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Sunday, February 23, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Steelers will release Kordell Stewart by Thursday, ending another chapter in the club's absorbing history of quarterbacks that has included Hall of Famers, party animals, men with brains and less talent, and others whose passer ratings matched their IQs.

	(Illustrated by Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette)

Stewart was never so easily defined. He will leave Pittsburgh as its most enigmatic quarterback, variously treasured and disparaged by fans, coaches and the media. He leaves as the franchise's second-most prolific passer and the only quarterback other than Terry Bradshaw and Neil O'Donnell to have started two AFC championship games. Yet, many cannot wait for him to leave. Many people perceive him as more athlete than quarterback, despite the team's success with him as their starter.

Stewart will have an opportunity to continue playing in the NFL, this time somewhere other than Pittsburgh. Among teams that might have an interest in him as their starting quarterback are Arizona, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore and Carolina. Others would consider him as a backup, at least for now, but Stewart hopes he will have an opportunity to at least compete for No. 1 with his next employer.

"I will have an opportunity to win a championship, I promise you," Stewart said.

Failing to win a championship may be what resulted in his release.

Stewart was the fan favorite "Slash" early in his career, a receiver/runner/quarterback who lined up all over the field and sparked the offense. But as a pure quarterback he was a project, a project the Steelers may not have started working on quickly enough. He was plagued by inconsistency, but ultimately had success as the starter, winning more than 60 percent of his games. However, fans and some in the Steelers organization blamed him for their losses at home in the AFC championship games after the 1997 and 2001 seasons.

After the Steelers failed in the 2001 game, their management did not offer Stewart a contract extension, as the team had done twice previously when he had two years left on his deal. When team officials did not even discuss an extension a year ago after he had his best season, it foretold the direction they would go this week.

"If they want to blame me and say I didn't get it done, that's fine," Stewart said. "But that will not stop me from getting accomplished what I want to -- to win a championship."

The feeling among coaches and NFL team executives is he will get that chance.

"He's going to go somewhere else and play and he'll be successful because people will understand what he is and let him do it," said one club executive, echoing a popular opinion rendered by others around the NFL. "I don't think there will be any shortage of teams that will give him a shot."

Said Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations: "Kordell Stewart has won big games in this league and he's going to win big games in this league again. I don't doubt that at all. I don't think he's lost it at all."

Stewart will bring the Steelers nothing in return except the savings of his $6.3 million salary for 2003. Because he is still under contract with the Steelers, other teams' coaches and executives would not comment on the record about him because it might violate league rules on tampering. Interviews with many around the league, including those in the Steelers organization, reveal a gaggle of opinions about how a quarterback went from the Pro Bowl, team MVP and an AFC championship game in the 2001 season to the scrap heap after the first three games of 2002.

Steelers President Dan Rooney and Coach Bill Cowher declined to be interviewed about Stewart. Rooney pushed for the Steelers to sign Stewart in 1999 to a contract extension that paid him an $8.1 million signing bonus, just before the Steelers president proclaimed the new Heinz Field would be known as the "House that Kordell Built." Cowher decided to replace him with Tommy Maddox, a move he later acknowledged was not easy.

Money and pressure

Stewart believes his demise as a Steelers player was a bottom-line decision.

"I personally think it all involved business more than talent."

Business and talent, combined with other factors such as the surprise performance of Maddox, the pressure on the Steelers to succeed, a growing feeling among the team's coaching staff that it was time for a change at quarterback, and timing.

	Kordell Stewart: "If they want to blame me and say I didn't get it done, that's fine. But that will not stop me from getting accomplished what I want to - to win a championship."

The Steelers sent a message before the 2002 season that, despite Stewart's success in 2001, they were unwilling to make another commitment to him. Instead of extending Stewart's contract, the club extended Maddox's contract for five years and signed veteran Charlie Batch as a free agent.

They wanted to wait one more year before deciding Stewart's future because it would have required a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $15 million to extend his contract. For a team that had doled out more than $70 million in signing bonuses in the previous 16 months, team officials thought it prudent to wait until after the 2002 season.

The emergence of Maddox made it easy on the Steelers. He had excited them with his performance in training camp and practices when he joined the team in 2001, and the coaches left training camp last summer believing he was the best passer they had.

