The Steelers Road to Super Bowl XL: Remembering Pittsburgh's Greatest 9 Weeks Ever (Part IV).

Still Feeling the Afterglow of the Steelers Upset at Indianapolis

I can't tell you how stunned I was at the time that the 2005 Steelers went into Indianapolis and knocked off the Colts. Up to that point in NFL history, most teams that had seasons like Indianapolis had in'05--flirting with perfection--usually went on to win the Lombardi trophy. I was pretty optimistic before the game like any fan would be, but even I knew that I witnessed something special.

The next day on craigslist, the fans from Denver were coming onto the Pittsburgh board and thanking the Steelers for allowing the Broncos to host the AFC Championship game.

• Much like the Colts and Pats fans from a week earlier, they were acting as if victory was all but certain and the AFC title game would be a mere coronation for the their team. 

And I can't really blame them. The Broncos were the No. 2 seed in the AFC, and the fans probably figured the upstart Steelers were out of miracles. After all, Denver had just knocked off the two-time champion Patriots, and the Steelers took care of the No. 1 seed. Another thing working in Denver's favor was the fact that no number six seed had ever made it to the Super Bowl. If the Steelers were in a similar situation, I would be feeling pretty good, too.

• At work, everyone was talking about the near-disastrous ending of the Colts' game and the almost miscarriage of justice because of the blown-call on the Polamalu interception that wasn't.

But what had some of the female customers just gushing was when Troy kissed his wedding ring as a tribute to his wife after he made what should have been the game-sealing interception. At that moment, Polamalu endeared himself to millions of women and was probably the most perfect man in the universe.

Tuesday evening, I went to yet another television taping of the Joey Porter Show at the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip District, and at that point, Steeler-mania was in full-swing and the place was jumping. In previous weeks, I was able to sit right near the front, but on this night, I was back by the bar, trying to watch it as best I could. This was the only taping I attended by myself since my aunt couldn't make it that night.

• I talked to some very interesting people, including a woman who had a home-made terrible towel that she made in the late 70's. That was neat to see.

Joey's Steeler-guests that night were Ben Roethlisberger and Chris Hoke. I'm assuming that Roethlisberger taped his interview earlier because he wasn't there when I arrived, but Hokey's interview was pretty insightful and funny. He commented on the playoff beards that all the "white guys" were growing for the playoff run. He seemed like a cool guy. It was a pretty fun night, all the way around.

• Of the three AFC playoff games the Steelers played, the AFC Championship game in Denver was the one I was most confident about, but that didn't stop me from being nervous. 

I had a right to be, of course, as that round of the playoffs was a real source of frustration for many years. The Steelers played in the AFC title game five previous times under Bill Cowher, all at home, and lost all but one time. And here they were on the road in Denver, a place where the team never played well, trying to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 10 seasons.

• For my money, losing in the round before the Super Bowl is even more frustrating than losing the Super Bowl. 

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but that's how I've always felt. Losing in the Super Bowl is like going to Kennywood on a rainy day. Sure, it sucks, but at least you get to go to Kennywood.

There is nothing worse than spending an entire week confident that your team will win and make it to the Super Bowl only to see those hopes and dreams hit a brick wall. I have a hard time watching the Super Bowl after the Steelers lose the AFC Championship game. The Super Bowl between the Patriots and Rams was one of the most exciting ever, and I missed most of it because I just couldn't stand to watch New England play in a game I thought the Steelers were locks to make.

But I was confident leading up to the Denver game because I thought the Steelers had the better team and the better quarterback. The Broncos' quarterback, Jake Plummer, was having an almost flawless season, rarely turning the ball over.

• But I knew if he was pushed and confused by Dick Lebeau and the Steelers defense, Jake "The Snake" he would be forced into turnovers. 

I commented to a friend of mine that Plummer would play like Kordell Stewart did in the 1997 AFC Championship game against the Broncos.

AFC Championship Game: Steelers Dominate Denver in First Half

The AFC Championship Game vs. Denver began as the Steelers got a field goal on their first drive, but not before I almost had a heart attack when Champ Bailey nearly picked off Roethlisberger on a third down pass to Hines Ward. Thankfully, Ward came to the rescue and caught the deflected pass before getting smacked by John Lynch. We had our first Nate Washington sighting on that drive as he made the first catch of his career, a key pick up on another third down. A few plays later, Jeff Reed kicked a 48 yard field goal, and the Steelers were in front, 3-0.

