Burress finally gets to reach for the ring
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Burress finally gets to reach for the ring
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Harry How/Getty Images
Plaxico Burress speaks during Giants media day for Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium.
PHOENIX -- Bill Cowher called him the day after the New York Giants won the NFC
championship. Other former Steelers teammates and coaches followed with phone calls, such
as Jerome Bettis, Casey Hampton, Mike Logan, Joey Porter, Ike Taylor.
They would love to see Plaxico Burress join their Super Bowl ring club, albeit two years
removed.
"Got a call from coach Cowher," Burress said, smiling broadly during a quiet interview
Monday evening at the Giants' hotel in Chandler, Ariz. "He was telling me to enjoy the
whole two weeks. He told me I deserve it, enjoy it and don't be afraid to tell people 'No!' Just
go out and do what I've been doing and play to the best of my ability."
Bettis told him to not only enjoy the moment but also make the most of it, as the Bus did in
his final NFL game, a Super Bowl XL victory in his hometown of Detroit.
"He was just telling me, 'Hey, man, don't let it get away. Go get that ring,' " Burress said.
The calls from his former coaches and teammates uplifted Burress, a 6-51/2 wide receiver
who teamed with Hines Ward to have the most productive tandem in Steelers receiving
history in 2002. The Steelers drafted Burress eighth overall in 2000 and he signed with the
Giants five years later as a free agent.
Burress, who has played all season through an ankle injury that once caused former Steelers
back Barry Foster to have midseason surgery, is the "other" tall receiver in Super Bowl XLII.
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Burress finally gets to reach for the ring
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Although 1 1/2 inches taller than New England's Randy Moss, Burress lives in his shadow
this week and that's OK by him. After all, Moss set the NFL record with 23 touchdown
receptions this season.
"Ever since I've been in this league, Randy has been the best receiver playing, as far as speed,
making plays and the things he does," Burress said.
The New York Giants, too, are dwarfed this week by the Patriots, who are steaming along at
18-0; the Patriots are two-touchdown favorites to become the first NFL champion with a 190 record.
The Giants can do just what Burress' old teammates did in 2005 when the Steelers won three
playoff games on the road and then became Super Bowl champions. Burress said he was so
happy then that he flew to California to party with some Steelers after they beat the Seattle
Seahawks for the title.
Now many of them are pulling for Burress and his Giants.
"Plax left and we won the Super Bowl," Ward noted. "I saw him in that offseason, and to me,
he was still part of that team. Now he gets his opportunity to play in the Super Bowl and I
hope he can go out and play and beat New England."
Burress is a big reason the Giants have come this far. Despite that ankle injury, he caught 70
passes for 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season.
"I was really happy for him," Cowher said yesterday from his home in Raleigh, N.C. "What
he did this year, playing through that injury and his leadership he showed. He's become a
very unselfish player and guy who accounts for own actions."
In the Giants' overtime victory against the Packers in Green Bay in the NFC championship
game, Burress caught 11 passes for 154 yards. He said his ankle today is nearly at full
strength.
"I think 70, 75 percent of Plaxico Burress is better than half of the wide receivers playing
anywhere," he said. "That's the way that I feel."
Burress said he had to leave Pittsburgh and an offense that reverted to the run so that he
could develop as a top-flight receiver.
"I had a big year in '02; Kordell [Stewart] ended up getting hurt and we ended up throwing
the ball like 40, 44 times a game. But we went back to the old recipe," Burress said.
"As far as me flourishing and being able to go out and be in an offense to where I could
really get to the level where I wanted to be, I didn't really think that was the place for me,
even though I loved playing there and I loved playing with Hines and some of those guys.
"As far as the offense and as far as me being a receiver, I don't think it would allow me to
start to see my potential."
Even Ben Roethlisberger, who pleaded with the Steelers after the 2004 season to keep
Burress, believes his former receiver has flourished with the Giants.
"Nothing against Plax," the Steelers quarterback said recently, "but Plax looks like a different
receiver than I ever had here or who was here before I was here."
