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Sunday, September 08, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Nearly one year later, the Steelers will fly in and out of New England with Sept. 11 on their minds.

No NFL team will take a flight on the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, but the Steelers will be the final team in the air when they depart in the early morning of Sept. 10 after their game in Foxboro, Mass.

"For anybody to travel on that day, it would be pretty scary," quarterback Kordell Stewart said of Wednesday's anniversary. "You'd have the lingering in your mind, you would."

Last year, the Steelers flew home after an opening loss in Jacksonville the night of Sept. 9. Two days later, on their off day, planes struck the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a field in Somerset County. Bill Cowher's news conference was canceled that day, and the Steelers reported for work Sept. 12. They would not play again until Sept. 30 because a week's card of games was postponed and they also had a scheduled week off.

The Steelers rattled off five consecutive wins after the break and lost only two of their final 15 games on way to the AFC's best record at 13-3. While many of them credited their two-week layoff as a time in which they regrouped, none has good memories of it.

"I think that whole day right there is just a time to reflect on things that happened a year ago," safety Lee Flowers said. "That was a huge day for everybody in this world. I am glad we're not flying. That whole day, everything will be played back, the whole week probably."

Wide receiver Plaxico Burress believes all planes should be grounded Wednesday.

"I just think it should be a day that no planes fly out of respect for all the people and their families," he said.

Many of the Steelers took a bus to Somerset County for a memorial for Flight 93 in the days afterward.

"That day changed my life, from a perspective standpoint," Burress said. "It could have been anybody, any of us. It shows you never know what can happen, and you always want to leave something good on earth when you leave. That's one of the things I got out of that personally. When I leave, I want people to say good things about me. I take that to heart every day. I'm a people person and when I go out to practice I work hard. It changes how I live. It's something that's going to be with us the rest of our life."

Like many Americans, the Steelers will reflect on what happened a year ago. Some of them rushed to pick up their children at school Sept. 11, many just gathered around their television sets, watching in disbelief. Football was not much on their minds when they reported to work the following day.

"After Sept. 11," Flowers said, "a lot of guys didn't want to fly. What are you going to do, tell Coach Cowher you're not going to fly?"

Said Stewart, "The big man has something in store for us all and, if it's time, we can't stop it. We could all be right here on whatever date in this building and something could happen. So we can't stop it. If it's going to happen, it will happen."

Tight end Mark Bruener believes the skies are safer one year later, but he still had some qualms when he made a recent flight reservation for a friend.

"The ticket agent asked what day of departure," Bruener said. "I said '9/11.' It hit me right then. I said, 'Excuse me, 'Sept. 11.' That's going to be an interesting day in America. I know I'll take a moment to reflect."