November 1, 2009
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Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers: Doctors say Clark can play, but ...
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SPORTS / STEELERS & NFL
Steelers: Doctors say Clark can play, but ...
Sunday, November 01, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers safety Ryan Clark said yesterday he has been "cleared by doctors" but remains unsure whether he will play in
Denver a week from tomorrow.
"Basically, I've been cleared by all the doctors, but the decision still hasn't been made," Clark said during an ESPN Radio
1250 interview. "We still have time. Obviously, it's a Monday night game, so it's a long way from now."
Clark has sickle-cell trait, and his blood reacted so poorly in the exertion of playing in the thin Denver air with the Steelers in
2007 that he became almost deathly ill after the game. He wound up having his spleen and gall bladder removed, lost 30
pounds and missed the second half of the 2007 season.
He has been consulting with his doctors about whether he can play in Denver again. He said he will practice all week and, at
some point, decide whether to play.
"Coach and I have talked about it, the doctors talked about it, my wife and I. We'll figure it out," Clark said in the radio
interview. "I'll be there either way. I'll be at the game. When the decision is made, I'll let coach decide when to tell the media
and everybody whether or not I'm going to play, and I'm going to kind of stay out of it from that standpoint, but I will make
the decision."
Clark gave no hint what that decision might be.
"If we find out there is a risk, then I'm not going to play. Unless I can be told, 'Hey, you're fine, there's nothing going to
happen to any other organs,' then I'm going to play, I'll go try to hurt people and have a great time.
"But, if there are any unsure moments about it, I'll sit on the sidelines and wear a hat and coach."
Clark gave an interesting reason why he wants to play in Denver.
"It's not excruciating from a point that, if I don't play, my life will be over. It is one football game. It's not so much I want to
go beat the Broncos, as I would like to come back fully from a situation that brought me near death and kind of conquer
playing in a place that made me ill in that kind of way. But you have to take yourself out of it from that standpoint, realize
you do have children, you do have a life and you have a career that you would like to be long."
While he said doctors may have cleared him, they still have not done so to his satisfaction.
"That's understanding the situation enough to know nothing's going to happen to me," Clark explained. "I mean, you can
hear certain things, they can put papers in front of you and tests in front of you, but, until you're completely comfortable with
what you're hearing, it's going to be a tough decision. I haven't taken in enough information to make a decision."
For more on the Steelers, read the new blog, Ed Bouchette on the Steelers at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email protected].
Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a
members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on November 1, 2009 at 12:00 am
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11/2/2009
On the Steelers: Too Mean, Too Hard, Too Good
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SPORTS / STEELERS & NFL
On the Steelers: Too Mean, Too Hard, Too Good
Steelers fans think they know the hard knocks-to-hard knocks story of last season's NFL defensive
player of the year. They don't.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Never Give Up" by Bill
Moushey with Bill Parise
James Harrison came by his tough-guy reputation honestly. He transferred from one high school to another, got kicked out of
that one, and twice was suspended from the football team of his third school.
As a freshman, a 12th-grader hassled him in the school hallway, and Harrison reared back and punched him in the face,
knocking him straight into the hospital.
At age 12, James sped down the highway at 75 mph behind the wheel of his dad's Ford Escort when his father, asleep in the
passenger seat, woke up. "He told me I shouldn't be speeding," Harrison said, "so I told him I was following the flow of
traffic, just like he said." His father nodded and went back to sleep.
If you think Harrison's hits on a football field are hard, you should hear about his childhood. Harrison's early years growing
up in Akron, Ohio, are the most gripping part of his new biography, "Never Give Up." Author Bill Moushey, with Harrison's
agent Bill Parise, turns Harrison's compelling story into a good book with a cherry on top -- their subject winning NFL
defensive player of the year and then making a historic, game-changing play to help the Steelers win the Super Bowl. "It's
the greatest single defensive play in Super Bowl history," his coach, Dick LeBeau, states flatly.
Most Steelers fans know the inside and out of the latter, although you will still find inside tidbits here; his youthful years,
though, are the ones you will most remember. First mined in a chapter in Jim Wexell's fine book, "Steeler Nation," Moushey
has the advantage of devoting more print to Harrison's Akron years, and it is well done.
