Jerome Bettis has taken too many hits. He's not as nimble as he used to be. He looks overweight. His speed is not what it was. Maybe he's slowing down. Sure, he had his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season in 1999, but he barely managed to achieve that feat.
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Jerome Bettis has rushed for 1,147 yards on 287 carries. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) |
Bettis, the AFC's fifth-leading rusher, the man closing in on 10,000 career rushing yards, has heard it all. Most times he shrugs it off, much the same way he shrugged off safety Anthony Dorsett on a season-high 30-yard run against the Oakland Raiders Sunday.
But there's one thing Bettis does not like to hear. He is in the final year of a four-year, $14.6 million contract and will become a free agent in February. He resents any inference that the season he is having -- 1,147 yards on 287 carries and eight touchdowns -- is because he is motivated to play for a big contract.
"If the game was over today, I'd be financially secure," Bettis said. "Money has never been an issue to me. I turned down money the last time I was here in a contract situation. For people to say that, that's wrong.
"I've come out every year with the same attitude, with the same go-get-it approach."
Then, referring to some of the changes on the offensive line this season, Bettis added: "When you're out there with no bullets in your gun, you can't shoot anybody. You look at last year and this year, it's totally different. The offensive line is totally revamped. The whole right side is totally different. All the guys we had last year there are gone. For me, I feel good that I'm able to have success. People are saying he's just having a good year because it's a contract season. It's sad that people think like that."
The Steelers and Bettis' agent, Lamont Smith, began preliminary discussions this week on a new contract, hoping to keep Bettis from entering the free-agent market that opens Feb. 16. Of course, Bettis has been making a strong case for the Steelers to re-sign him.
He is coming off a game that might have been his best of the season -- 128 yards on 24 carries against the Raiders -- and is having his best year since he ran for 1,665 yards in 1997.
Two weeks ago, he passed Earl Campbell (9,407) on the NFL's all-time rushing list and needs 390 yards to become the 14th player in history to rush for 10,000 career yards. Like Campbell, Bettis has done all this in eight seasons.
Tomorrow, he gets to face a New York Giants defense that ranks second in the league against the run (74.2 yards per game) and has allowed just five rushing touchdowns, second fewest in the NFL. But Bettis has rushed for more than 100 yards in each game against a non-AFC Central opponent this season.
And Bettis said he hears people say he's finished, that he's not the back he once was.
"Everybody has said, 'Maybe that's happened. Maybe he's taken a couple of hits, and he's been a great player for so many years, maybe this is happening,' " Bettis said. "That's just human nature to do that. When there's a bad season, when you barely get 1,000 yards, you say, 'Maybe everything is starting to take a toll on the guy.'
"But, if you look at the whole thing -- where we were offensively, the offensive line, were they holding up -- we get looked at individually, but our success isn't coming individually. It's a collective effort for us to be successful, but when we're judged, we're judged individually. That's the hard part.
"My success comes from everybody doing their job. I'm able to succeed when these guys are able to succeed. It's really a double-edged sword. It's rough for me because I understand it. I'm not mad at anybody for things said. But that's why I'm trying to say, look at some other things, too. Don't just stick the knife and fork in me and say I'm done yet."
Bettis looked fresh and spry in the 21-20 victory against the Raiders, but part of that was because of the types of runs the Steelers used to exploit Oakland's up-the-field defensive style. The Giants, though, have a different scheme, playing more of a two-gap style in which the defensive linemen sit back and read the play.
"You don't get other teams to play like that," Bettis said of the Raiders. "This team, they don't play like that. They're going to two-gap you and fight you tough. They're like, 'Hey, if we get a sack, we get a sack.' And Oakland was like, 'We're going to get after the quarterback.' It showed, too. They had five or six sacks, but we were able to split them a few times to get some big plays. There's a give and a take there."
Certainly the Giants are aware of what they have to do with Bettis, who is nicknamed the Bus.
"You've got to hit him low and try to give him a flat tire," Giants linebacker Michael Barrow told the New York Daily News. "It's important to get into the backfield and get him early. If you get a bus going downhill, with no brakes on it, it can be dangerous."
Contract status not driving Bettis 
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