Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 35

Dec 10 2006 PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2006 WWW.POST-GAZETTE.COM C-8 ONTHESTEELERS ON THE STEELERS The Duce Staley fiasco ended Monday, one year too late. It will go down as one of the more curious examples of poor evaluating of veteran talent under Bill coaching tenure. There was nothing wrong with signing Staley as an unrestricted free agent from the Eagles in 2004. Jerome Bettis had turned 32 that February and his production had slipped to 666 yards in 2002 and 811 in presence helped the 2004 Steelers become the only team in AFC history to a 15-1 record in two ways. He rushed for 707 yards in his first seven games.

And then, when his hamstring was injured and he could barely play in the second half of the season, Jerome Bettis ran for six 100-yard games perhaps his aging legs aided because Staley kept him on the sideline for most of the first seven games. (An aside to the Staley story: Bettis always will remember Pittsburgh with affection, but he never will forget fans booing him as he came onto the field to replace Staley in goal-line situations. Back then, the home crowd chanted Duuuuuuuce, and the popular complaint of the day was why the Steelers let Staley do all the work and have Bettis enter the game on the 3 to get the glory of the touchdown.) Staley carried only 41 times over the final nine games of the 2004 season, six of which he was inactive a term that would ultimately define his three seasons with the Steelers. There were some in the organization who thought Staley should not have been on the 2005 team. He came to training camp competing to regain his starting job with Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker, but knee surgery in the first week took him out of that.

The surgery made him inactive the first two games. Parker won the Bettis again became the backup and the Steelers went on to win a Super Bowl. Staley was active for only five games in 2005, but two of those would have a lasting impact on Cowher: Parker was injured early in a Nov. 6 game at Green Bay and, with Bettis out with an injury, the Steelers turned to Staley. He carried 15 times for 76 yards and a touchdown and the Steel- ers won an ugly game, 20-10.

As Cowher notedTuesday, if the Steelers have Staley for that game they probably do not win it, and if they do not win it there would have been no Super Bowl. Staley started the following week against Cleveland, gained 64 yards on 17 carries and the Steelers beat the Browns. That was his last hurrah in Pittsburgh. Staley carried six more times after that. He was inactive for the final four games, then the first three playoffs.

Cowher dressed him for the Super Bowl, but he did not play. Come March, Staley agreed to reduce his salary by $1 millionto $1.5 million. With the retirement of Bettis, Cowher believed Staley could take his place as the backup to Parker and as the goal-line back.The Steelers pursued no one in free agency. But there was enough concern late in April that the Steelers talked about a trade with Atlanta for big back T.J. Duckett on the first day of the draft.

That fell through when the Falcons demanded a third-round pick, and the Steelers did not draft a back until their final pick when they chose Cedric Humes of Virginia Tech. There was concern about ability in spring drills, and then in training camp he was terrible. Whatever he might have had as a running back was gone. He no longer had the pop in his legs. As one person explained it, he had hit the wall as an NFL running back.

Instead of releasing him, Cowher kept him on the roster even though it was obvious that John Kuhn, a rookie free agent from Shippensburg University in 2005 who had spent the last part of that season on thepractice squad, had surpassed him. Once Staley was on the roster for the first game of the season, NFL rules re- quiredthe Steelers to pay his full salary. Staley was active for one game the opener against Miami, when he entered for one play and did not carry the ball. Cowher finally released himMonday when Cowher needed to add two players to the roster. Cowher referred to Staley as a good running back who could still be productive in the league and explained that he was inactive for 11 of his 12 games because he did not play special teams.