Through a combination of an aunt's murder and his parents' combined broods from previous marriages and their own,
Harrison had 21 siblings. Together, they could field an offense and a defense without anyone playing two ways.
"I was very stern, believed in discipline," his mother, Mildred, said.
Throughout the book, Harrison displays his mother's influence, particularly her advice that "if somebody messes with you,
you defend yourself. You don't go out and look for trouble, but if trouble comes to you, you don't run." That, and his intrinsic
truth-telling nature, sometimes either got him into trouble or did not get him out of it.
Many pro athletes can point to their bad-child-turned-good stories about maturing and finding a way. Jerome Bettis wrote in
his book about selling drugs on a street corner as a kid.
One difference with Harrison that "Never Give Up" brings out is that this was not a bad kid but a good one who would not
back down, including the racism he experienced in attending lily-white schools and from opponents. After influential white
parents pressed for charges against him, he took the fall for a BB-gun prank that went awry among teammates in the locker
room.
"I've broken murderers and killers, and I'm going to break you, too," the cop interrogating the high school senior threatened
him.
Moushey, Parise and Harrison do not sidestep difficult stories from the player's past nor his most recent experiences.
Harrison tackles them head-on as he would a halfback. They include his honest admission of his domestic-abuse case, his
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11/2/2009
On the Steelers: Too Mean, Too Hard, Too Good
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refusal to travel to the White House, the almost tragic attack by his pit bull on his infant son, the reasons big-time recruiters
were scared off during his senior season in high school and more.
It's not all nitty-gritty. There is humor and there is triumph throughout the book. Both occurred in one instance when Drew
Brees, now the NFL passing dandy with the New Orleans Saints, chastised Harrison when Brees' Purdue team played
Harrison's Kent State. Brees told Harrison his tough play could injure him and keep him from going high in the NFL draft.
"I told him as far as I was concerned, the only place he was going was on the ground," Harrison said.
You also will find interesting the dichotomy of Harrison's tough-guy image contrasted by his shyness, his fear of flying and
the kinds of tattoos he wears on his arms and chest.
Want more? Buy the book. It should be in all the bookstores by now, in Giant Eagles and at
www.jamesharrisonnevergiveup.com.
For more on the Steelers, read the new blog, Ed Bouchette on the Steelers at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Ed Bouchette can be reached at [email protected].
Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a
members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on November 1, 2009 at 12:00 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09305/1009627-66.stm
11/2/2009
Book restores the late Pat Tillman's humanity
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Book restores the late Pat Tillman's humanity
Non-fiction: Used as 'symbol,' slain soldier's life put into focus
Sunday, November 01, 2009
By Virginia Linn, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
AP Photo/Arizona Cardinals
Pat Tillman walked away from a
$3.6 million National Football
League contract to join the U.S.
Army after 9/11.
Most of us are familiar with the tragic story of Pat Tillman, the strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals who walked away
from a $3.6 million National Football League contract to join the U.S. Army after 9/11 because he felt morally obligated to
defend his country against al-Qaeda.
When he was gunned down two years later on a desolate ridge in Afghanistan, he was essentially canonized by the Bush
administration for his heroism. The military brass quickly mobilized to award the 27-year-old California native the Silver
Star just 11 days after his death on April 22, 2004.
But all was not as it seemed, and we eventually learned that Tillman was the victim of not only friendly fire but also a
government coverup aimed at deflecting the bad press erupting over the atrocities at Abu Ghraib prison that happened to
become public the week after he was killed.
In his meticulously researched new book, Jon Krakauer uses his straightforward-but-engaging storytelling to lay out the
litany of missteps -- broken military protocol, misguided commands, botched communications, soldier bravado and almost
comical idiocy -- that led to hundreds of rounds of ammo being fired at Tillman and his fellow Rangers from the other half
of their platoon.
Like in his expose of the Morman fundamentalists in "Under the Banner of Heaven," and the Mount
Everest disaster, "Into Thin Air," Krakauer has a knack for weaving in great detail while moving the
story along.
With the cooperation of Tillman's widow, Marie, Krakauer drew on her husband's journals and letters
as well as scores of candid interviews to stitch together the soldier's complex persona, depicting the
highly motivated athlete who thrived on David vs. Goliath challenges.