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Burress finally gets to reach for the ring
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And now, Burress is seeking the Super Bowl ring that most of his former teammates have.
"In life," he said, "all you can ask for is an opportunity."
Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email protected].
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08030/853249-66.stm
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Super Bowl Notebook: Ventrone recalls '94 heartbreak
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Super Bowl Notebook: Ventrone recalls '94 heartbreak
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Scott Halleran/Getty Images
New England's Ray Ventrone -- a Chartiers Valley graduate -- is interviewed by a reporter from Telemundo.
PHOENIX -- Ray Ventrone, 12, cried when Rodney Harrison's San Diego Chargers upset
the Steelers in the AFC championship game at Three Rivers Stadium after the 1994 season.
He related that the other day to Harrison, his 35-year-old New England Patriots teammate..
"I was a real big Steelers fan," said Ventrone yesterday on the floor of the University of
Phoenix Stadium, where Super Bowl XLII will be played Sunday.
"It's actually kind of crazy; I was talking to Rodney Harrison in the locker room. We were
talking about me being from Pittsburgh and him playing in San Diego and him going to the
Super Bowl with San Diego. I said 'Oh, man, you broke my heart that year because you came
into Pittsburgh and beat us.'
"It was pretty neat to be in the same locker room as him, playing in same game he was able
to play in many years ago when I was a little kid rooting for Pittsburgh."
Ventrone is now 25 years old but still with the boyish face of that 12-year-old who rooted for
the Steelers. Only now, he hopes to help the Patriots nearly equal the Steelers' 1970s dynasty
with their fourth Super Bowl win in seven seasons, and the first to go 19-0 in doing so.
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Super Bowl Notebook: Ventrone recalls '94 heartbreak
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The Chartiers Valley High School graduate is among the most unlikely of Patriots to
participate in what might be the grandest of all NFL seasons.
He played safety at Villanova and signed with the Patriots as an undrafted rookie in 2005. He
spent that entire season on New England's practice squad.
They sent him to NFL Europe, where a shoulder injury prompted the Patriots to put him on
their injured reserve for 2006. Then they cut him.
The New York Jets signed Ventrone in February, and he stayed with them until they released
him from their practice squad after the first week of the season.
Signed to the Patriots' practice squad within days, he stayed there until they put him on their
53-man roster and he made his debut, playing on special teams, in New England's comeback
victory Nov. 4 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Three days later, the Patriots released him and he was a player without a team again.
But on Dec. 22, they signed him again and here he is, going for a Super Bowl ring on what
many say is the greatest team of all time -- if they win the championship.
"Playing in a game like this is, I guess, forever," said Ventrone, who stands 5 feet 10 inches,
weighs 200 pounds, wears No. 41 and played on all the Patriots' kick teams.
"It really has been a historical season ... as far as records and things like that go. All we want
to do is get this win. If you ask any guy here, he will tell you it's the biggest game of our
lives, even guys who have been to Super Bowls before, because so much is at stake -- a 19-0
season would be a special thing to happen."
Comparing Ben, Eli
Plaxico Burress has had the opportunity to play for two of the three top-10 quarterbacks
from the 2004 NFL draft, the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger for one season and the Giants' Eli
Manning the past three.
In no way are they similar, Burress said, except in their bottom-line success.
"They're totally different, totally different styles of play, totally different balls. Both are very
good quarterbacks and two good guys; I love both of them. Ben has done great things up
there in Pittsburgh; he won a Super Bowl and hopefully we can go out and get my own."
Burress, who is 6-5 1/2, said he was shopping for groceries when he heard that
Roethlisberger had asked the Steelers to acquire a tall receiver this offseason.
"I guess he kind of ruffled some feathers, from what I heard," Burress said. "But he's the
quarterback, he knows what he wants; he knows what he needs to win."
Brady ankle watch
An update on the soap opera that is Tom Brady's foot:
"My ankle feels good," the New England quarterback reported yesterday, a day off for the
players after their media obligations.
