Every year, the Pittsburgh Steelers defy conventional wisdom.
Every year, they lose a key player or three to the free-agent sinkhole.
Every year, they fill the breach in their lineup with another obscure draft pick, or another low-profile free agent.
And every January, they go to the playoffs. Like clockwork.
If the Steelers haven't solved the riddle of free agency, they've come closer than anyone else in the NFL. Since the free-agent era began in 1993, the Steelers have lost some 35 players to the lure of multimillion-dollar contracts.
Three times in the ensuing five years, they played in the AFC championship game, including last season. Once in that span, they played in the Super Bowl.
So much for their impending collapse.
When the Steelers open the 1998 season on Sunday in Baltimore against the Ravens, it will be in the wake of another round of free-agent hits. They lost their best receiver (Yancey Thigpen) and their left tackle (John Jackson) to free-agent contracts averaging more than $4 million each. They lost their left cornerback (Chad Scott) to a season-ending knee injury, and a safety (Myron Bell) to Cincinnati.
The offensive line got an overhaul last week and the secondary has two new starters.
And nobody in Pittsburgh is devastated by the latest changing of the guard.
"The only thing that devastates me is writers saying how bad we'll be each year," said Tom Donahoe, the team's director of football operations. "We use that as motivation to prove them wrong.
"Sometimes we do shrug our shoulders and wish things were different. But it doesn't do much good to get frustrated."
It's not just writers who predict the demise of the Steelers. It's some of their former players, too.
Ravens cornerback Rod Woodson, a one-time Steeler great, is still upset over his acrimonious exit from Pittsburgh in 1997.
"You can't keep getting rid of players and bringing in nobody's," Woodson said. "Eventually, it will catch up with you.
"Players never turn their back on fans, but fans aren't the Steeler organization. Fans aren't the Tom Donahoes, or everybody else you have to deal with in the front office. Players just don't turn their back on the city, they just don't agree with the front office."
Ravens tight end Eric Green, who left Pittsburgh in 1995 after his second Pro Bowl season, says he thinks this is the year the Steelers pay for their sins, perceived or otherwise.
"It started with Hardy Nickerson and it has gone on with Rod Woodson, myself and others," Green said. "But I think this is the year it happens. When they let Greg Lloyd go, he was their leader on the field."
The Steelers seem to have more lives than Jason of Friday the 13th fame. Every time somebody wants to bury them, they pop up and claim another AFC Central Division title. They have won four in a row now, and five of six since Donahoe and coach Bill Cowher rescued the team in 1992 from back-to-back, non-playoff seasons under legendary coach Chuck Noll.
Cowher said yesterday the free-agent defections haven't been as damaging as the basic math might suggest.
"We have been able to have stability with the system, even though we've lost coaches," Cowher said. "We're still able to keep the corps of the team together. There hasn't been wholesale change. We've lost players, but not a large number of players."
Not a large number of players they wanted to retain, anyway. Perhaps more problematic for Cowher is the constant raiding of his staff. In his sixth season, he is working with his third defensive coordinator and, with the loss of Chan Gailey to Dallas this year, his third offensive coordinator. Still, the system and the terminology remain the same.
"It's harder on me," Cowher said. "We're not just losing coaches, but coordinators. It takes awhile to get acclimated and learn our system. We figure it takes less time for one guy to learn the system than 25 guys."
It is Cowher's patience at developing raw talent, and Donahoe's ability to find those hidden gems in the draft, that have spawned this team of replaceable parts.
The Steelers have just seven players left from the 22 who started Super Bowl XXX three years ago, a staggering turnover rate. When they lost quarterback Neil O'Donnell after the Super Bowl, it opened a door for Kordell Stewart, who took them to the AFC title game last season.
When the Steelers lost three cornerbacks, including Woodson, in 1997, they drafted Scott with the 24th pick in the first round. When they lost wide receive Andre Hastings, they signed free agent Courtney Hawkins. This year's successor to Pro Bowl outside linebackers Chad Brown and Greg Lloyd? Carlos Emmons, a seventh-round draft pick in 1996.
"We don't like to lose good players, but we've accepted the fact that from time to time it will happen in this system," Donahoe said. "We're fortunate that we've had a lot of good players here. Sometimes it's a situation where you can't pay everybody what they want. We're fortunate that we've been able to replace people we lost. We've tried not to panic when people have left."
The Steelers don't lose everybody, of course. They kept fullback Jerome Bettis with a $14.4 million contract a year ago and nose tackle Joel Steed with a $17 million deal this year. In addition to Steed, they've extended the contracts of three linebackers this year -- Levon Kirkland, Jason Gildon and Earl Holmes -- from a defense that ranked sixth in the NFL last season.
The Steelers have seven defensive starters under contract through 1999, five through 2001.
Have the Steelers slipped?
"I know in previous years we've lost a lot of free agents and came out fairly well," defensive end Kevin Henry said. "If you look at our track record I think it's too early in the season to say whether we'll be a good team or not."
Replaceable parts
Since free agency was instituted in 1993, the Steelers have shown resilience in losing -- and replacing -- some of their key players. Here are some examples:
Player lost, How, Replaced by, Skinny
WR Yancey Thigpen, Free agency '97, Charles Johnson, Thigpen
got $4.2 million a year from Oilers
LT John Jackson, Free agency '97, Will Wolford, Chargers gave Jackson $4.4 million a year
SS Myron Bell, Free agency '97, Lethon Flowers, Flowers is an improvement already
CB Chad Scott, Knee injury '97, Carnell Lake, Lake is a Pro Bowl safety or cornerback
OLB Greg Lloyd, Released '97, Carlos Emmons, Lloyd eventually signed by Panthers
CB Rod Woodson, Free agency '96, Donnell Woolford, Woolford lasted just one year
CB Willie Williams, Free agency '96, Chad Scott, Scott was a first-round pick in 1997
OLB Chad Brown, Free agency '96, Greg Lloyd, Brown got $4 million a year with Seahawks
WR Andre Hastings, Free agency '96, Courtney Hawkins, Hawkins was signed from Bucs
DE Ray Seals, Free agency '95, Nolan Harrison, Harrison was signed from Raiders
OLB Greg Lloyd, Knee injury '95, Chad Brown, Brown cashed in his big chance
QB Neil O'Donnell, Free agency '95, Kordell Stewart, O'Donnell hit skids after leaving
OT Leon Searcy, Free agency '95, Will Wolford, Jaguars made him highest-paid lineman
TE Eric Green, Free agency '94, Mark Bruener, Bruener was a first-round pick in 1995
Pub Date: 9/03/98