Great Bettis admission -- faking injury to stay employed

So was Russ Grimm getting the head coaching job.

 

I was referring to the Chicago Tribune, oop.

 

The relentless underground rumor mill ran KS out of town . . .

 

It's in this one, though, on SI.com.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/specials/preview/2007/08/22/bc.fbn.steelers.bettisb.ap/index.html

Bettis' recollection may be more anecdotal than fact-based.

While Bettis was held out early in that 2000 camp because of a hip injury, his knee injury -- the one Bettis said he faked -- was not revealed until later in camp. Huntley had a hamstring injury at the time and played in only one preseason game, gaining 13 yards.

Bettis didn't disclose how a player who was so injured that he missed all but a few days of camp could beat Bettis out of a job and force the Steelers to release him.

An MRI test by the Steelers during that camp revealed Bettis, who had undergone knee surgery the year before, had blood swelling behind his kneecap as a result of a hit during practice.

Bettis did not write in the book, co-written with Gene Wojciechowski, how a fresh injury that supposedly didn't occur could cause such test results. He did write that he showed up to camp with a knee problem that had occurred the season before.

 

Ah. Bad assumption on my part.

 

It happens all the time. Just not usually to a future Hall of Famer like Bettis, although there are plenty of guys who stay on IR for a year or two to collect their salaries rather than retire (Faulk, Alstott, Holmes). I don't blame any of them...

 

I like Jerome's honesty.

I do disagree with him on Kordell. He had every chance to win that qb job. If the Steelers kept O'Donnell for another 4-5 years I think they would have made probably two more Super Bowls.

The Steelers never needed a qb who missed an open receiver 20 percent of the time.

 

Larry Brown was happy to have O'Donnell throwing to him!

 

I took the comments on Stewart to mean he thought that Cowher never put enough faith into Stewart, which is ridiculous. For a guy that had maybe one good season and a habit of screwing up at the worst possible time, Stewart got far too many chances. Maybe I misread Bettis's comments.