"WHERE MEN WIN GLORY:
THE ODYSSEY OF PAT
TILLMAN"
By Jon Krakauer
Doubleday ($27.95)
Told he was too small to play football, he pushed forward anyway and nailed positions on Arizona State University and NFL
teams. A maverick with shoulder-length hair who read Thoreau, Tillman was content to drive a beat-up Volvo while his NFL
teammates cruised around in blinged-out Escalades.
He grew up in a tight family in the Silicon Valley, where canyon walls blocked TV reception and many days were spent
outdoors with his two younger brothers, scrambling up ravines, preparing his body for the rigors of football as well as the
rugged terrain in Afghanistan.
Krakauer traces Tillman's upbringing against the uprising of al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. As Tillman was attending class
at Leland High School on Feb. 26, 1993, a 1,500-pound bomb was detonated in a van parked beneath the north tower of the
World Trade Center. On Oct. 12, 2000, four days after Tillman helped the Cardinals defeat the Cleveland Browns, suicide
bombers in a fishing boat ignited a bomb that punched a jagged hole in the thick wall of the USS Cole and killed 17 sailors
in Yemen.
And 13 months before Tillman's death, Krakauer reports for the first time, he took part in a rescue of another soldier, Jessica
Lynch, whose story would be embellished by the Bush administration for its own gain and eerily foreshadow Tillman's own
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Book restores the late Pat Tillman's humanity
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future.
More than anything, Tillman told a fellow soldier, he didn't want to become an inspirational emblem for the Global War and
feared Bush's people would "make a big deal out of his death and parade him through the streets" if something were to
happen to him.
"Where Men Win Glory" also provides a refresher course on developments in Afghanistan and Iraq, bin Laden's strategies
and U.S. military involvement, all wrapped around Tillman's compelling tale. He was killed five years ago, but his story and
its consequences are still relevant.
Krakauer reminds us that bin Laden kept attacking prominent American symbols not so much to create mayhem, but to bait
the United States to invade Afghanistan, a move he believed would ensnarl us in an endless, unwinnable war.
Indeed, after what has become the deadliest month for American soldiers in Afghanistan since the war began, whether the
U.S. should increase its troops there is the question that faces President Barack Obama today.
Virginia Linn can be reached at 412-263-1662 or [email protected].
"Bob Hoover's Book Club" is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on November 1, 2009 at 12:00 am
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09305/1009551-148.stm
11/2/2009
Sickle cell hits 'closer to home' for Clark - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Sickle cell hits 'closer to home' for Clark
By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Football isn't a game of life or death to Ryan Clark, yet he knows first-hand the
risk of playing in the high altitude could make it one.
That's why the Steelers' starting free safety still hasn't decided whether he will
play against the Denver Broncos next Monday night.
"I think it would be big for me to play," Clark said Saturday afternoon at South
Hills Village, where he signed autographs for the $10,000 Man Cave Makeover
contest through Verizon FiOS. "Sickle cell would be acknowledged a little bit
more, because it is an ethnic disease. Let's be honest, it's not a disease that
affects all."
While Clark lost his spleen and gall bladder in separate surgeries after the
sickle-cell trait caused oxygen deprivation to several major organs during the
Steelers' game at Denver in 2007, he also knows it can be more severe.
Clark and his wife, Yonka, served as best man and matron of honor in the
wedding of his childhood friend, Kevin Norwood, in July 2008. This past March,
just days before their planned trip to Las Vegas together, Norwood's wife, Kim,
died from complications of sickle-cell disease.
"For me, it hits a little bit closer to home than most," Clark said. "I know how
deadly it can be. You lose your spleen and gall bladder, but you still have a life.
Looking at my friend's wife, she doesn't."
Doctors have cleared the 30-year-old Clark to play, so now it's up to him and
the Steelers' coaching staff to determine whether it's worth the risk.
"I don't want to go out there and have my health more on my mind than playing
football," he said. "That wouldn't benefit the team or myself."
While the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Clark hits opposing receivers with a reckless
disregard for his own body, he will take his wife and three young children into
consideration in deciding whether to play in Denver. His youngest daughter, 4year-old Loghan, also carries the sickle-cell trait.
"If you watch the way I play, I don't care about myself anyway," Clark said. "But
I have people to take care of, people to be here for. They weigh very heavily
into the decision. I want to give God the glory and let people know that he
brought me back from that, and I'm able to do this now.
