A very happy birthday for Alan Faneca

By Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
12/08/2006

In a perfect world, Alan Faneca would have celebrated his 30th birthday quietly with his wife and daughter. Instead, he spent the day working.

Thursday morning, he woke up at the downtown hotel where the Steelers stay the night before home games. After breakfast, lunch and meetings to review the game plan, it was on to Heinz Field for Thursday night's frigid confrontation against the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers' star left guard would have preferred to share a cozy dinner with Julie and Anabelle Kathryn, the couple's 2-year-old girl. But because the NFL wants to expand its visibility - specifically its own NFL Network - it scheduled five Thursday games (as well as three Saturday games) in November and December.

So Faneca spent his birthday blocking the Browns into submission on a night when brisk winds and a 20-degree temperature made the wind-chill factor zero degrees on the North Shore.

A Pro Bowl selection in each of the past five seasons, Faneca certainly looks as though he'll make it again. He sure had a monster night in the Steelers' 27-7 win over the Browns. Time after time as Willie Parker set a franchise single-game rushing record with 223 yards, Faneca blew open holes by blasting Cleveland defenders.

He's already being endorsed by pro football fans across the country, who've given Faneca more votes than any other guard in the league in the NFL's three-way Pro Bowl selection process.
"That's nice to know," the man nicknamed "Red" by his teammates because of his thick red mane, said. "But right now, it's a little too early for me to be thinking about the Pro Bowl."

Even though there've been some whispers that maybe Faneca isn't the same dominant force he's been the past five years, we'll find out in a few weeks when players and coaches in the league cast their Pro Bowl ballots.

To be sure, the Steelers' offensive line collectively - center Jeff Hartings, Faneca and Kendall Simmons at guard, and Marvel Smith and Max Starks at tackle - has been inconsistent this year and heavily criticized for it. Going into last night's game, the Steelers ranked 17th in rushing. That's quite a drop for a team that finished fifth in the league last year. That's quite a slide for a team that's ran for more yards than any other NFL team since Bill Cowher was hired as coach in 1992.

Faneca, though, likes to think his play for the 6-7 Steelers is just as solid as it's been in recent years.

"You can always work on your trade," he said. "There are always ways of getting better and playing smarter. But I'd like to think I'm holding my own."

Faneca is at least one of the top three offensive linemen in franchise history. The other two played center - the late Mike Webster, who played in nine Pro Bowls during his 15-year-pro career (1974-88) and Dermontti Dawson, a seven-time Pro Bowler whose 13-year career (1988-2000) was cut short due to a nagging hamstring pull. Webster is already in the Hall of Fame, Dawson will get in someday, maybe as early as next year.

Faneca sure looks like he has Hall of Fame potential. But first, he still has a lot of playing to do.

"There've been quite a few lineman over the years who've played a lot of years in this league," Faneca said. "Look at Bruce Matthews (who played for the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans). How long did he play, 18, 19 or 20 years?"

Matthews, who played for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, spent 19 years in the pros.

"I'm not going to play 18, 19 or 20 years," said Faneca, a ninth-year pro who's managed to excel despite battling epilepsy since he was 15 years old (he still takes six pills a day to combat the illness). "But I might get close. I'm only 30 and I feel great. I've been lucky, I've never been seriously hurt before. So if I stay healthy, who knows how long I'll be able to play?"

As far as playing on the day he turned 30, Faneca said he didn't remember ever playing on his birthday before. But he has once before. On Dec. 7, 2003, the Steelers blew out the Oakland Raiders, 27-7.

So Faneca is a perfect 2-0 on his birthday.

Mike Bires can be reached online at mbires@timesonline.com