Friday, January 16, 2009
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
James Farrior stops the Bengals' Cedric Benson for no gain Nov. 20.
You see him preening. You see him thumping his chest. You see him ranting and raving and raising his Baltimore team. All skullcap and stare and roiling passion, Ray Lewis is an image seared into the NFL consciousness, a freeze frame of the game's most menacing middle linebacker.
Now picture the Steelers' James Farrior.
You know, the guy they call Potsie.
Never saw him dance or gesticulate or do much more than quietly, efficiently steer the league's leading defense. Never saw him hoist his unit, his team, with an overt display of emotion, though teammates maintain they wouldn't be as sturdy without their restrained inside linebacker. Never saw him gain the same wide-eyed attention as Lewis, either.
"I got to work on my dance moves," Farrior joked earlier this week, his Steelers preparing to confront Lewis and the Ravens Sunday for the AFC championship and a ticket to the Super Bowl. The joke lasted, oh, five seconds. "That's not me. That's not me."
"Complete opposite," added defensive end Aaron Smith, whose locker is next door. "Potsie's very reserved and laid back."
"He's not as animated as Ray Lewis," continued Larry Foote, Farrior's inside-linebacker sidekick for the past five seasons. "But, you know, that's just their personalities. Farrior's a quiet, consistent guy. And he's been leading this defense since I've been here."
Since 2002, when Foote arrived in the draft and Farrior via free agency after five seasons with the New York Jets, the Steelers' defense has been called, conducted and controlled by the same man in the middle. He has topped the team in tackles four of the past five years, the other being 2005 when he missed two starts to injury -- and still finished second.
He has topped the acclaimed Lewis three of the past four years in tackles and sacks and surpassed him three of the past five years in forced fumbles and fumbles recovered. But Farrior's number of Pro Bowls? Counting this year's, two, compared to Lewis' 10 in 13 seasons. Farrior's number of Defensive Player of the Year Awards? He finished No. 2 to Lewis' Ravens teammate Ed Reed in 2004, compared to Lewis' two first places.
Not that Lewis is undeserving. Not that Farrior is under-heralded, if not unheralded. It's just that some Steelers believe there shouldn't exist such a gulf in perception between them.
"Aw, ain't no doubt about it," Foote began. "I mean, I'm a little better than [Farrior], but people don't see it that way." The joke lasted, oh, two seconds. "But he's definitely one of the top linebackers, right along with Ray Lewis."
Farrior, who owns 931 career regular-season tackles to Lewis' 911 in one less season, places Lewis on a considerably higher pedestal. And, to him, there's good reason.
"No doubt about it. He's kept that team intact for the past so many years," Farrior said of the 13-year veteran drafted in the first round in 1996. "He's always been the leader of that team. Offensively, defensively, he's the guy. The work that he's put in is pretty remarkable. He's a Hall of Fame player. I really admire his game. I think he's one of the best middle linebackers to ever play the game."
Here they are, confronting one another Sunday through their respective first- and second-ranked defenses in the NFL to see which gets the opportunity to play in a second Super Bowl. Lewis is 33. Farrior turned 34 last week.
"Both of them are old," said Foote, 27. "I always sort of modeled myself after [Farrior], that's how long I want to play. But I don't know if I want to go quite as long as he's going.
"That's why he got that [five-year, $18.2-million] contract at that age," Foote added of Farrior's extension in August. "Because he ain't slowed down yet. You got to slow down before the negotiation table starts to go against you."
It's something Farrior admittedly learned at his advanced inside-linebacker age.
"It's hard, it's hard. But you got to do a better job in the offseason taking care of your body," he said. "You know, that's one of the things I've done over the years, taking great care of my body and trying to get in the best shape I could in the offseason. That's probably been a key for me." And you see that No. 51, in turn, has been a key to the Steelers' drive.
"[No.] 52 and his crazy dancing?" tackle Max Starks joked of Lewis. "I'd just like to see some different moves. It's kind of stale."
Chuck Finder can be reached at cfinder@post-gazette.com.
First published on January 16, 2009 at 12:00 am
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