CLEVELAND -- Corey Fuller, jabber-jaw cornerback of the Cleveland Browns, thinks the Steelers play dirty. And he spent much of the afternoon yesterday preaching that message to pretty much anyone he could hunt down.
To the referees.
To the Steelers’ players, on offense and defense.
To Bill Cowher.
And, as always, to a throng of reporters after the game.
“They’re a hard-playing team, but some of the stuff they do out there ... is not called for,” Fuller said of the Steelers, who beat the Browns, 15-12, in overtime. “But hey, it works.”
Fuller declined to divulge the dirty details of why he thought the Steelers didn’t play a clean game, other than to expound upon one play just before the two-minute warning of the first half.
On first down at the Steelers’ 41, quarterback Kordell Stewart completed a 2-yard pass to running back Amos Zereoue in the left flat. A few yards away, wide receiver Hines Ward delivered a crushing block to Cleveland strong safety Earl Little. Little fell backward, and his head collided with the shoulder of teammate Dwayne Rudd, a linebacker.
With Little on the ground, Ward stood over him for a moment. That incensed Fuller, who immediately confronted Ward and drew a 15-yard penalty for taunting.
Little remained down for several minutes before being taken off on a stretcher. He was diagnosed with a concussion and did not return.
“I don’t mind playing hard, but when you hit a man and you see he can’t move, then you stand over him like ...” Fuller said. “It kills me. In the NFL, one minute they preach about protecting the quarterback and all that stuff, then the Steelers come at us cut-blocking and cheap shotting ... I don’t care if I get fined. I want to know what these referees are watching.”
Fuller charged that Ward’s hit came after the whistle, although replays indicated otherwise.
“That play was over with. I don’t think Earl was even pursuing the guy. And after that ... hey, Earl wasn’t moving, and this guy’s standing over him like he’s Superman or something.”
Ward defended his block and his posturing afterward.
“I’m not Superman. I’m just excited that I blocked somebody. This game is all about emotions. I’m pretty sure that if Corey got a clean hit on me, he isn’t going to sit there and worry about me. He’s going to do the same thing. And there wasn’t anything illegal about the hit. I just hit a guy and was excited. I don’t play dirty.”
But Ward did acknowledge he felt no remorse upon seeing Little down.
“He was trash-talking right there with Corey the whole game. You’ve got to expect you’re going to get it. And he did. He ended up getting knocked out.”
Steelers strong safety Lee Flowers accused Little of threatening Ward in warmups.
“They want to talk about a good block?” Flowers said. “Earl was talking before the game how he was going to knock Hines out. What’s Hines supposed to do?”
Fuller was far from done.
Before play resumed, he roamed toward the Steelers’ sideline in search of someone to hear his anger. He sought out linebacker Earl Holmes -- for no particular reason, he indicated -- and was surprised when it was Cowher who stepped onto the field and began barking at him.
“Their coach ... I go to the sideline to talk to Earl Holmes, and he comes up to me and talks to me. Like he’s still a player or something.”
Cowher became quite animated, making a motion with his right hand that suggested Fuller was chirping.
“That’s uncalled for, to have a coach to be telling me to shut the ‘F’ up and all this, telling me I talk too much,” Fuller said. “He’s out there acting like he’s some bravo guy. That stuff’s all good when you’re in practice, but to be in a game and be on the sideline on national TV ... that’s uncalled for.”
Cowher’s version of that chat?
“I’d rather not get into it.”
The Steelers and Browns meet again Jan. 6 at Heinz Field, and it’s safe to assume Fuller still will be talking.
“We’re going to get them next time. Don’t worry. Like they say in the neighborhood, what goes around is sure to come around. ... They try to play tough. Ain’t nothing tough about them.”
It’s also safe to assume the Steelers still will be soaking up every inflammatory quote.
“That’s Corey. He’s a great athlete, but he sure talks a lot of trash,” Ward said. “And that’s OK with me. He fuels the fire, not just for me but for all of us. I mean, don’t stand there and talk trash if you’re not going to back it up. We just came into their territory and won the game. Don’t talk after that.”
Browns' Fuller dishes out the trash when it comes to Steelers 
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