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Pittsburgh's Stewart outshines 'Prime Time' Deion**
It's logical that the biggest sporting event of the year would be preceded by the biggest media circus of the year. Every week before the Super Bowl there are so many press conferences, team parties and pregame shows that the game is sometimes the boring part of it all.
So imagine with me, if you will, the following scenario at one of a zillion ceremonies honoring the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The emcee is introducing the players, and he says, "Up next is a multi-position player who was his team's catalyst this year. And he has a cool nickname. He's--Deion, will you sit down. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the Steelers' No. 10, Kordell Stewart."
Stewart, known by most people as "Slash," since his position is officially quarterback/wide receiver/running back, clearly will not be the most well-known two-position player in Sun Devil Stadium Sunday. And most people would say Deion has the better nickname, "Prime Time."
That's not all Sanders has over Stewart. For the record on television commercials, it's Deion 2. Kordell 0. Stewart has had one article written on his exploits in Sports Illustrated. Deion has appeared on the cover alone twice this year. And most importantly, Stewart's yearly salary is probably what Sanders makes in just a few games--or a couple of commercials.
But Stewart has one thing Sanders doesn't--class. A second-round pick out of Colorado as a quarterback, Stewart wasn't even on the Pittsburgh roster at the start of the season. He had to fight his way onto the team, and once there, had to change positions to actually get into a game. Meanwhile, Sanders spent the early part of the football season making a fool of himself playing baseball and shopping his talents to the highest bidder as a football free agent. The Cowboys won the Deion Sweepstakes, and the bonus prize that came with his talent--his mouth. While Sanders has been shooting his mouth off, Stewart has been working his butt off.
The two players have very different styles. Stewart does his job and doesn't talk about it. Sanders thinks his main purpose in playing football is to talk. Yes, he often backs up his jabbering as one of football's best cornerbacks. But wide-receiver? Come on, Deion. Baseball was a big enough stretch for you.
The juxtaposition between Sanders and Stewart is a microcosm for the Cowboys and Steelers. The Steelers have always been a team identified with class. Former head coach Chuck Noll ran a team that did most of its talking on the field, not off it. And the results were impressive--four Super Bowl wins, two of them over the Cowboys.
When Noll left, Bill Cowher stepped in and continued in Noll's tradition of having a no-nonsense program. Don't get me wrong, the Steelers have had their problems, like Eric Green's drug suspension. But over the past four years, they've proven to the rest of the NFL that talent and heart aren't judged by the number of appearances on pregame commercials. This past year, they released Barry Foster, once their prime running back. They let Green, once considered of the game's best tight ends, fly to Miami via free agency. The Steelers weren't going to cough up money for some big-name free agent. Their attitude was win with class, not cash.
Some people probably can't name many of the Steelers' big stars. Neil O'Donnell? Wasn't he once some mediocre starter? Kevin Greene? You mean the guy with the long hair, right? Bam Morris? These guys have made names for themselves by just concentrating on doing their jobs on the field and not worrying about what happens off it.
The Cowboys used to be the NFC's version of the Steelers. Like Noll, Tom Landry spoke few words on the sidelines during his--sorry about this--prime time in the 1970s. Instead, the man in the hat used his mind, and coached the Cowboys to five Super Bowls during his reign, winning two of them. But in 1988, new owner Jerry Jones forced Landry out and hired the big-talking Jimmy Johnson. Johnson was brash, but he kept his team under control. He turned a pretender at 1-15 into a contender and Super Bowl champion by making a commitment to winning.
Don't get me wrong, Jimmy Johnson was no Tom Landry. But compared to Dallas' current coach Barry Switzer, he might as well have been. Under Switzer, the team known in the 1970s and early 1980s as America's Team are now officially The Bad Boys of the NFL. If there's one team that the other 29 teams in the NFL would love to beat, it's probably the Cowboys. Michael Irvin talks like he's the best receiver in the league. But he's not. And of course Deion acts like he is the NFL.
What's wrong with the hype before Super Bowl XXX is the concentration on the Cowboys going to their third Super Bowl in four years. Yes, that feat is very impressive. But what about the Steelers returning after a 16-year absence, a period in Steelers history plagued with mediocrity combined with a few 10-6 seasons? And very few people, in the first reports on the Super Bowl, concentrated on this year's matchup as the third time these two historic powerhouses have met in football's final game.
To the fans, the ad agencies and even some of the writers, none of this matters. What matters is the big-money contract you sign, the number of endorsements you have, your pretty face and your flashy attitude. No-nonsense often means no attention.
So go ahead, cheer for Deion and the Cowboys. Yell in my face about how Prime Time is going to take over Kordell Stewart. I'll just sit back and watch what the Pittsburgh Steelers have done four times in four tries--win the Super Bowl.
John Seelke is a Trinity senior and associate sports editor of The Chronicle.
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