• On the next Broncos' drive, Plummer was hit by Joey Porter, who stripped him of the ball. Casey Hampton recovered and the Steelers were on their way.

Pittsburgh capitalized on the takeaway and made 10-0 early in the second quarter when Roethlisberger pump-faked a slant pass to Cedrick Wilson, who instead, turned it into an out and was wide open in the back corner of the end zone for a 12 yard touchdown pass. Bailey bit hard on the play and seemed to be stunned at the turn of events.

• After Denver made it, 10-3, Pittsburgh marched down field and went up, 17-3, on a Jerome Bettis tough, three yard touchdown run late in the second quarter that turned out to be the last one of the Bus' career.

Instead of just running out the clock, Denver decided to try and move the ball and Ike Taylor, of all people, intercepted a lazy pass by Plummer and Pittsburgh was poised to take an even bigger lead into the half.

Pittsburgh advanced the ball to the 12 yard line, and with time running out, Bettis inched up to the line right before the snap, took a quick hand-off and raced untouched for a score. Unfortunately, it didn't count because Ward was called for illegal formation.

Thankfully, Ward made amends on the next play when a scrambling Roethlsiberger threaded a pass through two Broncos' defenders and hit No. 86 in the back of the end zone with a 17 yard touchdown pass to put Pittsburgh ahead, 24-3, with just seconds left in the first half.

We were going nuts at my uncle's house. Just a year earlier, the Steelers were down, 24-3, to New England at halftime of the AFC title game and here they were on the positive side of the exact same score.

Steelers Play Rope-a-Dope with Denver to Start Second Half

Pittsburgh got the football to start the second half and a did a good job of burning clock on its first two drives but couldn't quite put the Broncos away. Denver's offense finally broke through and inched a little closer late in the quarter when Plummer hit Ashley Lelie with a 30 yard touchdown pass over a beaten Chris Hope to make it, 24-10, Pittsburgh.

But Pittsburgh's offense answered the Broncos' score by putting Reed in position to kick a 42 yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Reed's attempt was successful, and the Steelers were sitting pretty with a 27-10 lead.

On the very first play of Denver's next possession, Larry Foote picked off Plummer, and Pittsburgh had the ball near mid-field. My confidence was at an all-time high. Unfortunately, the offense couldn't really capitalize, and when the Broncos got the ball back, they marched down field with the help of several penalties on Pittsburgh's defense--including a questionable pass interference call on Taylor--and got to within 10 points thanks to a Mike Anderson three yard touchdown run.

• At that point, I was pacing the floors, and almost fainted when Roethlisberger was nearly intercepted by Lynch on the Steelers subsequent possession.

Denver eventually got the ball back and had all the momentum.

Keisel puts Steeler Nation at ease

I had no need to worry.

It was fourth and 10 yards to go and precious few minutes left in the game. Plummer stepped back to pass and was almost taken down by Clark Haggans, who missed the often-elusive quarterback. However, Brett Keisel reached Plummer and knocked the football loose. To this day, I don't know who recovered the football, but like play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove exclaimed, "It didn't matter!"

By this point, victory was all but assured. However, I'm sure the ending of the Colts' game was still fresh in every fan's mind (I know it was for me), so nobody had stamped their ticket to Detroit just yet.

The Steelers eventually moved the football inside the 10 yard line, and during a break in the action, Cowher called over Bettis and had this smile and expression on his face. I couldn't read his lips, but I'm guessing what he was telling the Bus was something like, "We're riding you to the end zone, Bussy. Please don't torture us like you did last week."

After a couple of Bus rides, it was third and goal inside the five yard line. Instead of giving it to Bettis once again, it was a bootleg, and a four yard score by Roethlisberger to give Pittsburgh a 34-17 lead and assure a trip to Super Bowl XL.

When Roethlisberger scored, I jumped up and said, "We're going to the Super Bowl!" It was one of the best moments of my life, and I mean that in all sincerity.

Despite the few nervous moments in the second half, it was one of my all-time favorite Steelers games. It was nice to see the AFC Championship game be sort of a blow out with very little suspense.