It was a nice gesture by Cowher and also baloney. Bettis never played on a kicking team while he was the backup in 2004 and The coach also praised Staley for accepting his the past two years, when he collected about $3.6 million for doing little. But what message did it send the rest of the team this summer when every player in Latrobe could see that Staley no longer had it yet he was kept on the roster? The Steelers signed halfback Najeh Davenport, released by Green Bay, the day after their opener against Miami, and Cowher kept Staley prowling the sideline in a sweat suit for the next 11 games until his release Monday. From the highs to the lows to the end of the National Football League show with Duce Staley PRO FOOTBALL WEEK 14 The numbers Duce with the Steelers YrsGmsAttYdsYpcTDs 3162309784.252 Be prepared to ring in the New Year in Paul Brown Stadium literally When making plans for New Eve, Steelers fans should prepare to do it with the final game at Cincinnati in mind, if they are so inclined. Now scheduled for 1 p.m., a good chance that NBC will switch that game to a night kickoff.

Throughout this first season of the schedule, NBC was required to pick its nationally televised Sunday night game 12 days before it was scheduled. However, in that final week the network can wait until six days before making its decision Christmas Day. And this just in: After switching next game between Miami and Buffalo to 4:05 p.m., the NFL last week switched it back to a 1 p.m. kickoff. spoke to CBS and told them we did not believe the shift to a later start time was in the best a league spokesman said.

regret the inconvenience that we may have caused fans who are planning to attend the game or watch on television that Right. It in the best interests, but the fact that game no longer interests CBS enough to be broadcast late that afternoon. Peter Vick rushes to record Douglass earned the hard way By Jeffrey Flanagan The Kansas City Star KANSAS CITY, Mo. This could be the week that Michael Vick breaks a record some people thought might stand forever Bobby NFL mark for yards rushing (968) by a quarterback in a single season. And, truth be told, Douglass, a former Kansas star who played seven seasons with the Chicago Bears, has mixed feelings about the record being broken.

Vick is 40 yards shy of setting a record. always proud of any record you Douglass said by phone from his home in Chicago. really want to see them broken. But I have to say not really surprised. a different game Douglass, 6 feet 4 and 225 pounds when he played, set the record in 1972 with the Bears, a team that had few other weapons.

pretty much built the offense around Douglass said. what makes it kind of an infamous record for me. If been more talent around me, I have been running for that many impressive numbers in 1972 (968 yards in 141 carries) should be remembered regardless of what Vick does this season primarily because Douglass accomplished it in an era when the rules did not protect the quarterback. was hard to stay healthy back Douglass said. got pounded a lot.

There was no sliding and then not getting hit. The defense came after you and hit you even when you were down. They hit you when you were in the pocket and hit you when you were on the run. we had Dick Butkus. He would beat on other quarterbacks, and that just meant the other team would get revenge on There were scramblers back in era such as Fran Tarkenton, but few made a living trying to scramble for positive yards, at least not nearly as much as quarterbacks do today.

then pro football was in the mindset of establishing a pro passing Douglass said. quarterbacks were kind of rare. Now, it seems they look for quarterbacks who can run, and then they try to make them a passer Douglass, who remains a partner in the Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence, said he sure whether watch Vick try to break his record today when Atlanta plays Tampa Bay. not as if Atlanta invited him to be on hand for the record-breaking event, as the Cardinals did for the Roger Maris family. think that kind of drama Douglass said.

know going to break In 1972, the top offensive weapon was a running quarterback Running toward (QB) history Michael Vick needs 40 yards to break the single-season NFL record for yards rushing by a quarterback. A look at his season and that of record-holder Bobby Douglass. The seasons VickDouglass 2006Category1972 Falcons Team Bears 12 Games played 14 105 Carries 141 929 Yards gained 968 8.85 6.87 166 Single-game high na 2 Touchdowns rushing 8 6-6 Team W-L 4-9-1 The game Today: Atlanta Falcons (6-6) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-9). When: 1 p.m. then You got pounded a lot.

