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Sunday, May 11, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

David Woodley's obituary last week requires one correction, one clarification, and one story from his days with the Steelers in 1984-85.

Chuck Noll traded away draft choices for veteran players as often as giraffes stroll Grant Street, and when he did it attracted as much attention. But he was desperate for a quarterback when he sent the Steelers' third pick in the 1984 draft to the Miami Dolphins for Woodley, their starting quarterback in Super Bowl XVII.

Terry Bradshaw had a sore elbow and was about to call it quits. His replacement, Cliff Stoudt, had just leaped to Birmingham of the United States Football League. That left the Steelers with Mark Malone, who had played more receiver than quarterback.

Woodley and Malone competed in a training camp most notable for Franco Harris' legendary and final holdout. Woodley won the job.

The obituary on Woodley said he had replaced one Hall of Fame quarterback (Bob Griese) and been replaced by one headed there (Dan Marino) in Miami. Technically, he also replaced another Hall of Famer in Bradshaw, who started one game in 1983, the final one in the regular season.

Woodley had two concussions in 1984 and one leg injury that forced him out of the lineup. Malone came in and helped the Steelers to an upset victory in San Francisco, preventing the 49ers from joining the Dolphins as the only unbeaten Super Bowl champs in NFL history. With Malone at the helm, the Steelers advanced to the AFC championship game, where they lost in Miami to Marino's Dolphins.

Malone opened the 1985 season as the starter, but his injuries allowed Woodley to play in nine games. During one of those, Noll called Woodley to the sideline for a chat, which ended with the player and the coach shouting at each other as Woodley walked backward to the huddle.

"Just get the first down!" Noll yelled.

"You want the first down? I'll draw them offside," Woodley hollered back.

This went back and forth until Woodley finally arrived at the huddle, took his team to the line of scrimmage -- and drew the defense offside for a first down.

The next spring as a Steelers minicamp began, Noll was chatting with the media when he nonchalantly added that Woodley had telephoned out of the blue and said he was retiring. He never played again.

Seven years later, after a life of hard drinking, Woodley cheated death when he received a liver transplant. The man who replaced two Hall of Fame quarterbacks and lost his job to another lived 11 years with his new liver. He died within months of the death of another Hall of Famer forever linked to his career, his center with the Steelers, Mike Webster.

Top this

While the Steelers signed a record 20 undrafted rookie free agents, they had nothing on Tennessee, which signed 34 after the draft.

Early grades

Critics ripped the Browns for what they call a poor draft, grades that do not bother Pete Garcia, Cleveland's director of football development. He was recruiting coordinator at the University of Miami under Coach Butch Davis and only one of his six recruiting classes ranked in the top 10 nationally by experts.

Yet in those six classes, 16 players became first-round NFL draft choices, four of them this year. "The recruiting classes at Miami were never considered very good," Garcia said. "We took players no other schools offered scholarships to. The way the league is set up now, you can't grade a draft until two years. By two years, you'll know if they were the players you thought they were."

Choked up

The Eagles made Donovan McNabb the richest quarterback in NFL history. They signed safety Brian Dawkins to a $43 million contract extension. They made a bold move to move up in the first round and draft Miami defensive end Jerome McDougle.

How does McNabb show his appreciation? He ripped the Eagles for allowing several veteran players to leave. "Tough to swallow," McNabb said. His comments likely made owner Jeffrie Lurie choke.

Orientation

Priest Holmes did not participate in Kansas City's minicamp because he is recovering from hip surgery. That's one reason the Chiefs drafted halfback Larry Johnson of Penn State on the first round.

But Johnson wasn't running No. 1 in this weekend's camp. That job went to Derrick Blaylock, a fifth-round choice from Stephen F. Austin in 2001. Apparently good looks gave way to experience, for now.

"We don't put [rookies] in a position to embarrass themselves because they're a long ways behind," Coach Dick Vermeil said.

Sugarless Daddy

He's not such a Big Daddy anymore. The Redskins list defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson at 353 pounds, one reason they figured to release him in June. But he lost about 30 pounds and might be saving his job, not to mention his tailor's.

"I know I'm in really good shape," said Wilkinson, 30.

He wants to lose another 15. Before you know it, Big Daddy will disappear (actually, he made a habit of that in Washington).

Dome foam

Kristin Brown, wife of linebacker Chad Brown, cited the lack of good sushi bars in Pittsburgh as a reason she looked forward to her husband's move to Seattle as a free agent in 1997. Someone should have warned her of the dangers of flying foam in the great Pacific Northwest.

Mrs. Brown is recovering from a broken neck after she was hit in the head by a piece of hard foam that had covered their family swim spa. The couple and their two children were frolicking in the water when the wind picked up a nine-foot section of the foam cover and slammed it down on her head. She complained of neck pain, but her husband convinced her it was nothing serious.

"Not that I'm a doctor," Chad Brown said. "But I've been around doctors. I consider myself a junior associate M.D. So, I was like, 'It doesn't seem like a broken neck. I think you'll be fine. It sounds like a stinger.'"

Fortunately, Kristin sought medical attention the next day and she was diagnosed with a broken bone in her neck. She will be fine, but must wear a rigid brace.

Palmer fan

In Cincinnati, Coach Marvin Lewis has inserted rookie Eric Steinbach, a second-round draft pick, at starting left guard. He moved left guard Matt O'Dwyer to right guard and moved right guard Mike Goff to center. All the while, starting quarterback Jon Kitna grew weary of repeated questions of rookie quarterback Carson Palmer.

"How do you approach Palmer?" was one.

"Carson, will you sign this?" Kitna responded.