Feelings of Euphoria in Pittsburgh, Steelers Nation

The feeling that I had the rest of the evening was euphoric. Something happens to you when your favorite team wins a game like that. You have this urge to get in your car and drive around so that's what I did. I found myself at my sister's house in Avalon, and my brother in law, a Broncos fan, was still talking trash and trying to remind me of the Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl titles in '97 and '98. But he couldn't hurt me that night. I was in Heaven.

Ok, this concludes part four. I hope you all enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the conclusion!

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Steelers, Rashard Mendenhall, Unlikely to Mend Fences

The Pittsburgh Steelers went into the 2008 NFL Draft with clear needs at offensive and defensive line. Yet they had a few players who they would not pass on, need be dammed, should they fall their way.

Rashard Mendenhall was one of them, and when he fell to them the Steelers picked him in the first round.

• And Mendenhall has remained an enigma ever since.

Rashard Mendenhall entered the NFL behind Willie Parker on the depth chart, but that looked to change early in the season as Parker fell injured vs. the Eagles. Mendenhall stint as the Steelers starter lasted all of one game, ended by Ray Lewis in Baltimore.

Mendenhall did his rehab in Pittsburgh but disappeared from the team’s facilities, spending his free time in museums.

Failure to “be on the details” caused Mike Tomlin to bench him before the Steelers road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, yet a injury to Parker saw Mendenhall starting vs. San Diego following week where he exploded for 165 yards.

• Mendenhall grabbed hold of the starting role and only injury forced him to relinquish it.

But that doesn’t mean Mendenhall's reign as starter has been an unqualified success. Instead, he’s been maddeningly inconsistent.

When Mendenhall runs decisively, he can hang with the top five backs in the league conjure memories of some of the best power rushers in league history. Think the AFC Championship game.

At other times Mendenhall hesitates and shuffles. And at those times there’s nothing to distinguish Mendenhall from the mediocre middle. While Mendenhall has clearly been the Steelers most talented running back during his time in Pittsburgh, he has never been its most consistent performer. (That distinction falls to Isaac Redman.)

And then there’s the question of attitude.

• Mendenhall’s early benching seemed to set him straight. (His Twitter tirades are unrelated to football and have no bearing in this discussion.) 

Later that same year he showed a ton of heart in picking himself up off the ground and running the length of the field to save a pick six.

But Mendenhall’s two fumbles in the Steelers mid-season meltdown vs. Cleveland earned him third string status. And Rashard Mendenhall responded by pulling a no show for the Steelers game vs. San Diego.

Such behavior is inexcusable and Mike Tomlin suspended him for it. Mendenhall for his part didn’t see anything wrong with not showing up for a game….

Could Mendenhall and the Steelers Mend Fences?

Shortly after the suspension, word leaked that Mendenhall was “negotiating with the Steelers.” As the Steelers have not negotiated contracts during the season since mid-1993 such negotiations probably consist of his agent leaving a voicemail with Kevin Colbert and leaking it to the press.

• Nonetheless, Kevin Colbert has said the Steelers have not ruled out resigning Mendenhall.

What does that mean?

Either Colbert is saying this because it’s his job to say something that like that, or the Steelers could be interested in welcoming him back.

• No matter how low his price goes, the Steelers should not welcome Rashard Mendenhall back

The extent of the divisions in the Steelers locker room remains a matter of debate. Absent social media, few fans would even know about the conflicts, be they real or perceived.

But the Steelers did struggle with discipline issues in 2012 and Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert will severely undercut their own authority if they bring back someone who abandoned his teammates.

Don’t expect that to happen.

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Watch the Steelers vs. the Raiders in the 1975 AFC Championship

Missed seeing Bradshaw, Lambert, Franco, Greene, Swann, Blount and Stallworth in their primes?
(Scroll down for the video.)

Fortunately those you too young to remember or those who remember but were too young to appreciate get a second chance thanks to Dan Gigler’s Blog ‘n Gold over at the Post Gazette.

Gigler’s Blog and Gold, long a supporter of this site, is a veritable trove of treasures from Steelers Nation. Dan’s schedule for updating the site is irregular, but when he does update it he always delivers.

