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Wednesday, December 06, 2000

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Kordell Stewart has run left, dashed to the right, leaped high over center, dived over goal lines, and now this:

	More Steelers Coverage: Steelers Report: 12/06/00

"I think, he took a major hurdle Sunday," Coach Bill Cowher said.

Cowher, unwilling to talk much about his quarterback situation through the first half of the season, turned effusive while discussing Stewart yesterday at his weekly news conference. It was the kind of praise that hasn't been heard in nearly three years and came with little prompting.

Stewart returned from an injury in the second half to help erase a 10-point deficit and lead his team to a one-point victory over Oakland on Sunday. He threw two touchdowns, ran for another and did not throw an interception for the second consecutive game.

An MRI showed that Stewart has a strain to his upper right calf and not a knee injury, and he will be listed as probable again this week. He will make his seventh consecutive start Sunday against the New York Giants.

"He legitimately had players wanting him on the field," Cowher said. "To come back through everything that was done and everything that has taken place, even the last couple weeks, I think his efforts have been very gutsy.

"What took place Sunday, there were a lot of his teammates that were very respectful of the effort he put forth. I don't think there's any question that he earned back the trust of them. That was important to him ... that meant a lot to him.

"He's earned it, he really has. I think he's earned it in the eyes of his teammates. I don't think there's any question Sunday was a major hurdle from that standpoint."

Stewart has never showed an unwillingness to play hurt. He has not missed a game since he was inactive in his first six games as a rookie. Since then, he has played in 87 in a row. He started 59 consecutive games at quarterback from 1997 until the 12th game of last season, when Cowher banished him to wide receiver for the final five games.

He missed the second half of a game in 1997 against Indianapolis with a concussion and has been taken out of games in the previous two seasons for lack of production.

Sunday, he left after one quarter when a previous injury to his calf, just behind the knee, became aggravated. The Steelers announced he would not return. But after trainers taped his right knee and leg, he came back to start the second half with the team trailing 17-7 and guided them on a 91-yard drive on the first series, capped by his 6-yard touchdown pass to Mark Bruener.

It was reminiscent of the days when Terry Bradshaw would get pounded out of a game in the first half, only to return in the second to lead the Steelers to victory.

Ralph Berlin, the former Steelers' trainer, was talking to Art Rooney Jr., their former personnel man, this week about just such a Bradshaw story and how Stewart's comeback reminded him of it.

In a Sept. 16, 1979 game at St. Louis, Bradshaw left in the first half with what he thought was a broken ankle. The Steelers trailed 21-7 after three quarters. Bradshaw's ankle was judged not to be broken, the trainers taped it up and he returned to throw a touchdown pass and lead the Steelers to a 24-21 victory.

Stewart's return had a similar effect on his teammates Sunday.

"When you see an individual come in you know is not 100 percent and give the effort that he did, it is very much a catalyst for everybody out there," Bruener said.

Stewart said he wasn't trying to be dramatic.

"I wasn't trying to put on a movie or a show or anything. I just pretty much went off my gut feeling. The trainers did a good job. The fans were there, the coaches were there, my teammates were excited I was back in there."

Cowher said the experience, piled upon many other bad ones, has made Stewart "hardened."

"I think he will become a stronger person because of it. He's not giddy about his performance. He recognizes it has to be done over a period of time. I'm happy for him because I know that he's made a tremendous commitment, he's working very hard at this.

"The fact is, we're all benefiting. If he's playing well and he can keep playing the way he's playing, we're all going to be the benefactors of that. He's a very talented young man. He's got to do this on a consistent basis and that will be judged over time, not with any one game, good or bad. And how he responds to things will determine how well he does over time.

"You wouldn't want to wish it on anybody, but he's matured tremendously the last couple years with what he's gone through."

Cowher said Stewart has been improving steadily. He recalled a conversation he had with his quarterback, advising Stewart to hang in the pocket a little longer before taking off on the run.

"A few weeks ago I remember saying, 'I just wish you would not be so quick to pull it down and run. Somewhere, in-between there, maybe step up and look, then if it's not open, then run. But look down the field to throw first as you step up and maneuver.' I think he is trying to continually grow from that perspective."