There was no sliding and then not getting Bobby Douglass the still going strong three decades later By Barry Wilner The Associated Press NEW YORK A fter Len Dawson made his debut as a host of the in 1978, he critique his own work because his home city was not yet hooked up for cable TV. live in Kansas City, and back then I never saw the finished product unless I called up friends in Kansas City, which did have HBO, and told them I was coming over to Dawson recalled this week before taping the 30th anniversary show of what has become a television staple for football fans. certainly All of pro football has changed in those three decades, of course. But the easygoing style and a willingness to broach controversial subjects have remained constants on the program. Through cast changes and competition from all brands of media, the camaraderie of the hosts, the humorous banter and pointed analysis have made the appointment viewing not only for fans, but for players throughout the league.

show was so original when it began no one was doing anything close to what this show was and it still has the best of all worlds. Not only do we have previews of upcoming games, but all of this incredible footage from NFL said Cris Collinsworth, who now hosts the weekly program, along with Dan Marino, Cris Carter and Bob Costas. even more of an inside look at the NFL because of how it goes behind the scenes. like being in the locker That was the mission when it debuted out of a studio in Philadelphia in 1977, with local announcer Al Meltzer and former Eagle Chuck Bednarik as hosts. The next year, HBO replaced them with Jets play- by-play man Merle Harmon and Dawson, who led the Chiefs to the 1970 Super Bowl title and was a sports commentator for a Kansas City television station.

A year later, Nick Buoniconti came aboard. He and Dawson clicked immediately and became an institution on the show, lasting through the 2002 season. Before partnering in front of the cameras, they were quite familiar with each other on the field. and I started in the AFL in 1962 and I kept saying to him I was the reason he became a starter in New Dawson said. had a heck of a game up in Boston and Nick the starter.

The coach then said he needed a better middle linebacker and Nick got the Buoniconti got to repay Dawson on the set in 1987 when he informed the former star quarterback been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For years, well before ESPN began flooding its networks with clips, the HBO show was the primary outlet for game highlights. But those highlights always arrive as expected at the studios in New York. and Nick would do their segment and then roll NFL films, and go to air just like said Dave Harmon, vice president of sports production for HBO. they would bring up the films by car and what if the car got caught in traffic? From Philly to New York, you know that happens all the time.

we were still shooting the second half of the show while the first half was on the air. It happened about three times that way. Before Dawson and Buoniconti left the program after the 2002 season, they had many on-location shows. Buoniconti recalled falling down while ice skating in Central Park just about getting a He also remembered riding an elephant at the San Diego Zoo. Things are a bit tamer now, with Costas, Collinsworth, Marino and Carter helped by contributor Peter King generally sticking to the Manhattan studios.

But when they do go out to conduct interviews, fireworks can fly. Carter recently spoke with Chiefs running back Larry Johnson. Part of the conversation focused on how black players can relate much better to black head coaches, particularly in the case of Johnson and Herm Edwards. After the piece aired, the four hosts discussed it passionately, with Costas, in particular, upset that Johnson and other blacks might respond better to a coach because of his color. Carter provided a comprehensive explanation centered on the significance of coming from similar backgrounds, and Collinsworth mentioned that many black players have echoed thoughts to him.

It was riveting television and the kind of analysis the carriers of NFL games rarely get into. are many issues we want to discuss and do discuss like Carter said. part of what makes this show Just as often, the three former players and Costas kid each other or poke holes in the football establishment, an approach Dawson and Buoniconti established in the 1970s. Happy 30th anniversary Duce Staley in his last real action as a Steeler Nov. 13, 2005 vs.

the Browns Michael Vick Three 100-yard games in 2006 Whipple might be new head coach By Ed Bouchette Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Officials from Boston College will interview Steelers quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple for the head-coaching job today. The Steelers have granted Boston College officials permission to talk to Whipple, and Boston television station Ch. 25reported that the school is close to hiring him. Boston College coach Tom was named as the new North Carolina State coach last week. The Eagles were 9-3 this season and will appear in the Meineke Bowl against Navy.

Whipple, 49, joined the Steelers in 2004, leaving the University of Massachusetts and is the only quarterbacks coach Ben Roethlisberger has had.He was a college head coach for 16 years at New Haven (1988-93), Brown (1994-97) and Massachusetts (1998-2003), guiding the Minutemen to the Division I-AA national championship in his first season. He graduated from Brown, where he was the starting quarterback in 1977 and He began hiscareer in 1980 as an assistant coach at St. Lawrence University. His job with the Steel- ers was his first in the NFL..