This time he’s out done himself by securing a copy of the 1975 AFC Championship game between the Steelers and the Raiders.

You can watch a commercial free, edited version of the game here (available as of 6/17/12):

Folks, this has been up since October 2011 but its unlikely the NFL’s lawyers will allow YouTube to keep this up for much longer. So watch it while you can, it’s a good investment of an hour.

Steelers vs. the Raiders – a Legendary Feud that Defined a Decade

The Patriots and Colts of the ‘00’s can have their rivalry. Compared to the Steelers vs. the Raiders, theirs is a high school popularity between opposing pretty boys who fear dirtying their hands.

• The Steelers and the Raiders fought a grown up fight. And they played for keeps.

No one ever uttered the words “criminal element” following a Patriots-Colts match up.

This game featured the first of several illegal George Atkinson close line tackles of Lynn Swann  that prompted Chuck Noll to level the "criminal element" charge.

• The Steelers and Raiders dueled in many an epic battle in the ‘70’s but this game perhaps more than any other defines the rivalry.

Winter is bitterly cold in Pittsburgh and the Steelers had tarpped and heated the surface of Three Rivers Stadium the night before the game. But winds whipped in off of Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohiotore open the tarp, creating slick spots throughout the field, but especially on the sidelines.

Al Davis had (allegedly) watered down the field in Oakland to give his slower running backs an advantage. Davisreflexively assumed that all NFL owners were as unscrupulous as he, and accused Dan Rooney of intentionally icing down the field to stifle his sideline passing game.

The Californian Davis failed to realize this game was simply played as January football is meant to be played: in an open air stadium in single-digit temperatures in front of over 50,000 rabid fans.

Both Ken Stabler and Terry Bradshaw made some impressive throws to give Dave Casper and John Stallworth breakout moments.

• But defense defined this game.   

Monte Johnson and Jack Tatum notched three interceptions for the Raiders, while Mike Wagner had two picks, including one that was downright Troy Polamaluesque. 

Chuck Noll declared that the game featured some of the hardest hitting he had ever seen. He was right, there were 9 fumbles in this game, including three recovered by Jack Lambert.

Breaking Down the 1975 AFC Championship Game, the Steelers vs. the Raiders

While the editing on this video does make for some disjointed viewing at times, watching the raw, NBC footage allows you to enjoy the flavor of the moment in a way that NFL Films, for however much they’ve immortalized key moments in the game, misses.

Seeing the original Steel Curtain Joe Greene, Dwight White,Ernie Holmes and L.C. Greenwood play snap-by-snap in front of greats such as  Jack Ham, Andy Russell and Mel Blount lets you understand just how great they were.

It gives you a chance to appreciate things that don’t show up on the stat sheet nor make it into highlight reels, such as the way the RayMansfield, Mike Webster, and Sammy Davis kept Terry Bradshaw clean.

• The video also offers some important reminders. Yes, the Hall of Fame contingent of the Super Steelers made them great, but they were only a necessary, and not a sufficient element in the Championship runs.

Watch the AFC Championship game video and you’ll see players like J.T. Thomas and Glen Edwards make fumble forcing hits or guys like Larry Brown and Frank Lewis coming up with key hits.

• It’s also good to see guys like Franco Harris get stuffed, repeatedly by the Raiders defense.

That might sound strange, but it’s true. Franco had a hard day against the Raiders and his partly 79 yards on 27 carries shows that.

For most of the day, John Madden’s defense left nowhere for Franco to run. Nowhere at all until he ripped off 25 yard burst that ended in the end zone with Pittsburghclinging to a 3-0 lead early in the 4^th quarter.

Seeing Franco struggle then soar underscores the oft forgotten fact that the Super Steelers weren’t gods – instead they great athletes blessed with the On the Field Presence necessary to step it up and make plays when the game was on the line.

Enjoy.

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Understanding the Rise, Fall, Resurrection and Ultimate Undoing of Kordell Stewart

Kordell Stewart has officially retired as a Pittsburgh Steeler. That’s a strange thing to say for someone who threw his last pass for the Steelers in December 2002 and left the NFL in 2005.

Yet this is a fitting ending.

