Steelers expect him at unofficial workouts
Saturday, April 09, 2005
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Five weeks after he said he was not sure he wanted to play football again, Jerome Bettis apparently has decided he will.
Bettis, making an appearance in Philadelphia yesterday to promote asthma awareness, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he plans to play for the Steelers in 2005 after wavering about his decision since the end of last season.
"My body didn't feel good after the season," Bettis told the newspaper. "I felt pretty rough. It was difficult for me. As the days went by, my body started to recover, and I felt better.
"My love for the game hadn't wavered. It was a situation where I'd be doing myself a disservice if I retired, because I wanted to try to win a championship."
Bettis could not be reached for further comment, but the Steelers begin their unofficial workout sessions Monday in Pittsburgh, and they expect he will attend. He signed a renegotiated contract before free agency began March 2 that will pay him $1.5 million. It contains a $100,000 workout bonus if he meets certain requirements this spring that include participation in the drills and making periodic weight limits.
Early last month, Bettis said he probably would let the Steelers' coaching staff know by June 1 of his plans to play this season or not. Coach Bill Cowher, though, has planned on him being there.
"I think his mindset is that he wants to come back," Cowher said two weeks ago at the NFL meetings in Maui.
Bettis likely will remain the backup to Duce Staley, who started the first seven games at running back before a hamstring injury prompted Cowher to turn the job over to Bettis.
"As we talked about him coming back, [I said] there would be no guarantees, there would be no assurances," Cowher said of his talk with Bettis. "I'm going in open-minded as I did a year ago, and there were no guarantees a year ago.
"He's very receptive whenever we need him, he's been very good for the young players. You know what you're getting every Sunday. I've been around him for a long time and I have just tremendous respect for his passion that he brings to the game and his dependability. That's a great message for young players to see."
Bettis led the Steelers with 941 yards rushing and moved into fifth place on the NFL's career rushing list with 13,294 yards. Staley missed six full games with his injury and rushed for 830 yards. Both backs were healthy for the playoffs, and Bettis ran for 101 yards on 27 carries and Staley had 54 yards on 11 carries in an overtime victory against the Jets.
"They both are power running backs, and you'd like to think you're going to need more than one," Cowher said. "It's hard for one guy in this league anymore to finish the season.
"As it turns out, we were able to have them both through the course of the year. Most of the times, that's off the first six weeks; after that it's almost like whichever one's healthy. To have them both like we had them in the Jets' game was a nice situation."
Next season would be the 13th in the NFL and 10th with the Steelers for Bettis, 33. His 10,203 yards rushing is second on the team's career list behind Franco Harris, who had 11,950.
NOTES --The Steelers re-signed free-agent tight end Matt Cushing to a one-year contract yesterday that will pay him a $25,000 signing bonus and a $540,000 salary. Cushing, though, will count less under the salary cap ($475,000) under rules that allow veterans to earn more money than they count under the cap on certain one-year contracts. Cushing has been with the Steelers on and off since 1999, when he signed as an undrafted free agent. He also serves as the backup fullback to starter Dan Kreider.
(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878.)
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