Saturday, August 09, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

It has been his job for eight years and he has held off all comers. But even this was too much for Mark Bruener to overcome. He could not prevent management from taking away about half his salary for this season.

	Steelers tight end Mark Bruener catches passes after at a training camp workout. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

After that, he came to training camp determined they also would not take away his job. That's where he draws the line, and this time tight end Mark Bruener won't go down without a fight.

"Playing is very important to me," Bruener said sternly in a sweat-soaked T-shirt after another practice in training camp. "Playing this game is very important. Every year things change."

The outlook for this season changed considerably for Bruener for three reasons. First, he had microfracture surgery late last year after a knee injury ended his season Dec. 1. That surgery is done to promote the growth of cartilage. Second, the Steelers signed free-agent tight end Jay Riemersma, released by Buffalo. Third, the Steelers demanded Bruener take a steep pay cut from the $2.05 million salary he was scheduled to make in 2003.

Coach Bill Cowher then declared Bruener's starting job at tight end open to a competition that includes Jerame Tuman. Cowher declined to say who will start at tight end at 12:30 p.m. today when the Steelers play their first exhibition game in Detroit.

"Maybe Coach Cowher has opened up the competition," said Bruener, who declined to talk about his pay cut. "I'll have to perform ... to the level where I hope I can prove to the coaching staff I'm the player that I was prior to my injuries."

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That player was the best blocking tight end in the business, which served well a team that powered its way through offensive lines. But there's a change and more footballs in the air these days. The Steelers' passing game has developed to such a point that two receivers have had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and the passing game ranked ahead of their running game last year.

Now they've added a tight end whose resume is more receiver than blocker.

"They brought in Jay Riemersma because they wanted someone to be a threat down the middle of the field," Bruener said. "I think Jay's a great receiving tight end. I think he can bring some great things to our tight end position in our offense. It's just a matter of getting a nice combination of who we have in there and trying to keep the defense on their heels."

Riemersma might well win the job. The Steelers' coaches believe he gives them more flexibility, especially in the no-huddle offense. But he must first prove that the knocks on him in Buffalo, which released him for salary-cap purposes, were untrue: That he's a poor blocker and drops too many passes. He caught 53 passes in 2001 for the Bills, a seven-year career high. He caught 32 last season.

Theknock on Bruener has been that he does not get open enough and is not quick coming out of his breaks. No one rapped his blocking ability or his hands. His receiving stats at the University of Washington were superb. He left there with 90 receptions, which was eighth most in the school's history and ranked second among tight ends.

	BY THE NUMBERS Steelers tight end Mark Bruener's year-by-year receiving statistics. Year No. Yds. TDs 1995 26 236 3 1996 12 141 0 1997 18 117 6 1998 19 157 2 1999 18 176 0 2000 17 192 3 2001 12 98 0 2002 13 66 1 Totals 132 1,173 15

The Steelers have not thrown to him much. He caught 26 passes as a rookie in 1995 and never more than 19 after that. In 1997, the Steelers relied on Bruener around the goal line and he came through masterfully. He caught only 18 passes that season, but a third of them went for touchdowns.

Bruener says he does not know why passes stopped coming to him. Maybe he became such a good blocker that he was more valuable doing that than running pass routes.

"I strive at being the best I'm asked to do," said Bruener, whose surgically repaired knee has held up well through the first two weeks of camp. "If you ask me to block a lot, I need to make sure I'm good at that for them."

He's not ready to buy into the popular theory that the Steelers, playing in the AFC North, will be transformed into Air Cowher under coordinator Mike Mularkey. It's just not their style.

"As far as the old run and shoot, you're not going to see that here. Mike is one of those guys willing to take calculated risks and do off-the-wall things to get a reaction. And our offense is going to be geared toward attacking the defense in any way we feel we can be successful. I don't think we're going to go out and throw the ball 75 times a game."

With new left and right tackles and injuries and illness taking a toll in their offensive line, maybe what the Steelers need more than ever is not a tight end who knows how to catch, but one who knows how to throw ... a block.

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