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Kordell Stewart puts Pittsburgh experience in perspective

Kordell Stewart puts Pittsburgh experience in perspective


Steve Ruark, Associated PressKordell Stewart, now a backup quarterback with Baltimore, returns to Pittsburgh Sunday when the Ravens face the Steelers in a game with playoff implications for Baltimore.

BALTIMORE -- The hype inflated him, then pounded him, so what's a little more? By now, you must understand, Kordell Stewart is practically numb to it.

So spread his words across the front page. Put 'em in 100-point type. Here's Stewart, now a Baltimore Raven, returning to Pittsburgh, the place where it all started and it all fell apart.

"The mayor," Stewart says with a twisted grin, "is going back to the city."

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That's perfect drama. Always has been. Mix Stewart with the city where he played football from 1995 to 2002, and the extremes of praise and derision invariably result.

"There were no in-betweens for me in that city," Stewart says.

He made one Pro Bowl. He got benched three times.

He led the Steelers to two AFC championship games. He stumbled through the boos of two losing seasons.

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He was toasted as a savior. He was hammered by rumors.

He was changed by the experience. He was, in the end, relieved to leave.

Sunday, Stewart returns when his Ravens play the Steelers at Heinz Field. Look for him on the sideline: He backs up Kyle Boller and hasn't thrown a pass all season. Stewart's value now comes from experience. And yeah, Stewart says, he has experienced just about everything a quarterback can.

It's challenging to gauge how, exactly, Stewart's time in Pittsburgh transformed him -- his eight seasons with the Steelers, after all, were so unstable that they preclude generalization. But you can say this much. Though he has been gone for 1 1/2 years now, Stewart is still remembered in Pittsburgh. And a part of Pittsburgh still lingers within Stewart.

Just watch and listen. Two days ago, Stewart, without prompting, flashed a slapstick Myron Cope impression in the Baltimore locker room -- an audacious move, considering his proximity (just several feet) to Ray Lewis' stall. Later, Stewart talked glowingly about Steelers owner Dan Rooney. He still maintains a membership at The Club at Nevillewood, where he plays golf as a nine-handicap. Stewart even traveled back to Pittsburgh just weeks ago, when Baltimore had its bye week.

But eight years in one town left a residue more permanent. Pittsburgh is where Stewart, 32, learned what it means to be the Steelers' starting quarterback, the most visible symbol in town. While with the Steelers, ignoring became Stewart's survival skill; he readjusted, by necessity, his entire world view, learning to detach himself from the opinions of media members, fans and sometimes even teammates. He turned inward -- to himself.

He had to. After one game, a loss to the New England Patriots, a Pittsburgh fan tossed beer on Stewart's head. His confidence wavered; his play suffered. In two seasons, 1998 and '99, his final quarterback rating plummeted below 65.

"At times," veteran backup Mike Tomczak said bluntly, "I felt like I was the better quarterback."

When Stewart struggled during the 1998 season, gossip spread about his sexuality. Stewart eventually held a private meeting to tell the team he wasn't gay. Today, when Stewart talks, he speaks like a man who still remembers why Pittsburgh could be so painful.

"If you let people control your thought process and your mindset, you'll be a down, ill individual every single day," Stewart says. "In Pittsburgh, people had a tendency to do that. But you couldn't control how I thought. You couldn't control who I was. You weren't going to say something that would deter how I felt about myself. All those things being said, being [in Pittsburgh] was one of the craziest experiences I ever had to deal with.

"But that's one thing about me. I'm not going to let other people's mentalities cause me to not do what I love to do. Say, if there's a golf course there that I want to go play at, I'm going to go play it. And the people that hate me can come and watch and boo the whole time that I play."

Many questions, few answers


David Zalubowski, Associated PressAs a Chicago Bears quarterback Kordell Stewart, right, is shown being congratulated by Bears teammate David Terrell (83) after Stewart scored a touchdown on fourth down against the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter in Denver in November, 2003. Stewart came off the bench in the second half to lead the Bears to a 19-10 win over the Broncos.

Speak Stewart's name at the Steelers' South Side facility, and the reaction is guarded. Though Stewart was, by all accounts, an amiable and respected teammate, players and coaches know that his failures in Pittsburgh overshadow his successes, perhaps unfairly. The questions that everybody ask about Stewart double as the questions few want to answer. Talking about the ex-Steeler is waylaid with ambushes.

Why did Stewart, so talented as an athlete, never find long-term comfort in the Steelers' passing game? Did Stewart's need for privacy deter his ability to lead the team? Might "Slash" have been better off never playing quarterback full-time?

