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A tuned-up Bus
Healthy and sharp, Bettis is ready for a bounce-back year
Posted: Thursday July 31, 2003 12:46 PM
This is the fifth in a series of postcards Peter King will e-mail from his annual NFL training camp tour.
Wednesday, July 30
Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
In my favorite of all the camp spots, Latrobe, Pa., three miles from the Rolling Rock Brewery in the lush Laurel Highlands at Steelers camp. The Steelers, of course, have practiced forever at St. Vincent's College, a college/abbey/monastery that still has monks in long robes walking among the ballplayers and fans. Incredibly pleasant place, and I think this is the first time I've ever been here when it wasn't over 90. Nice, coolish 79 today, perfect for a morning practice in which learning is paramount.
1. The Steelers like the local guy. One-eighth of the roster -- 10 players -- comes from nearby schools, West Virginia, Robert Morris, Pitt or Kent State.
2. The Steelers have a Kendrell (Bell), a Kendrick (Clancy), a Keydrick (Vincent), but they have no Johns.
3. I like the fact that the Steelers have only six players who have turned 31. They're doing a good job of turning over this team, keeping it competitive and keeping it young.
Big motorized scooter/cycle competition in camp. Eight or 10 players use those standing scooters to get around; Plaxico Burress looks about 11 feet tall riding around the St. Vincent's campus on one. When I was interviewing Joey Porter Wednesday near the dining hall, Mark Bruener got off his purple midsized model of a small motorcycle and chided Porter for his smallish black one. "Hey, Joey," Bruener said, "Maybe someday you can get yourself a big-boy bike, like mine."
QB Tommy Maddox. I'm as guilty as the next guy. After all his failings, I pretty much consigned this man to the scrap heap of NFL life. But watching him throw spirals this morning was a treat. Excellent arm. Really excellent. And just a nice, soft touch. I like the chemistry he has with his receivers, particularly Hines Ward. You can see how much they've worked together in the offseason, particularly when Maddox throws the ball to an exact spot and the receiver is right there.
1. I think it's looking more and more like the left and right tackles will be Marvel Smith and Oliver Ross, respectively. Ross must still beat out journeyman Todd Fordham, but he should be able to do that, especially considering this is a job Cowher and offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey really want to see Ross win.
2. I think that's some hair rookie safety Troy Polamalu has. It's black, flowing down on all sides of his neck, just barely touching the shoulder pads. He's going to be a hitting machine. As you can probably guess, the fans here are going to love him. Look for the Steelers to invent some schemes to put him in blitzing situations early in games.
3. I think if you want a sleeper to emerge on this roster, look at backup cornerback, Chidi Iwuoma. At 5-foot-8, he's obviously got to make up for his lack of height, and on consecutive plays this morning, he broke up passes with aggressive clinging coverage of Steelers wideouts. "Chidi Chidi bang bang!" one of his mates yelled out after the second play.
4. I think Jerome Bettis looked darned good. He told me he had a full offseason of conditioning after an early-February left knee scope (his fourth on the knee), and he said he's confident he will be a 16-game player this year. Last season he missed three contests and was never really himself. I see Bettis getting the first snap of the year with Amos Zereoue spelling him probably a lot more than Bettis would like. But if the Bus gets rolling, Cowher will ride him. Probably not 28 times a game, but at least 20-25 if Bettis is right.
5. I think the biggest fullback I've ever seen in my life, Wes Ours from West Virginia, is in camp. He's listed at 6-foot, 284 pounds. I say listed.
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Well, a different sort of menu today, because I ate lunch at Joio's, a Latrobe family-style restaurant with my brother-in-law Lou and his boys. They're from Montanaville -- aka Monongahela -- and they just love them Stiller.
Entree : Pan pizza, half plain and half with everything. Since I'm not a peppers guy, I chose the half plain. Unique pizza. Sweet crust. I've never had a sweet-crust pizza. I'm not sure I ever want to have one again, though it was interesting. Grade: B.
Side : Half-order of spaghetti with meatballs. Pedestrian sauce, but the best meatballs I've had in sometime. Almost sausagy. Very nice. Grade: B.
Drink : Pepsi. A nice break from Dasani. There I am, pumping the Dasani again. Grade: B
Overall grade: B. All in all, a nice day away from the cafeteria, though I did miss the excellent variety the Steelers' chow line always has to offer. My nephew Luke, by the way, can eat like a horse. How in the world do you keep him full, Lou? |
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This was already a neat place to practice, and now the Steelers have added a new field, above the current ones, behind the dormitories, and it's literally carved out of a cornfield. All the Field of Dreams jokes have been made this week as the Steelers began practicing on the new pitch. As I watched the club here Wednesday morning, I kept thinking: This must be how teams trained in the '50s -- no fans to speak of (this practice was closed; there was a longer and heavier-hitting open session scheduled at Latrobe High School in the evening), no bleachers, no attention of any sort ... just a field bordered on two sides by cornstalks.
"It doesn't get any better than this," said Mr. Throwback, coach Bill Cowher, to me after practice, as he looked out at the corn. "This is football, classic football. I know there's been a lot said recently about where teams practice, and some teams are going back to their facilities to have training camp. But look at this place. How can football get better than this? Four weeks of being together, no distractions, everything within walking distance? Fields all here. Nothing but football. Nothing. Just four weeks of you, your roommate and football. I think there's a lot to be said for how you start your season, and every year we feel like we get a great start to what we're going to be as a football team by being up here."
Couldn't have said it better myself. Teams have to do what they feel is best for their development, but I strongly recommend that any club wanting to move home come here first to see what a real training camp should be like. Vintage, and still with great value for today.
Check back soon for more of Peter King's Postcards from Camp.
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