Reliving the Cowher era in Pittsburgh
From the notebook of a sportswriter who has to admit he was taken aback by Bill Cowher being named to the Hall of Fame this weekend:
n Probably even more so than Cowher himself.
n That live clip has Cowher going from stuffing the photo into an official鈥檚 shirt pocket upon being interrupted, to processing the info as if Bobby April had just suggested a 鈥渟urprise onside,鈥� to figuring it out and pointing first down to wrap up a Super Bowl, to crying and kissing his wife and daughters on the post-game Lombardi platform.
n Just beautiful, much like his career.
n And I think I rode every part of the roller coaster with him. My first year covering the team was 1995. I can鈥檛 remember much of our dealings that year as I was just getting comfortable with the players, but in Japan the following summer, Cowher saw me out on the street one night near the hotel and made a big deal of how we were both going out to carouse Tokyo. I thought he must鈥檝e gotten me confused with someone else, but it turned out, as I learned later, that he appreciated how I went about my job.
n Maybe that鈥檚 why he was so upset with my question during a televised press conference in 1999. The Steelers had just lost three straight to fall to 2-3 and someone asked if he would make changes to perhaps send a message. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 send messages that way,鈥� Cowher said. My follow-up was 鈥淏y not making changes, isn鈥檛 that a message in itself?鈥� And he blew a gasket.
n I had to leave early to get to a funeral home in Uniontown and learned later that Cowher had popped his head into the small media room at Three Rivers Stadium, and that he probably wanted to apologize. But I wasn鈥檛 there and he just made a general statement to the rest of the reporters in there about his impatience at times. I thought that was cool.
n Of course, at the funeral home everyone was talking about it and I realized the scope of those televised pressers. I wasn鈥檛 real happy, and it probably affected the way I treated him the next couple of years.
n But when Cowher got his job with CBS, I began to realize how good he is 鈥� as a person, as a speaker, as a motivator, as an all-around football guy. It became apparent that I had gotten this guy all wrong, and how he had proved it with his record and his ring.
n And then a few years ago, at one of Thomas Tull鈥檚 movie premieres, for the underrated 鈥淔astball,鈥� Cowher surprised me with a 鈥淗i Jim鈥� and an offering of his hand. Since then we鈥檝e spoken a few times, and each time the fragments of our shattered past are put back into place. I鈥檝e really come to realize a lot about both of our professions, and use our example every time someone wants me to rip Tomlin for losing a game. There鈥檚 so much more to running that building than second-half adjustments.
n It was like all of the ugly past evaporated as I watched the surprise unfold for him on TV this weekend. He is that real personality we see on TV. He does personify Pittsburgh, the game, and we see every emotion spin through his mind in real time as the stimuli hit him. Same as it ever was.
n I did have the chance to interview Cowher this year before he was inducted into the Steelers鈥� Hall of Honor. I asked him first how it felt to be so honored, and then I threw him up another softball and asked if he would have his speech ready when the Pro Football Hall of Fame came calling. It wasn鈥檛 that I was expecting it.
But here was his answer:
鈥�(Laughs) You know what? Whether that ever happens or not, the one thing they can never take away is the special 15 years I had in Pittsburgh 鈥� especially having grown up about three miles from that stadium. My parents were able to see my children grow up. It was a very, very special time and something I will relish the rest of my life.鈥�
n Is it too obvious to ask about your greatest moment?
鈥淵ou can ask it but I鈥檒l give the obvious answer: Certainly that Sunday afternoon in Detroit, winning that. I think the one moment I will always remember is being able to hand that trophy to Dan Rooney. That really meant a lot to me. Through all the years, 14 years, of being there, the faith that he had in myself, the support I got from that organization, from top to bottom, and not just as a coach. He made me a better person, the values of family, just the legendary history of that organization, to be able to hand him that trophy that had been sought after for so long, the one for the thumb, to hand that to him, that meant a lot to me and I will always remember that moment.鈥�
n Am I out of line asking why you didn鈥檛 want to go for another one after 2006? You obviously had a young franchise quarterback.
鈥淚t just, for whatever reason, it just seemed appropriate for our family at the time, just to take a step back. I had done it for a long time. It totally occupied my life and I just think being able to step down and still have the platform I had at CBS was an opportunity to just sit back and reflect, and at that point accept a new challenge. I didn鈥檛 know what it was going to entail. I didn鈥檛 go in there with any preconceived thoughts, but as I sit here 13 years later I have no regrets whatsoever. I鈥檝e been able to do things that, had I stayed in coaching, I would not have been able to do 鈥� in terms of traveling and experiencing things that the grind of being an NFL coach would not allow you to do. I鈥檝e gotten back to normalcy. I鈥檓 in New York, a New Yorker, spending time in Bedford, an hour outside the city as well. Again, a little bit more normalcy in terms of having an offseason where you can travel and spend time with five grandkids that I鈥檓 so blessed to be able to enjoy. Got remarried after my wife passed away. She鈥檚 a musician. It鈥檚 really been a very wholesome life I鈥檓 living right now, a lot more balance than I鈥檝e ever had before.鈥�
n (Laughs) A lot more wholesome in the media and following a rock star, huh?
鈥�(Laughs) Yeah, that鈥檚 about pretty much it, exactly. I know this is the 100th year of the NFL, and I spent 40 years in it in terms of coaching, playing and now on the other side of the media. The NFL鈥檚 been an integral part of my life, and this Hall of Honor induction that goes with being with the Pittsburgh Steelers is really a highlight of it.鈥�
n We talked a little more about the current team and how the previous day鈥檚 trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick could spark them. Cowher was a big fan of that trade before he even saw Fitzpatrick wear the colors.
n I feel like I screwed up the first 10 years of our relationship. But he fixed it, and with no real benefit for him. That鈥檚 a Hall of Famer right there.