Grooming Linebackers the Steeler Way

Steelers linebackers often first contribute on special teams.

By JUDY BATTISTA
NYT

DALLAS — Before he became one of the best linebackers in football, James Harrison was just another Pittsburgh Steelers project, a raw player plucked from practice squad anonymity so confused by the complexities of Dick LeBeau’s defense that he would stop cold in the middle of a play, with no idea where to run as the action continued around him.

Harrison was not alone in his bewilderment. Clark Haggans, who spent eight years with the Steelers before signing with the Arizona Cardinals, said that in his first year after being a fifth-round pick in the 2000 draft, he chose the opposite tack. When he did not know what to do, he blitzed — the team is nicknamed Blitzburgh, after all — hoping that he had guessed right.

“ ‘Oh, I was supposed to cover? My bad,’ ” Haggans says now. “I knew I had to get it right or I’d be gone. Playing there isn’t typical.”

He added: “Around the N.F.L., you play them because of the money you’re giving them. Pittsburgh doesn’t do anything until you know your football.”

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