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Tuesday, July 23, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

It took 14 years, but Mike Merriweather finally will make it to Steelers training camp.

Merriweather, a former Pro Bowl linebacker, skipped his last scheduled stop at St. Vincent College in the summer of 1988.

Although he had a binding contract, he held out for more money and he continued his holdout through the entire season.

The Steelers wound up trading Merriweather to Minnesota the morning of the 1989 draft and received a first-round draft choice in return.

They used that pick to take Pitt offensive tackle Tom Ricketts. Merriweather played the next four seasons for the Vikings. His career ended after one game with the New York Jets in 1993.

Tomorrow, he will rejoin the Steelers at age 41, this time as a intern in their scouting department for a month through training camp in Latrobe. Any holdover of their long-ago disagreement evaporated.

"That wasn't even an issue," said Kevin Colbert, Steelers director of football operations. "Mike's somebody interested in the personnel side of the NFL and we're giving him an opportunity to find out more about it."

Merriweather joined the Steelers as a third-round draft choice in 1982 and earned three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances after the 1984, '85 and '86 seasons as their right outside linebacker.

He holds the Steelers single-season record with 15 sacks in 1987.

Late push

Eric Metz, the agent for unsigned rookie Kendall Simmons, flew here last night to try to move along negotiations toward a contract for the Steelers' top draft choice.

Metz was scheduled to meet with team negotiator Omar Khan late last night. They have been negotiating a five-year contract for the offensive guard from Auburn. Simmons remains the only unsigned rookie and cannot report to training camp until he signs a contract.

Zereoue status

Halfback Amos Zereoue, who did not participate in minicamp in June, will be examined today and "cleared, hopefully," to partake in the full rigors of training camp, Cowher said.

Zereoue, who signed a $8.8 million contract in the spring, lost weight and was treated for a benign cyst on his liver in March.

Keeping cool

Representatives from Gatorade will speak to the Steelers about proper hydration Friday at training camp, as NFL teams try to take precautions to avoid heat exhaustion, which killed Vikings lineman Korey Stringer last summer.

Cowher said he has been satisfied with how the Steelers monitor their players and provide breaks from practices in the past and he will follow similar procedures this summer.

"We'll certainly monitor it, like we did last year," Cowher said. "That's always a hard call to make because you want to push yourself. Heat has always been a part of training camp, kind of the rigors of it ...

"I think we've done a good job. [Trainer] John Norwig has done a good job every day of getting the heat index, and he'll give me what the recommendations are for that day, whether we need a couple breaks."

They also keep a close watch on weight losses of each player because "any drastic weight loss by a player is a sign," Cowher said.

Cowher on Bettis

Cowher, on the condition of star halfback Jerome Bettis, coming back from two groin injuries: "I hear good things ... I'll have a better sense when I see him."