Approached yesterday after the Steelers' afternoon practice, Bill Cowher didn't want to speak about Stewart. Nor did Ray Sherman, Stewart's offensive coordinator in 1998 and somebody with whom Stewart struggled to coexist.

Though numerous Steelers from Stewart's era remain on the current roster, this team has a decidedly different face. Much of that extends from Pittsburgh's newest quarterback and latest phenomenon.

Comparisons between Stewart and Ben Roethlisberger are natural, if only because the two know such disparate lives as Pittsburgh quarterbacks. Where Stewart was scorned, Roethlisberger is adored. Where Stewart at times lacked an adequate running game or receiving corps, Roethlisberger is blessed with both.

"I know he was a great player, a great athlete," Roethlisberger says, admitting he doesn't know too much about Stewart. "Everybody knows about his athleticism and what he did here, but I'm not too familiar other than that."

But Stewart's been watching Roethlisberger closely. He's impressed. He also has a caveat. Go ahead, Stewart says: pick a Steelers quarterback -- any Steelers quarterback -- since the football team became a town institution roughly four decades ago. Every one has struggled in the spotlight.

Terry Bradshaw: "Dumb and crazy," Stewart says, jousting at the public perception.

Joe Gilliam: "On drugs."

Bubby Brister: "He was a bum; should have never been a quarterback."

Neil O'Donnell: "He was soft, couldn't do anything."

"You got so much stuff in that city with how they approach things," Stewart says. "The negativity is so potent, so extreme."

What would Stewart tell Roethlisberger?

"Be careful," he says. "Stay humble and enjoy the moment. Ride the wave for as long as you can. If they don't make it [to the Super Bowl], there's going to be hell in that city."

Stewart paused for a second.

"That's my main thing for him," he continues, "but he'll probably never have it as tough as I did."

Anonymous in Baltimore
Stewart exits almost anonymously in Baltimore. He stays out of the public eye. He lives in a townhouse near Owings Mills, Md., where the Ravens' castle-like practice facility is nestled behind forest and gates. Current Ravens teammates, Stewart jokes, know him as the quarterback who used to beat them all the time. True enough. As a starter, Stewart lost only once to the Ravens. So long as he doesn't play for Baltimore -- Boller, though he has struggled at times, has started every game -- that will continue as Stewart's foremost identity: a Raven-killer playing for the Ravens.


Gail Burton Associated PressNow with the Baltimore Ravens, Stewart passes during an August practice session this summer in Westminster, Md.

His greatest playing time came little more than a month ago, when Stewart was pressed into the role of emergency punter. He later was named the AFC's special teams player of the week, which only hinted at the "Slash" role Stewart once performed so well.

"If he would have stayed as 'Slash,' " says Rooney, the Steelers' owner, "I think he would have been one of the great players. But he wanted to be the quarterback, and that limited him, even though he didn't think it was going to."

Some NFL experts, quoted upon Stewart's release from the Steelers in February 2003, believed Stewart would find a new home and flourish as a starter. But that didn't happen -- thing is, Stewart's never one for predictability. He played last season for the Chicago Bears and struggled while starting seven games. He latched on with Baltimore, a back-up from the start of preseason camp.

"It was discussed before he ever came here," Ravens' quarterbacks coach David Shaw said.

So Stewart's life, for once, is freed of controversy. Fewer questions, little drama, no rumors.

One game back in Pittsburgh he can handle. This weekend, Stewart is anxious to catch up with Rooney, who, Stewart says, always treated him with fairness and compassion. When rumors about Stewart's sexuality morphed into city-wide gossip in 1998, Rooney pulled Stewart aside and asked him if he'd be OK.

Stewart appreciated the support, and still does. But other than that, he let the rumors go unaddressed.

"I didn't waste my time thinking about foolishness," Stewart now says, "because it was all silly, idiotic things that took place based on my wins and losses in that city. It was ignorance. I don't condone it. That's why I never responded to it. I mean, that didn't break me, because it was all a lie."

Says then-Steelers center Dermontti Dawson: "Kordell was a class act. And being a quarterback can be a lonely position when things are going rough."

Time alone has put distance between Stewart and his Pittsburgh career. So have circumstances. He's now playing for the Steelers' chief rival. Roethlisberger now draws much of the attention in town. Stewart, as a little-used backup, isn't much of a threat to steal it.

But in just two days Stewart will be back in the city where he spent eight years. The town and the man are still inextricably linked.

"If there was one thing you can say about that experience," Stewart says, "it will never be forgotten. It will never... be... forgotten."

First Published: December 24, 2004, 5:00 a.m.

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