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One day this spring pretty well summed up the Steelers' off-season. On April 16, several pipes broke inside Three Rivers Stadium, flooding team offices with raw sewage while the staff was busy preparing for the draft. That same day, free-agent cornerback Donnell Woolford was visiting Pittsburgh. As assistant coaches used towels like sandbags to stem the fetid flow, Woolford was forced to tiptoe through the waste matter. "When I saw that flood," joked Woolford, "I said, I'm just going to turn around and go somewhere else."
Eventually, after a change of heart (and some fresh air), Woolford signed with the Steelers, but he was swimming against the tide. The exodus of stars from Pittsburgh, which began in earnest three seasons ago, continues. Seven players left this year, including linebacker Chad Brown (he had a team-leading 13 sacks in '96), receiver Andre Hastings (72 catches, six TDs), defensive lineman Ray Seals (who missed the '96 season after shoulder surgery but had 8 1/2 sacks in '95) and, most notably, cornerback Rod Woodson (six interceptions), a member of the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau also left to assume the same role with the Bengals.
There are now so many former Steelers on other teams that coach Bill Cowher is considering changing his play signals because he's worried they'll be stolen. But despite the Pro Bowl talent Pittsburgh has parted with in recent years (including quarterback Neil O'Donnell, running back Barry Foster, guard Duval Love, tight end Eric Green, linebacker Kevin Greene and placekicker Gary Anderson), the team has somehow avoided sliding in the AFC Central. Cowher has won four division titles since 1992, but this may be the season in which the Steelers lose their stranglehold.
Not that they aren't well stocked at some spots. Gigantic running back Jerome Bettis, who finished third in the NFL in rushing last year, signed a four-year, $14.4 million contract in February. Another mainstay is Pro Bowl center Dermontti Dawson, whose combination of size and quick feet is unmatched in the game.
Those are two solid blocks, but ultimately the success or failure of the offense — and perhaps of the entire season — will fall on the shoulders of untested quarterback Kordell Stewart. Though confident and athletic, Slash completed just 11 passes last year, and if he's unsteady or inaccurate, Pittsburgh is in big trouble. The backup will be rickety veteran Mike Tomczak, who in his last seven starts threw 11 interceptions and completed less than half his passes.
The Steelers lost their best defensive player last season, but only to injury — which for this organization is something of a relief. Reports out of the team's minicamps have nasty linebacker Greg Lloyd ahead of schedule on the rehab of his torn patellar tendon, suffered in the first game of 1996. "Greg's a big-play guy," says Pro Bowl safety Carnell Lake, another standout holdover. "He makes things happen, and that in turn carries over to other players. Many times last year I thought, 'Man, we could really use a shot in the arm or a big play by Greg,' and it just wasn't there."
Lloyd will line up next to one of the league's best inside linebackers, Levon Kirkland, whose strength and speed help make the team's trademark blitzing schemes so effective. Another linebacker to watch on a team that seems to grow them is intriguing inside backer Earl Holmes, a 1996 fourth-rounder out of Florida A&M.
Last year Holmes put a spin on a draft pick's customary call from his new coach.
"Congrats," Cowher told Holmes.
"No, Coach Cowher," Holmes replied. "I congratulate you for taking the best linebacker in the draft."
The 6'1", 238-pound Holmes made his case in the season finale against Carolina, when, in his only start, he had nine solo tackles and a sack. "On the pass rush, if Earl gets matched up on a back, we're going to have an advantage," says Cowher. "Much like when we had Chad Brown in there."
The secondary did lose Woodson, but the Steelers added a former Pro Bowl corner in Woolford and drafted another immediate starter, cornerback Chad Scott out of Maryland.
Cowher has done a masterly job the past few years, replacing stars like Brown with unproven fighters like Holmes and keeping the Steelers on top. As with the pipes in Three Rivers Stadium, though, sooner or later all that patchwork is going to give.
—by David Fleming
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