The poor performance of the Steelers as a team, and Stewart in particular, in the first two games last season set the stage. The pressure to succeed was enormous. Preseason favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, the Steelers were 0-2 and losing to Cleveland at home in the fourth quarter of their third game. The House that Kordell Built was filled with boos, and when Stewart threw an interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter, Cowher went to his backup.

Maddox magically helped pull out a victory in overtime against the Browns. Cowher said he was leaning toward returning to Stewart the following week in New Orleans. Instead, he started Maddox, virtually sealing Stewart's fate in Pittsburgh.

"It was not easy," Cowher said three days after the season. "There were a lot of unknowns and there could have been some ramifications for doing it. Sometimes, you have to do what you think is best."

Cowher's staff believed that Maddox was better, that he anticipated better and was the more accurate passer. Stewart brought other intangibles, including his ability to escape the pocket, which caused opponents fits at times on defense. He never missed a game with an injury.

Some teammates agreed with the decision and others did not, but most comprehended why it was made. Steelers interviewed for this story asked that they not be identified.

"Everyone understood you had to do something because of the way we were playing," one player said. "Either change the coach or the quarterback. There were so many expectations of the team. You lose the first two games like that, something had to happen."

Stewart noted that Tennessee Coach Jeff Fisher has stayed with Steve McNair through his career ups and downs, including a 1-4 start last season. After five games, McNair had a passer rating of 78.1. There was an obvious difference here, though.

"If he's your guy," a teammate suggested, "that was a quick hook for someone who came off a Pro Bowl year. Now, if he's not your guy, it's not a quick hook."

He was no longer the Steelers' guy. Maddox's superior passing skills had won over the coaching staff, virtually without exception. The team's offense evolved from one that relied on the run to a more balanced game, and the coaches believed Maddox's skills throwing the ball better suited their growing fascination with the pass.

When Stewart faltered through the first three games, it was an ideal time to make the change. Maddox made them look good by playing well, although he stumbled in several games and the team did not advance as far as they did the previous year with Stewart.

"Tommy Maddox presented a viable option and I think he deserved a chance to get a look," reasoned Colbert, who supported the switch to Maddox. "And when he got a look he made the most of his opportunity. When Kordell went back in after Tommy was hurt, Kordell won two big games for us. It's not like he totally lost his ability to be an effective quarterback in this league, but when he struggled early it presented Tommy the opportunity, which he took advantage of and helped us win some games, too."

Winning, Stewart asserts, was his best asset. With him as their starter, the Steelers were 46-29, including the two victories last season that Maddox missed after a spinal cord concussion Nov. 17.

"I thought it was all about winning," Stewart said. "That's the way I was brought up as a kid, to win. Kick field goals, doesn't matter, if you win. Throw for 470 yards and catch for 265 and get beat, everyone's excited. But it's not about broken records, it's about the team record."

Others tend to agree with him. They say Stewart's style of play is similar to Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb. Their strength is not as passers so much as it is running a diverse offense that features a quarterback who can do more than throw and keeps a defense edgy and unable to tee off on him in the pocket.

The project

The reasons for Stewart's departure had their roots in his early years. As a teammate noted, the Steelers drafted him in the second round in 1995 as a project at quarterback -- other teams wanted him to play other positions -- and then did not seriously try to develop him as one. He is their highest draft pick at the position in the past 22 years.

Stewart was "Slash" his first two seasons and became a success in his first season as their starting quarterback, 1997. Having played receiver led to some later problems, Stewart believes.

"Mark Malone played wide receiver as well," Stewart said of that former Steelers quarterback, "and one time he said if you go from wide receiver to quarterback, people don't take you as serious. The mistakes will be scrutinized more because they're not allowing you to become a quarterback because of something else that you've done.

"It's like all of a sudden I go from the transition from wide receiver -- something I voluntarily did -- to playing more quarterback than receiver the next year and come out and play very well my first year starting.

"Now, we lose to Denver, change coordinators, go through all those changes."

The team reached the AFC championship game at home against John Elway and the Denver Broncos in 1997 and led by four points in the second quarter. They were on Denver's 35 when, on second-and-2, the coaches called for a deep pass. It was intercepted in the end zone and Elway drove the Broncos to the go-ahead touchdown. The Steelers used little of the clock on the next series, punted and Elway drove them to another touchdown nine seconds before halftime.

