It wasn't being the Steelers' center that had Jeff Hartings so frazzled in training camp.
It was being the center of attention.
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Center Jeff Hartings anchors an offensive line that has allowed Kordell Stewart enough time to complete 60.7 percent of his passes this season. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) | |
Seemed each time he opened the newspaper, clicked on the television or tuned in the radio, it was his name dominating the sports talk.
"Never a good thing," Hartings said. "I really think that linemen have the demeanor that we don't want to get noticed. We don't want anybody saying anything about us."
That's particularly true when nearly everything that's spoken or written is negative.
Hartings had signed a six-year, $24.25 million contract through free agency and agreed to the Steelers' proposal to shift from guard to center. It was a position he had not played previously in the NFL, though, and the transition proved to be a demoralizing one. He had difficulty snapping the ball to the quarterback, resulting in repeated miscues and fumbles through training camp and the preseason.
That drew the public ire of Coach Bill Cowher, who in late July sternly declared, "I have a newfound appreciation for the simplest thing in football, which is snapping the ball to the quarterback."
As the Steelers' season reaches its halfway point Sunday with the game at Cleveland, it speaks volumes that Cowher never again snapped at his snapper.
Hartings has been the anchor and leader of an offensive line which has sparked the NFL's No. 1 rushing attack, averaging 161.9 yards per game. He has shown solid technique, exceptional quickness and surprising versatility, the latter quality best evident by the way he can move well off the line of scrimmage to block on sweeps and screens.
As for those snaps ...
"No problem," Hartings said. "Everyday, still, I'm trying to get better. I've been playing this position for seven games. If I see improvement with every game, every practice, I'm satisfied."
Hartings acknowledged yesterday that camp was a trying experience, allowing even that he wondered if he had made a mistake by agreeing to switch positions.
"Maybe just a thought here or there, but you just can't dwell on it. All I had to worry about and concentrate on was becoming a better center. I knew that if I didn't play well, then the offensive line wasn't going to play well."
Hartings' teammates worried, too. They knew he had impeccable credentials from his five seasons with the Detroit Lions -- twice voted his team's best offensive lineman by his peers, twice selected as a Pro Bowl alternate -- but they saw little evidence that he would be of much help to the Steelers at center.
"It was a rough situation for him," running back Jerome Bettis said. "Here was this Pro Bowl guard who, all of a sudden, had to go back to basics. That's tough, you know? He's out there dropping the ball two or three times in every practice, he's getting hollered at, and you could see it was frustrating for him. You could see it. He wasn't laughing or joking around or anything."
And now?
"I think Jeff's really settled in. He's playing well. Really well. I think he's been the biggest surprise for us offensively. It's just great to see him smiling again."
Those who line up next to Hartings have noticed that, as well. And they credit his leadership for their success as a unit.
"The thing with Jeff is that he's obviously good at what he does, but he also communicates really well with all of us," tackle Marvel Smith said. "There were a lot of us who hadn't been on this unit before, and we needed to come together. He made it a lot easier, kept us all on the same page. With an offensive line, that's so important."
"Jeff's doing a great job in there, calling our signals and making the plays," guard Rich Tylski said. "He's got it all, the hands, the feet, the speed, the athletic ability, the knowledge of the game. He's just good at his craft, and he works hard to get better and better."
Hartings wants no credit for the gaudy numbers posted by Bettis, Amos Zereoue and the Steelers' other rushers.
"Honestly, there aren't any of us who mind that the attention goes to the backs. If your team runs for 200 yards, the most important thing that means is that you're winning. I don't think there are too many teams out there that rush for 200 and lose."
Nor does he view himself as the leader of the line.
"There's no pressure on one guy to tell another guy what to do. All five of us know what we have to do, and we work hard to do it. I think when you talk about how an offensive line is jelling, that's what you're talking about. Five guys, all doing what they have to do as individuals and as a unit."
Much as Hartings shuns the spotlight, he had a good idea it would shine on him this season, given the prominence of the center position in Pittsburgh over the past three decades.
Before he arrived, the Steelers had only two regular centers, Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson, since the mid-1970s. One is in the Hall of Fame, the other sure to join him. And that legacy was not lost on Hartings, much as he tried to shrug off the pressure that naturally accompanies it.
"I think it's more for the media to talk about the team's history. As a player, that can only work as a negative, trying to live up to Dermontti Dawson. I just try to do my job, play to my ability. If that's not good enough, then, well, I won't be here very long. But I'm not planning on that happening. When I came here, they asked me to play center. I just wanted to be a part of something good here, so I said yes. From there, all I wanted to do was blend in."
Finally, mercifully, he is achieving precisely that.
Steelers' Hartings settles in after shaky start, becomes force in offensive line 
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