Few, if any Steelers had as long and strange of a trip as Kordell Stewart. Steel Curtain Rising takes this opportunity to offer a look back at the oft entertaining, always controversial quarterback who made “Slash” a household word in Steelers Nation.

Click on the links below to either relive a moment of Kordell’s glory or look back at this times of struggles.

1995: “Slash” Fuels Rally to Super Bowl XXX
1996: Warning Signs or Just a Sophomore Slump for Kordell?
1997: Kordell Stewart Defies Gravity, Rises to Glory
1998 and 1999: "My Buddy's the Cop who..." - Steelers Nation Shows its Ugly Side
2000 and 2001: Kordell Follows the Flight of the Phoenix
2002: Understanding Kordell's Undoing
2012:Slashes Don’t Die, They Just Fade Away….

1995: “Slash” Fuels Rally to Super Bowl XXX"

Pittsburghselected Kordell Stewart in the 2^nd round of the 1995 NFL draft. With Neil O’Donnell, Mike Tomczak, and Jim Miller ahead of him everyone expected Stewart simply stand in street clothes clipboard in hand on the sideline.

Steelers lost Rod Woodson and Neil O’Donnell in the 1995 opener. By mid-season back to back losses to the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals had sent the Steelers reeling.

Bill Cowher made changes. John L. Williams and John Jacksonreturned to the lineup. Carnell Lake shifted from safety to corner. Erric Pegram started in place of Bam Morris.

And, on a third and long situation, Kordell Stewart lined up under center. 16 yards later he’d converted a key third down, and a Steelers rally began that only ended in Super Bowl XXX.

Stewart’s role grew. Already used as a decoy in multiple receiver sets, during the next week vs. Chicagohe got his first catch – for 27 yards.

A week later, he zig zagged through the backfield throwing his first pass, a 2 yard touchdown to Ernie Mills vs. the Cleveland Browns.

The next week he tore through the Cincinnati secondary for an amazing 71 yard touchdown vs. the Bengals that put the Steelers ahead for good. How impressive was this catch? Take a look (available as of 5/2/12):

And so went 1995 for the Steelers. Kordell Stewart only ran 15 times, only caught 14 balls, only threw 7 passes with one touchdown in each category.

• Modest but sufficient stats for Kordell Stewart and the “Slash” phenomena take Steelers Nation in force. 

He could do no wrong. But that would change….

1996: Warning Signs or Just a Sophomore Slump for Kordell?

Many expected Kordell Stewart to size the reigns in the 3 way quarterback derby Bill Cowher convened at Latrobe in the summer of ‘96.

Kordell failed to distinguish himself and after quickly benching Jim Miller, Cowher turned to Mike Tomczak. Stewart remained “Slash” and if he improved at receiver, he often seemed hesitant and tentative under center where he’d previously been cocky and confident.

After stabilizing the team during early and mid-season, Mike Tomczak began to find the limits of his abilities. As injuries mounted and the playoffs loomed Cowher sought for a weapon to compensate.

• The weapon’s name was Kordell Stewart and the season finale vs. Carolinawas instructive.

With the Steleers behind late in the first half Kordell came into the game and immediately put the team ahead with an electrifying 80 touchdown scramble.

Kordell stayed in, but couldn’t complete passes. Any passes, unless you count 2 interceptions. The defense kept it close, and on the final drive Kordell found his rhythm and was an end zone drop away from a successful comeback.

Cowher employed a similar strategy for the playoffs. Vs. New England in Fog Bowl II he was an utter disaster throwing 10 passes with no completions…..

1997: Kordell Stewart Defies Gravity, Rises to Glory

Bill Cowher named Kordell Stewart his starter for the 1997 season and the roller coaster ride was on.

Statistically Kordell’s play in 1997 failed to impress. But he did something more important than put up pretty stats – he won, often in dramatic fashion.

Week 5 vs. Baltimoregave an early example. I sat in the stands at Memorial Stadium and Kordell looked cluelessly threw three interceptions, one worse then the next. With the Baltimore up 24-7 at the half, Ravens fans joked that “Kordell is our most valuable player.”

• But a different Kordell rallied Pittsburgh to victory in the second half, throwing three touchdown passes and scoring another on a 70 yard scramble.

Week 15 vs. the Broncos told a similar tale.