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Sickle cell hits 'closer to home' for Clark - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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"You have to take the competitive spirit out of it and think about it more
rationally and do what's the best thing for you and your family."
Clark also knows that playing could be a way to honor Kim Norwood and others
lost to the sickle-cell disease by bringing it to attention before a national
television audience. And by beating the Broncos, who are 6-0 heading into
today's game at Baltimore, Clark and the Steelers could possibly avoid a return
trip to Denver in the AFC playoffs.
"I want to go out there and win this game," Clark said, "so we don't have to
make the same decision in January."
Kevin Gorman can be reached at [email protected] or 412-320-7812.
Images and text copyright © 2009 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Reproduction or reuse prohibited without written consent from Trib Total Media
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11/2/2009
Plenty of classic home games for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Plenty of classic home games for Steelers
By Jerry DiPaola
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Identifying the best games played by the Steelers during the glory years at
Three Rivers Stadium and Heinz Field is like finding the prettiest girl at the Miss
America pageant.
There are plenty of good candidates and you can hardly go wrong with your
pick. However, selecting the cream of the crop during the Steelers' lean years
at Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field is a much more challenging task.
The Trib was up to the challenge and selected the five best games involving the
Steelers at all four of their NFL homes since 1933.
Here are our five selections for games played at Forbes Field, Pitt Stadium,
Three Rivers Stadium and Heinz Field, as compiled by former NFL writer Jerry
DiPaola:
PITT STADIUM
Nov. 16, 1958, Steelers 31, Giants 10 — Less than two months before the
Giants famously lost in overtime to the Colts in the NFL Championship Game,
23-17, the Steelers dominated the Giants and stretched their winning streak to
five. After the Giants took a 10-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Frank Gifford and a
42-yard field goal by Pat Summerall, Steelers quarterback Bobby Layne took
over — scoring twice on 1-yard runs and throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to
Tom Tracy. Also, Gary Glick scored on a 37-yard fumble return and Tom Miner
kicked a 43-yard field goal.
Nov. 18, 1962, Steelers 23, Redskins 21 — The last of Lou Michaels' three
field goals led the Steelers to a dramatic come-from-behind victory during one
of their finest seasons before the 1970s. The Redskins led, 21-6, after three
quarters before the Steelers scored 17 points in the fourth quarter on Ed
Brown's touchdown passes of 20 and 9 yards to Red Mack and Buddy Dial and
Michaels' 24-yard field goal. The victory came within a stretch of six victories in
seven games for the Steelers, who ended up 9-5 before losing to the Lions, 1710, in the Playoff Bowl.
Nov. 10, 1963, Steelers 9, Browns 7 — One of the best Steelers teams ever
to play at Pitt Stadium trailed the Browns, 7-0, at halftime. The turning point
occurred in the third period when linebacker Bob Schmitz tackled future Pro
Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown in the end zone for a safety and the Steelers'
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Plenty of classic home games for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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first points. The Steelers won the game on Ed Brown's 9-yard touchdown pass
to Gary Ballman in the fourth quarter. John Henry Johnson outgained Brown in
the game, 131 yards to 99. The game started a streak of five consecutive
games without a loss, although the Steelers (7-4-3) had two ties in that span.
Oct. 27, 1968, Steelers 6, Eagles 3 — The last Steelers team before Chuck
Noll arrived played in the infamous O.J. Simpson Bowl, so named because the
loser looked like it would get the 1969 first-round draft choice and the chance to
pick the coveted running back from USC. Eagles coach Joe Kuharich didn't like
the implication, but he didn't mind the risk involved in going for it on fourth down
from his 10-yard line, instead of punting, with about a minute to go and the
score tied, 3-3. After the Steelers held, Booth Lusteg's field goal won it, but
neither the Eagles nor Steelers ended up with the top choice. The Bills took
Simpson No. 1 and the Falcons and Eagles chose tackle George Kunz and
running back LeRoy Keyes while the Steelers held their breath and, finally, took
Joe Greene.
Sept. 21, 1969, Steelers 16, Lions 13 — The first season of the Chuck Noll
era started well in front of 51,360 fans with a 16-13 opening-day victory.
