Back To Bettis
Steelers' Warhorse To Shoulder Load In Final Month
By Jerry DiPaola

If his proud and illustrious Steelers career, indeed, has only a few games left in it, before age, wear and tear and salary send him in another direction, Jerome Bettis wants only this from the final month of the 2003 season:

An opportunity.

All he wants to do is show people that he still can play this game and shoulder a heavy workload. If that also somehow, miraculously, carries the Steelers to their most improbable playoff berth in the franchise's 71-year history, so much the better.

While the Steelers try to make sense out of what still could be their worst season since 1988, coach Bill Cowher probably will turn to none other than the 31-year-old Bettis to carry the team to wherever it may go this season. It's December, the weather is cold, the winds are blowing passes off their intended marks, and the Steelers play their final five games in Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Baltimore. They may need the running game more than ever.

Bettis earned an opportunity to again light the Steelers' offensive marquee by carrying 24 times for 93 yards in an otherwise ugly 13-6 victory against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 23. He hadn't had that many carries since Dec. 23, 2002, or that many yards since Oct. 13, 2002.

As long as a glimmer of playoff hope shines through the clouds that hover over this team, Bettis will be in the lineup. Finding out about third-string running back Verron Haynes, a fifth-round pick who was drafted a year ago as a fullback, must wait.

Getting His Carries

Asked if he still has life in the legs that have endured 3,001 carries since 1993, to say nothing of the 337-carry career he had at Notre Dame, Bettis was quick with an answer.

"It's always been here, man. You just need the opportunity," he said. "When you get it 13 times, it's hard. But when you get it close to 25 times, now you see the production.

"When you get it 13, 14 times, you criticize a guy and say, Maybe this, maybe that.' If you don't get it 25 times, you don't get a chance to show.

"That's why right now I'm frustrated because of the treatment Amos (Zereoue), when he was the starter, received. So, he was judged prematurely.

"I come in as the starter (Oct. 26 against the St. Louis Rams) and I'm judged prematurely. But if you don't get the opportunity as a running back, what can you do?"

Zereoue opened the season as the starter, but he averaged fewer than 14 carries a game in the season's first six games.

Against the Browns, Bettis actually gained 20 more yards than the previously heralded Steelers' passing game.

"It not only validates me, but it validates Amos in the sense that we have to get the football in order to make something happen," Bettis said. "That is the very disappointing thing because the public perception is what they read. If they read that we're washed out or we're not good, then that's what they believe. And if we don't get the opportunity, how can we show that we can play?"

Future On Hold

Deep in their thought processes, the Steelers might already have decided that Bettis and his $3.617 million salary is too rich under the circumstances. But, at this point in 2003, Bettis is the Steelers' best bet to win games. That's why you won't see much of Haynes until next preseason.

With the playoffs still a mathematical, if not a realistic, possibility, it's also likely you won't see much of many young players as long the Steelers can win some of the next few games. Plus, few rookies are ready to play, anyway. The Steelers had only five draft picks this year, and No. 1 safety Troy Polamalu and No. 4 cornerback Ike Taylor are the only ones entrusted with playing time.

No. 2 outside linebacker Alonzo Jackson was inactive for nine consecutive games after Sept. 14 and would be a liability with that much rust on him. No. 5 quarterback Brian St. Pierre hasn't appeared in a game yet and No. 7 fullback J.T. Wall is merely on the practice squad.

But there are two other young players that the Steelers will look at long and hard, even as the final five important games unfold.

Safety Chris Hope, a second-year player who could replace either Brent Alexander or Mike Logan in the starting lineup next year, will be a part of the special, passing-down defense. Hope, a third-round pick in 2002, recorded three tackles against the Browns while easing the strain on Logan's sore ankle. He won't turn 24 until the end of next summer's training camp.

Center Chukky Okobi, 25, probably will start a few games in December while eight-year veteran Jeff Hartings tries to recuperate from another knee injury, this one suffered in Cleveland. Okobi, a third-year pro who was a fifth-round pick in 2001, could be the center of the future. But if Okobi does not perform satisfactorily, the Steelers may have to further shuffle their offensive line. Hartings' scheduled $3.7 million salary in '04 also will be an important determining factor.

The Steelers' position in the playoff chase, as precarious as it may be, will prevent Cowher from using too many other young players down the stretch.

Clinging To Hope

If the Steelers can string five victories together, they could take that 4-7 record that they were clinging to as they left Cleveland and turn it into an AFC North championship. "It's a one-game playoff from this point forward," Bettis said.

Asked if he was embarrassed by the 4-7 record and the accompanying opportunity to earn a playoff berth, Bettis said, "I don't care about embarrassment. I care about getting in the playoffs."

The Steelers have a long way to go to the 9-7 record that may be necessary to win the AFC North. But their opponents are either weak or already listed among the Steelers' four victims.

They beat the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens in September, and those teams led the division at Thanksgiving. The other three opponents, the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets and San Diego Chargers, are seated at the bottom of their respective divisions.

"We are still climbing up a hill," quarterback Tommy Maddox said as November wound down . "It is a long battle.

Jerry DiPaola covers the Steelers and NFL for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.