The weight is over: Hampton returns to practice

By Scott Brown
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Monday, August 11, 2008

Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton returns to practice for the first time during camp at St. Vincent College, Aug. 10, 2008.Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

Casey Hampton is listed at 325 pounds on the Steelers' roster. And in what would be as surprising as a heat wave in August, Hampton said that number may be a bit dated.
"I ain't been 325 in a long time," Hampton said.

Still, the veteran nose tackle is at a weight that is satisfactory to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who took Hampton off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Sunday.

Hampton, who practiced yesterday afternoon for the first time since the Steelers started training camp, said he and Tomlin basically agree to disagree on what is the best way for the four-time Pro Bowler to get ready for the regular season.

Tomlin had put Hampton on the PUP list because he showed up for camp out of shape and failed the conditioning test that preceded the start of preseason practice. Hampton said he has always worked his way into shape during training camp.

If Tomlin was trying to light a fire under his ample backside, Hampton said, it wasn't necessary.

"I don't need nobody to push me to help me any kind of way because I strive to be the best, no matter what," Hampton said. "If that was his motive, that was his motive. I'm a grown man. I don't need no other grown man to motivate me.

"It's a new coach, and he goes about things in a different way, and I can't do things the way I want to do them. I've got to do them the way he wants me to do them. I've got to be professional about it and just get it done."

Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton returns to practice for the first time during camp at St. Vincent College, Aug. 10, 2008.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

Tomlin said he is pleased with the professionalism Hampton showed while working his way into the kind of shape that is acceptable to the Steelers.

Neither he nor Hampton said how much the latter weighs.

"He's down a significant amount of weight," Tomlin said, adding that Hampton will do extra conditioning work after practices. "He is ready to go.
"The whole emphasis is to make sure he's the most dominant nose tackle in football. We're on the (same) planet."

That doesn't necessarily mean the two see eye to eye when it comes to how Hampton gets ready for a season.

"(Former coach Bill) Cowher went about it a different way than (Tomlin)," Hampton said. "Anybody that's been around me for a long period of time and played with me knows how I am. I think me and coach Tomlin are going through a learning process, just learning each other."

Hampton said he is not upset or angry with how Tomlin handled his situation. He has taken a good-natured approach to all of the running and conditioning exercises the Steelers made him do during the first two weeks of camp.

Yesterday, Hampton smiled and waved to the fans who chanted "Casey!" as he did some running following practice. He reiterated that he will be ready to play at his usual high level when the regular season begins.

"Y'all are the ones that made it a big deal, a circus atmosphere," he said to a group of reporters. "Y'all doing your job by making it a big deal and having a Hamp weigh-in every week and how much I lost. That's crazy. I'm going to do my thing."

Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.