As John Elway was toasting Donnell Wolford, Kordell was erratic and threw an interception that Denverquickly turned into a touchdown. A side line reporter revealed that Bill Cowher told Mike Tomzack and Mike Quinn to “talk to Kordell and get him to calm down.”

• Kordell didn’t calm down.

Instead he exploded to throw to touchdown strikes to Yancey Thigpen and rushing for two more as the Steelers won.

A week later in New England, Kordell was at it again.

A late Drew Beldsoe interception gave the Steelers a chance to tie a game they’d never led. Kordell helped convert a 4^th down on this drive, threw a touchdown and then completed a pass for a successful 2 point conversion which tied the game. Pittsburghwon, and secured a bye in the playoffs.

Although the 1997 playoffs ended with the Kordell’s 3 interception loss vs. the Broncos in the AFC Championship, the sky seemed to be the limit for Kordell. 1998 and 1999 revealed Kordell’s limits to be much closer to the ground….

1998 and 1999: "My Buddy's the Cop who..." - Steelers Nation Shows its Ugly Side

1998 and 1999 were dark times for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While the Steelers wisely refused to overpay to free agents Yancey Thigpen, John Jackson, and Carnell Lake, their draft picks and free agent replacements proved woefully inadequate.

• The line couldn’t block for Jerome Bettis
• Receivers couldn’t get open
• The secondary became a sieve (anyone remember Travis Davis?)

Below this lay a simmering feud between Bill Cowher and Tom Donahoe.

Most of this was lost, however, on Steelers Nation.

• For many, the Steelers problems boiled down to two words:  Kordell Stewart.

Stewart indeed struggled mightily.

Ray Sherman was clueless when it came to using Kordell’s athleticism, and Kevin Gilbride sought to transform him into a pure pocket passer.

At times Kordell looked beyond lost. The long ball, which had been his specialty, disappeared completely. Check down passes of 6 or 7 yards routinely landed at players ankles.

Stewart resisted taking responsibility. He got benched in Tampa. He cried. He finished 1999 as a wide receiver, with Cowher banning him from quarterbacks meetings.

Things got ugly.

• Kordell received death threats
• Fans poured beer on him
• He began playing better on the road than at Three Rivers Stadium
• Racist comments circulated
• Rumors about his personal life surfaced

No shortage existed of people ready to assure you “My buddy’s the cop” who found Kordell in some supposedly unsavory and illegal situation.

Further complicating the situation was the huge contract that the Steelers, in a show of confidence, had given Kordell following the 1998 season.

Salary cap realities tied the Steelers to Stewart.

2000 and 2001: Kordell Follows the Flight of the Phoenix

With the 8^th pick in the 2000 draft the Steelers had their choice of quarterbacks. Yet Kevin Colbert and Bill Cowher optedagainst selecting Chad Pennington.

Instead they brought in Kent Graham who won the job in preseason. The Steelers nonetheless started the 2000 season 0-3 and things seemed to go from bad to worse when Graham injured himself on a late Friday afternoon.

The Steelers were heading to Jacksonville, where once again Kordell would rise from the ashes.

• With their backs to the wall, Kordell led the team to victory in a game that set the tone for the entire decade. 

Kordell did it again the next week vs. New York and two weeks later replaced an ineffective Kent Graham. He led comeback victories vs. Cincinnatiand came off the injury cart a week later to rally the team vs. Oakland.

The Steelers were eliminated on tie breakers during the season’s final week that year, but had recovered their mojo. Many players can claim credit for that, but perhaps none more than Kordell.

The 2001 Steelers took the NFL by surprise, finishing 13-3. Kordell had a Pro Bowl year and was voted team MVP, having picked up the slack when Bettis fell injured late in the season.

The Steelers made it to another AFC Championship and they lost again with Kordell throwing another 3 interceptions.

But the loss was not his fault. The Patriots offense shredded the Steelers defense in the first half, while their defense stuffed the Steelers running game. Steelers special teams gave up two touchdowns and that simply proved to be too much for Stewart to overcome.

2002: Understanding Kordell's Undoing

Kordell Stewart’s first and second passes of the 2002 season were intercepted and quickly converted into points by the New England Patriots in what would become known as the “Dread the Spread” game.

