’s good. I think it’s good that everything is really shaken up and everybody’s got to re-work and re-establish themselves. It’s a good thing, and I think it is natural that whenever a new coach comes in you have to do this. I had to deal with it in college. We were all very wary about Coach (Pete) Carroll and what was going to come about. Obviously, everything turned out pretty well for him and hopefully the same for Coach Tomlin.”
Tomlin’s show was just as real – and as good – as Faneca’s and Polamalu’s. He didn’t spit or stammer or make faces and tell us he wasn’t going to talk about Faneca. He talked about it at every turn, with honesty and intelligence. He said it will only be a problem, basically, if he lets it, and he didn’t let it. No one did.
Faneca’s rant was the most unimportant and overplayed rant since Joey Porter went off on Jerramy Stevens the week of the Super Bowl.
I know Bill Cowher’s childish stammerings worked because he won – a lot. But I already respect Tomlin. Now I just hope he wins, because treating everyone like human beings should have that kind of payoff.
I asked someone in the organization why they were so quick to give rookie LaMarr Woodley No. 55 – Porter’s old number. “If anything happens to Chukky (Okobi), we’ll give him No. 56.”
Wow. I had figured the first-team center was in trouble, but obviously I’m not the only one. He just makes too much money and has made it clear that he won’t take a salary cut. Not a good move by Chukky.
If Faneca indeed proves impossible to re-sign, that helps Okobi stick around and helps Kendall Simmons and Max Starks in their renegotiations. Would be a shame to keep the guys you don’t want and lose the guy you want. That’s why I believe the Steelers will give in to Faneca more than they did with Ward. They may even call him back from the airport the way they did Sean Mahan when they realize what direction their once-proud line is headed.
I got out early the first day to watch Lawrence Timmons and Woodley. The former moved smoothly through drills. I liked what I saw. Woodley wasn’t as pure in his agility movements. He also had to be directed into the proper position a few times by the inside backers. In other words, he was lost. I thought it was smart to back both players off and let them learn from the sideline. I figure their injuries were extremely minor.
Tomlin left the cafeteria with Timmons on Sunday. This is obviously his pet project and he appears determined to make the No. 1 pick work.
Kevan Barlow may not be real. He may be Duce Staley. He’s wearing No. 22, using his locker and sitting out drills with minor injuries. Guys like Carey Davis and Gary Russell were running hard – real hard – in his place.
Dan Sepulveda really can boom the ball. Poor Mike Barr. The talent gap between the drafted punter and the guy trying for a fourth time to make the team is also very real.
Willie Reid looks like the fastest guy on the field. He appears to be fully recovered from his foot injury and is returning both punts and kickoffs, not to mention catching the ball pretty well as a receiver.
Three security men were standing off to the side of the practice field. I asked them if they knew Richard Seigler had been a pimp.
Security Man No. 1: “We worked one of the player parties at a bar once and a girl asked Seigler if he was a player. He said, ‘I’m no player, I’m a pimp!'”
Security Man No. 2: “I heard him say that a lot, but I thought he was just, you know, into rap music.”
Security Man No. 3: “It’s so hard to be a pimp in the NFL!”
In the same spot the next day stood the chairman of the board, Dan Rooney. He’d just walked in from the far field, where he’d watched another practice up close. I asked him what he thought of the just-concluded minicamp, expecting him to roll his eyes at some of the trying moments, but he smiled and his eyes lit up. “It’s been great. The enthusiasm here is just great. I’m very happy.”
If he’d been displeased, he’d have told me. They don’t come much more real than Dan Rooney.