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Saturday, January 04, 2003

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Steelers vs. Browns, 1 p.m. tomorrow, Heinz Field. TV: KDKA. Radio: WBGG-AM (970), WDVE-FM (102.5), Steelers Radio Network. ... Steelers officials want to remind fans that they should arrive early tomorrow to avoid any delays due to security measures at the Heinz Field gates, which open at 11 a.m. Also, they ask fans to adhere to stadium policies: thermoses, coolers, backpacks, bags and large purses are prohibited, while small purses and camera bags, binocular cases, diaper bags and fanny packs are permitted. All bags are subject to inspection and cannot be larger than 8 1/2x11 inches.

CB Chad Scott was downgraded to doubtful from questionable yesterday, meaning he has a 25 percent chance to play against the Browns with a cast on his broken right thumb. He again had his right arm in a sling. LB Kendrell Bell (ankle sprain) was still listed as questionable for tomorrow, and RB Jerome Bettis (hyperflexed knee) and LB James Farrior (shoulder injury) remained probable. QB Tim Couch (broken leg), the only Cleveland player on the injury report, is out.

A few of the Browns apparently took umbrage at S Lee Flowers' characterization of Cleveland QB Kelly Holcomb, saying this week he can tell Cleveland fans and Browns teammates prefer him at quarterback, and that Holcomb is more patient and more gifted at making reads than Couch. "Lee doesn't know anything about our team chemistry," Browns S Earl Little told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Holcomb put up numbers like an All-Pro quarterback when he came in earlier this season, and we have a lot of confidence in him. But we also have a lot of confidence in Tim Couch." Added former Steelers LB Earl Holmes, who spoke with Flowers this week to try to get some tickets: "That's the way [Flowers] thinks, so be it. I feel confident with either Kelly or Tim, but I do think it helps us a little bit because the Steelers haven't seen Kelly Holcomb." WR Kevin Johnson concluded that it was just another attempt by Flowers at baiting, much like his "paper champions" remark with Tampa Bay: "[What he said] isn't true. He does an excellent job of saying things to get things going, and we're keeping our mouths shut. It will be an excellent opportunity for us to go out and shut those guys down."

Playing against Holcomb seems to be something of a forgettable experience for two Steelers. Then again, Holcomb is a seven-year NFL veteran who played only six games before this season -- starting just once -- so it hasn't exactly been a memorable career. That long-ago start came in 1997, at Indianapolis, against Cincinnati and then-Bengals NT Kimo von Oelhoffen. "'97? In Indianapolis?" von Oelhoffen tried to remember. "Come on, now. We took it to them." True, the Bengals prevailed, 28-13, but von Oelhoffen doesn't recall the Colts' substitute starting quarterback, Holcomb, who that day went 19 for 32 for 236 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Jim Harbaugh's backup at the time, Holcomb mopped up five other times during the '97 season, concluding in a loss against Minnesota and then-Vikings CB Dewayne Washington. "Really? We won?" Washington asked. Yes, 39-28, with Holcomb rushing twice for zero yards. Steelers S Brent Alexander remembers him, though. Holcomb was a four-year starter at Middle Tennessee State, a rival to Alexander's Tennessee State. "He was solid," Alexander said. "I mean, he played with a running team. They could run the ball. Even he can't deny that one. Shoot, when he was quarterback, we beat them my senior year."

If Holcomb leaves the game tomorrow, the Browns will have to turn to Josh Booty, the second-year pro and third-team quarterback who will move up to the backup role in Couch's absence. Booty was a Louisiana prep phenom who tried baseball first, playing with the Florida Marlins and backing up former Pirates third baseman Bobby Bonilla in the 1997 World Championship season under then-manager Jim Leyland. Booty started on opening day the next Marlins season, but was sent back to Class AAA and soon after made his return to football at LSU.

These could be the final Steelers days of QB Kordell Stewart, S Lee Flowers and OT Wayne Gandy, the last two becoming free agents at season's end. One player who seems to slip under that same radar is third-team QB Charlie Batch, a free-agent-to-be in an NFL market desperately seeking quality quarterbacks. "I thought about it at the time I signed," said Batch, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Steelers in mid-June. "That is something to look into. Those are questions that can be answered, but not in the next couple of weeks. Whatever happens in February, that's what happens in February." Batch, once the recipient of a $30 million deal in Detroit, knows that the NFL market -- like the stock market -- can fluctuate wildly. "That's something that I learned in this business," said Batch, a Homestead native. "By no means did I expect to be here. I thought I'd still be in Detroit."

How quickly they forget. Holmes, in warning Cleveland teammates about the perils of the playoffs, offered this assessment: "You never know when you're going back. Once I played in the AFC championship game against Denver [in 1997]. We lost, and we had like three losing seasons in a row in Pittsburgh. It took me a long time to get back last year; now we have a chance this year to go back." Three losing Steelers seasons? To be precise, it was two losing seasons followed by a 9-7 campaign in 2000, which ended with the Steelers holding onto playoff hopes into their regular-season finale at San Diego. One more thing from Holmes: He refused to consider his early-week telephone calls to former Steelers teammates as "trash-talking." Said he, "That's not my game. Sunday at 1 o'clock, when the game's going on, that's when I'll be talking. I don't know what I'll be saying, but, at the same time, when the game's over with, there's a hug and a handshake, 'Great game, and best of luck to whoever wins.' "

Scrawled on the Steelers' locker-room board: "This week $17,000. Next week $17,000. AFC championship $35,000. Super Bowl $63,000. What motivates you?!!"