The next week vs. Oakland Kordell played better but was still unable to lead a comeback.

The following week Stewart again struggled as Pittsburgh found itself locked must win situation vs. the Cleveland Browns. Late in the 4^thquarter Cowher needed a spark and sent in Tommy Maddox and the Steelers won.

• After the game Cowher seemed to indicate that Stewart would start the next week, but he shifted course, naming Maddox as “the starter.”

A few weeks later when the Steelers played the Colts and the game was broadcast on ESPN Deportes reporter Raul Allegre dropped a bomb, telling his Latin American audience:

Hablé con Bill Cowher sobre Kordell Stewart, y él me dijo que no quisiera cambiar a su mariscal, pero sentí que tendría que hacerlo, porque Kordell Stewart había perdido la confianza del resto de los miembros del equipo.

In a nutshell, Cowher told Allegre that he didn’t want tobench Kordell but felt he had to because Kordell had lost the confidence of the rest of the locker room.

• And therein lies the key to the rise and fall of Kordell Stewart:  Confidence.

Success in the NFL at quarterback involves many factors, but none are perhaps more important than confidence and mental toughness.

Ben Roethlisberger once remarked that the true test of toughess for a quarterback was the ability to shrug off throwing 3 interceptions in a playoff game and comeback to play well enough to give your team a chance to win.

Kordell Stewart lost whatever swagger he had as a swashbuckling Slash that allowed him to lead numerous comebacks.

To tap an overused metaphor on this site, when Kordell could rely on instinct and athleticism, he defied gravity with a uncanny cartoon character like ability. 

• But twin sets of triplet interception AFC Championship performances forced Stewart to look down. And like the Road Runner, Kordell fell.

Most quarterbacks are finished when they lose their confidence.

Kordell, after enduring a particularly cruel two-year purgatory, rebuilt his confidence and earned a second chance to knock on heaven’s door, only to fall short a second time.

Bill Cowher couldn’t afford to give him a third chance because the only thing that allowed Kordell to return to relying on instinct, was removal of the pressure of the starting job.

If you want proof, consider that when Tommy Maddox got injured in 2002, Kordell Stewart played some of his best football ever, nearly rallying the team to victory in Tennessee, and going 22-26-236-0-1 with another forty yards rushing the next week vs. Cincinnati.

• Those were arguable his best two games as a passer.

He followed a similar pattern in Chicago, playing his best when coming off the bench.

Slashes Don’t Die, They Just Fade Away….

As someone whose heart was rooting for Kordell even when his head said he was done, I wished him success after Pittsburgh, and thought he’d enjoy a successful run as a backup.

That was not to be. Kordell held a clipboard for two years in Baltimore, but threw no passes. As late as 2009 or 2010 Steelers Digest reported that Stewart held out hope that his phone might ring.

• It never did.

So he decided to seek closure in the place where his long, strange NFL odyssey began, and by his account he found it. Good for you Kordell. Good luck and Godspeed in retirement.

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Limas Sweed Saga Ends for Steelers

Some things were never meant to pass, and Limas Sweed’s success as a Pittsburgh Steeler is one of them.



Three years ago things appeared to be different.



Entering the 2008 NFL draft needing both offensive and defensive lineman, the Steelers found Sweed, whom many had graded as a first round pick, on still on the board late in the second round.



When Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert ignored need and stuck to their board many thought they’d landed a steal.



Everyone’s a winner on draft day.



Unfortunately reality set in after that.

• First there was the drop in the playoffs against San Diego



• Then their was the drop in the AFC Championship against Baltimore



• Then another drop in a divisional contest against Cincinnati in’09



• Then a trip to IR at the end of ’09 due to mental health issues

And then to add injustice to injury, Sweed injured his Achillies tendon in OTA’s in June of 2010, costing him his third season.



This summer the Steelers gave him one more shot, but Sweed could not take advantage – the coaches not even seeing fit to play him against the Redskins in preseason.



Few can blame the Steelers for giving him one more chance; who can forget how unbelievably fast he looked in getting open deep against Baltimore?



Sweed will most assuredly get a shot at the NFL with another team – as well he should, he’s too talented for someone else not to take a chance.



But he’s had his chances in Pittsburgh but unfortuantely could not take advantage.



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