For Faneca, New Colors and a New Start With the Jets

By GREG BISHOP
The New York Times
Published: May 23, 2008

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Alan Faneca leaned forward at left guard, same mop of red hair sneaking out of the helmet, same No. 66 stretched across the jersey, same physics lesson delivered after each snap: force = mass (x) acceleration.



Tom E. Puskar/Associated Press
In 10 seasons with Pittsburgh, Jets guard Alan Faneca was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and started 153 regular-season games.

Football felt familiar and felt new, often both at the same time.

Familiar because Faneca spent his career dominating that same position. New because Faneca used to do so in Pittsburgh, before going green and signing with the Jets as a free agent this off-season.

“It’s different when you’ve been in black and gold for a decade,” Faneca said after practice Thursday. “Even the first day, you walk in on the green carpet. You put your workout clothes on, and you’re wearing green shorts.”

Drafted by the Steelers in 1998, Faneca played 10 seasons there, made 7 Pro Bowls, won a Super Bowl and started 153 regular-season games.

He sometimes laughed when teammates, especially younger ones, talked of spending their whole careers in one city, with one team. He knew that football equaled business, that players came and went. But as the years crept by, he could not help wondering: what if he retired in black and gold?

“When you spend as much time as I did in Pittsburgh, you start leaning toward thinking that might be a possibility,” Faneca said.

Everything fell apart before last season, when Faneca expressed unhappiness with his contract and free agency became inevitable. Ten years in one place, then gone, just like that.

The day before the free-agency period, Faneca painted his daughter’s play room, worked on projects around the house, anything that kept him busy. When the Jets called at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 29, his skin was still flecked with yellow paint.

Coach Eric Mangini and General Manager Mike Tannenbaum were on the line. They detailed how they planned to return the Jets to the playoffs after a 4-12 season. They wooed Faneca with his importance to the plan.

He hung up thinking the Jets presented “a strong possibility.” Faneca eventually signed with them for four years and $32 million, with roughly $20 million guaranteed.

Faneca, 31, spent the recent months living in a Marriott down the street from the Jets’ facility here, flying back to visit his family and searching for a house in New Jersey. He closed on new digs May 8, joined shortly after by his wife, Julie, and daughter, Anabelle.

The transition to a new offensive line came easier. Sandwiched between center Nick Mangold and left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, two former first-round draft picks entering their third seasons, Faneca provides the veteran presence the Jets lost when Pete Kendall left for Washington last off-season.

“I want to be the rock between them,” Faneca said.

Once a week, the offensive linemen meet for dinner. Despite the size of the deals signed by Faneca and another free agent, Damien Woody, the linemen rotate choosing locations as well as who picks up the check. Recent outings included P. F. Chang’s and Brazilian food.

“I knew him as a great offensive lineman,” Ferguson said of Faneca. “He’s a great player. He’s a real hard worker. That’s what I noticed most.”

Other reactions were similarly positive. When running back Thomas Jones — he of a single rushing touchdown last season, despite more than 1,100 yards — saw Faneca, he rushed over, smiled wide and wrapped him in a bear hug.

Faneca joins a host of free agents the Jets signed this off-season. Are they good enough to get the team back into the playoffs?

“We look good on paper,” Faneca said. “It’s on us to put it on the field and put it all together. In Pittsburgh, we were pretty much the opposite. We probably didn’t look too good on paper, but we got it done.”

Jones would be happy to follow Faneca all the way into the playoffs. After practice Thursday, the rest of the offensive lineman joined Faneca for a photo shoot. They stood in one end zone, Faneca in the middle, ready to put paper into practice.