The Steelers were finished and Stewart's future in Pittsburgh was forever scarred because he took most of the blame for the loss.

"People, in my opinion, didn't recognize the maturation part as far as being a quarterback is concerned," Stewart said.

Nevertheless, he was immensely popular around the country. His No. 10 led all retail sales among Steelers jerseys. He appeared on several national television commercials. His coach kissed him on the sideline in Baltimore.

Cowher may have spoiled him early on; he even allowed him to interview prospective coordinators when Chan Gailey left after the 1997 season. Ray Sherman was hired, and his tenure was disastrous; Cowher fired him after one season, 1998. Stewart also had lost his best receiver, Yancey Thigpen, to free agency after 1997 and his performance suffered. It reached an apex in the 16th game of 1998 at Tampa Bay when Cowher pulled Stewart during the game and Stewart angrily confronted his coach on the sideline. Once 7-4, the Steelers lost their final five games and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1991.

Kevin Gilbride became offensive coordinator in 1999 and made Stewart work harder, but his offense did not take advantage of his quarterback's strengths and the two were often at odds. Stewart's starting receivers were an aging Courtney Hawkins and rookie Troy Edwards.

The Steelers went through the first half of the 1999 season at 5-3, but lost seven of their final eight. Cowher demoted Stewart in favor of Mike Tomczak for the final five games of that season and, by mutual agreement, he played wide receiver during that time. He became upset that Cowher made him go to receiver meetings rather than quarterback meetings, but coaches noted that if he were going to play the position, he had to know it. The Steelers finished 6-10.

Tomczak left as a free agent and journeyman Kent Graham won a training camp competition with Stewart in 2000 to earn the starting job. But a hip injury to Graham after an 0-3 start opened the door for Stewart again. He started two games, both victories. Graham returned for the sixth game and played poorly in a Steelers victory. When he started out poorly in the following game, Cowher went back to Stewart. He remained their starter, the team finished 9-7 and barely missed a playoff spot.

Cowher fired Gilbride after that season and promoted Mike Mularkey to the coordinator's job. Mularkey flew to Atlanta to meet with Stewart, to explain what he had in mind for him and his offense.

Cowher also hired his first quarterbacks coach, Tom Clements. The quarterback project finally had someone devoted to it. Clements showed Stewart how to make better play-fakes, worked on other aspects of his game, reviewed instant photos taken during games with him, encouraged him to watch more videotape.

The fall

Stewart responded with his best season in 2001. He set team records for completion percentage (60.2) and yards rushing by a quarterback (537, which led all NFL quarterbacks that season). He had two rising stars as receivers in Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward. He produced his highest career passer rating at 81.7. He helped his team to a 13-3 record and into the AFC championship game. He made the Pro Bowl, his teammates voted him their MVP, he earned Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year and he finished fourth in the balloting for the league MVP.

Kordell Stewart's downfall in 2002 began in the Steelers' third game, when he struggled against the Browns before being replaced by Tommy Maddox. (John Beale, Post-Gazette)

Yet, it was not enough. The Steelers fell behind 21-3 to underdog New England in the AFC title game at home because of two special teams errors. Stewart then threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter trying to bring them back and many blamed him for their 24-17 loss.

Just three games into the next season, it was over for Stewart in Pittsburgh.

Stewart was surprised when he lost his job and bounced between bitterness and anger for a time, but he kept his mouth shut and he reasoned that it was nothing personal.

"He did what he thought was in the best interests [of the team], period," Stewart said of Cowher's decision to change quarterbacks. "Look at the track record of how my situation was handled. It will show you, for the most part, this was the direction he wanted to go in for a long time, in my opinion. That's fine, that's sincerely OK. He's looking for a pure passer, that's fine. That's what we had in Neil O'Donnell.

"My way was working. I was just trying to win a championship. But he has to do it the best way he knows how to. I had a great time with that team, had ups and downs like any other quarterback. They just decided to go in another direction.

"Sometimes, when you give all you can give, sometimes it's still not good enough, based on people's expectations. All I went through and all I've done, it still was not good enough."