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Super Bowl Notebook: Ventrone recalls '94 heartbreak
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"My ankle feels great. I practiced a full day yesterday. I think we had one incompletion in
practice. It feels great. ...
"I really feel that by the game it's going to feel great, and there will be no issues. Not that I
can run anyway, but hopefully I'll be able to skirt around some of those guys who are trying
to tear my head off."
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08030/853204-66.stm
1/30/2008
NFL Notebook: Heinz Field sod removed; is turf next?
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NFL Notebook: Heinz Field sod removed; is turf next?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
From local and wire dispatches
The Steelers are tearing out the grass at Heinz Field, but not because they have decided to
install an artificial surface.
Less than a month after their season ended at home with a playoff defeat to the Jacksonville
Jaguars, the Steelers are removing the sod that was laid over their primary DDGrassMaster
surface in November in an attempt to make the field more playable and presentable.
It does not mean they have made any final decision to replace their grass field, which
includes small synthetic fibers, with some type of artificial surface. The discussion to switch
to another surface has been on-going and a decision will be made shortly.
"That was something we had to do anyway," said Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett. "No
decision has been made in regard to what we will do with the field."
The Steelers installed the sod, at a cost of $150,000, in an attempt to improve the field. But
because the sod covered the drainage system that was installed with the original surface,
Heinz Field was turned into a soggy, muddy mess for a Nov. 26 game against the Miami
Dolphins after a severe thunderstorm.
Many of the Steelers players and coach Mike Tomlin are in favor of retaining a grass surface
at Heinz Field, primarily because it reduces the amount of stress on joints.
Cowboys
An arbitrator ruled in favor of the Philadelphia Eagles on a grievance that was filed by the
NFL players' union on Dallas receiver Terrell Owens' behalf in 2005. The union disputed
the Eagles' effort to recover $1,725.000 of the $2.3 million signing bonus the team paid the
wide receiver when it signed him to a seven-year, $48.97 million deal in 2004. Owens was
suspended four games without pay and the team withheld his final five paychecks, totaling
$955,880. That means Owens still owes the Eagles $769,120.
• Former Cowboys coach Dave Campo rejoined the staff yesterday as the secondary coach.
• Linebacker Greg Ellis became the Cowboy's 13th Pro Bowl addition when he was selected
to replace Chicago's Lance Briggs.
Browns
Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel received a two-year contract extension after leading the
Browns to a 10-6 record this season. The extension, believed to be worth about $4 million
per season, will keep Crennel under contract through 2011.
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NFL Notebook: Heinz Field sod removed; is turf next?
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Elsewhere
Tight end Teyo Johnson signed with the Buffalo Bills, attempting a comeback after missing
all of last season with a calf injury. ... Left tackle Marcus McNeill became the San Diego
Chargers' ninth Pro Bowler this season, filling in for Baltimore's Jonathan Ogden.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:49 am
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Steelers Q&A: Scott Brown answers your questions - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Steelers Q&A: Scott Brown answers your questions
By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tribune-Review Steelers writer Scott Brown answers your questions about the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
Q: The Steelers opponent list for 2008 looks brutal. However, after taking a
second look at it, I found a couple of favorable aspects. First, the Steelers
play all 16 regular-season games in the Eastern time zone. Second, the
farthest road games are New England and Tennessee, which are fairly
short flights from Pittsburgh.
Do you think that having a "local" schedule will help the Steelers? In 2004
they had only one game outside the Eastern time zone (@Dallas) and they
won 15 games.
Thanks,
- Nate Pigott of Mechanicsburg, Pa.
A: Not sure how much playing exclusively in the Eastern time zone will help the
Steelers next season though it certainly is a plus. For whatever reason this team
didn't travel all that well last season, and the Steelers played two of their worst
games (at Arizona and at Denver) after traveling across the country. It can't hurt
that the Steelers won't travel nearly as far in 2008 as they did last season but
the schedule is still plenty tough, and the strength of it is one reason why I don't
see the Steelers approaching anywhere near 15 wins in 2008.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/print_535828.html
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