Running back Warren Bankston's 6-yard touchdown run with 2:57 left in the
game decided the outcome, but the team's only other offensive outburst were
three field goals by Gene Mingo. The victory offered no momentum for the
Steelers, who lost each of their remaining 13 games and suffered their last
losing season at home until 1999. The last Steelers game at Pitt Stadium was a
21-17 loss to the Giants and only 21,067 were there to see it. The Steelers
didn't win again until Oct. 11, 1970, when they beat the Bills at Three Rivers
Stadium, 23-10.
THREE RIVERS STADIUM
Dec. 23, 1972, Steelers 13, Raiders 7 (divisional playoff) — The most
famous game in NFL history also was the Steelers' first venture into the
postseason since 1947 (second overall). The Steelers won in the game's final
22 seconds when rookie running back Franco Harris caught a deflected pass
from Terry Bradshaw near his shoetops and turned it into a 60-yard, gamedeciding touchdown that became known as the "Immaculate Reception."
Nov. 25, 1979, Steelers 33, Browns 30 (overtime) — Ultimately, the game
was decided by the smallest player on the field, kicker Matt Bahr. Prior to that,
the defense came up big with seven sacks of Browns quarterback Brian Sipe,
five by L.C. Greenwood, who said he could barely stand after the four-hour
game. Bahr kicked a 21-yard field goal with 24 seconds left to force overtime
and a 37-yard game-winner with nine seconds left in the extra period for the
Steelers' only lead. The Steelers trailed, 20-6, and 30-20, and Terry Bradshaw
threw for 364 yards and Franco Harris ran for 151 on 32 carries and had a
career-high nine catches.
Jan. 6, 1980, Steelers 27, Oilers 13 (AFC Championship) — This game
might have been the final catalyst for replay review. The Oilers trailed, 17-10,
late in the third quarter when Mike Renfro caught a pass from Dan Pastorini
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Plenty of classic home games for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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near the back of the end zone. Without the benefit of the multiple camera
angles available today, officials ruled Renfro did not have control of the ball
before going out of bounds, a decision argued with great passion by Houston
coach Bum Phillips. The Oilers settled for a field goal, and the Steelers, who
held NFL rushing champion Earl Campbell to 15 yards on 17 carries for the
game, dominated from that point.
Jan. 15, 1995, Chargers 17, Steelers 13 (AFC Championship) — Coach Bill
Cowher led the Steelers to the cusp of the Super Bowl in only his third season
and suffered one of the most bitter defeats in franchise history. The heavily
favored Steelers outgained San Diego, 415-226, in yardage, but the Chargers
built their final margin on 43-yard touchdown passes from Stan Humphries to
Alfred Pupunu and Tony Martin. The Steelers were 3 yards from the winning
score, but in the last seconds, Dennis Gibson knocked away Neil O'Donnell's
pass to Barry Foster in the end zone.
Jan. 14, 1996, Steelers 20, Colts 16 (AFC Championship) — The Steelers
rallied in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Bam Morris, set up by
clutch completions from Neil O'Donnell to Andre Hastings and Ernie Mills. The
Colts nearly won the game on a desperation heave by quarterback Jim
Harbaugh, but wide receiver Aaron Bailey couldn't handle the ball in a crowd of
Steelers defenders in the end zone. Rookie Kordell Stewart caught a
controversial touchdown pass in the second quarter after he had stepped over
the end line.
FORBES FIELD
Sept. 20, 1933, New York Giants 23, Pirates 2 — The first game played in
Steelers history was watched by 13,483 paid customers on a Wednesday night
because of the blue laws that dated from the time of George Washington.
Founder Art Rooney Sr. had his players wear blacked-striped, gold jerseys,
adorned with the crest of the city of Pittsburgh. He was so thoroughly
disappointed in his players' efforts that he later wrote: "The fans didn't get their
money's worth."
Sept. 27, 1933, Pirates 14, Chicago Cardinals 13 — The team's first victory
was played in the mud after a long, soaking rain. Butch Kottler's 99-yard
interception return was the franchise's first touchdown. The game was decided
when 36-year-old Christian "Mose" Kelsch, the oldest player in the league and
four years older than Art Rooney, kicked an extra point, one of only two he had
all season.
Nov. 22, 1942, Steelers 19, Chicago Cardinals 3 — Renamed the Steelers to
reflect the industry that was a big part of the city's heritage, the team clinched
its first winning season behind rookie first-round draft choice and future Hall of
Famer Bill Dudley. The Steelers finished 7-4 and Dudley led the NFL in rushing
with a team record (696 yards) that stood for the remainder of the decade.
Dudley didn't score against the Cardinals, however, with Armand Niccolai
kicking two field goals and Dick Riffle and George Gonda running for
touchdowns.
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Plenty of classic home games for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Dec. 21, 1947, Eagles 21, Steelers 0 (Eastern Conference playoff) —
Steelers players went on strike before the game, asking to be paid for the extra
week of practice. A day later, they returned after it became clear Art Rooney
had no intention of bowing to his players' demands. Worse, tailback Johnny
Clement and his backup, Gonzales Morales, were injured and couldn't
participate in the game that was played in front of a full house at Forbes Field.
Clements, who had flown several combat missions in World War II, was the
team's best player with more than 1,000 passing yards and 11 touchdowns
while operating the single wing.
November 30, 1952, Steelers 63, Giants 7 — On a snowy afternoon, the
Steelers entered the game with a 3-6 record, but scored nine touchdowns and
63 points, both team records that stand today. Jim Finks threw four touchdown
passes, two to Dick Hensley. Lynn Chandnois, getting a running start after
standing on the pitcher's mound, scored on a 91-yard kickoff return. The Giants
lost three quarterbacks to injuries and defensive back and punter Tom Landy
had to perform mopup duty. Only 15,140 spectators showed up, but after the
game, they ran onto the field and began to tear the down the goalposts.
HEINZ FIELD
Oct. 7, 2001, Steelers 16, Bengals 7 — The first official game was scheduled
for Sept. 16 against the Browns, but was postponed by the Sept. 11 terrorist
attack. Kicker Kris Brown scored the first NFL points, quarterback Kordell
Stewart recorded the first touchdown in the new stadium, and the JumboTron
showed President George W. Bush ordering retaliatory strikes on Talibancontrolled Afghanistan.
Jan. 27, 2002, Patriots 24, Steelers 17 (AFC Championship) — The Patriots
won without quarterback Tom Brady, who was injured in the second quarter
and replaced by Drew Bledsoe. The game turned on two Steelers specialteams mistakes (a 55-yard punt return by Troy Brown and a blocked field goal,
picked up by Brown and lateraled to Antwan Harris for a touchdown and a 21-3
Patriots lead).
Jan. 5, 2003, Steelers 36, Browns 33 (wild-card playoff) — The Steelers
trailed by 17 points late in the third quarter until Tommy Maddox, who ended up
with a team postseason record 367 yards passing, threw touchdown passes to
Plaxico Burress, Jerame Tuman and Hines Ward, and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala
scored the game-winner on a 3-yard run with 54 seconds left. Linebacker
Kendrell Bell played most of the game on a badly sprained ankle and had to be
helped off the field.
Oct. 31, 2004 & Nov. 7, 2004, Steelers 34, Patriots 20 and Steelers 27,
Eagles 3 — The Steelers became the only team in NFL history to beat
undefeated teams with at least six victories on consecutive weeks. The Patriots
came into the game with a record 21-game winning streak, but the Steelers
opened a 24-3 lead in the second quarter and dominated the defending Super
Bowl champions by holding the ball for 43 minutes. Against the Eagles, the
story was Jerome Bettis, who before the season was forced to take a $2.6
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Plenty of classic home games for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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million pay cut just to remain in Pittsburgh. Filling in for Duce Staley
(hamstring), Bettis ran for 149 yards.
Jan. 18, 2009, Steelers 23, Ravens 14 (AFC Championship) — The Steelers,
who have played in more AFC title games (14) than any team, got back to .500,
with their first championship-game victory at home since 1996. The defense
held the Ravens to 184 totals yards and forced five turnovers and the Steelers
scored on three Jeff Reed field goals and an interception return by Troy
Polamalu.
Jerry DiPaola can be reached at [email protected] or 412-481-5432.
Images and text copyright © 2009 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Reproduction or reuse prohibited without written consent from Trib Total Media
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11/2/2009