Out of the Gutter

Guess which athletic accomplishment Pittsburgh Steeler running back Jerome Bettis considers his greatest.

His 102 yards rushing and two touchdowns Sunday in his first playoff game, a 42-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, leading the Steelers into Sunday’s second-round playoff matchup against the New England Patriots at Foxboro, Mass.?

Nope.

His team-leading 1,431 yards rushing in 1996, second-highest total in Steeler history behind Barry Foster’s 1,690 yards, and better than any total amassed by Hall of Famer Franco Harris?

Nope.

His 1,429 yards rushing as a rookie with the then-Los Angeles Rams in 1993, or the 1,025 yards he piled up the next season?

Nope.

Believe it or not, this 5-foot-11, 243-pound bowling ball of a man, who has barreled his way up and down football fields across the country, leaving bruised, battered and frustrated defenders strewn all over the landscape, cherishes most his moment of splendid isolation on a bowling alley two years ago when he rolled a perfect 300 game.

It came in a pro-am event at a tournament in Michigan.

“Going into that 10th frame,” Bettis said, “I was afraid of the choke syndrome. When I took that last shot, I just prayed and hit it. It was something special.”

Now don’t get the wrong idea about Bettis. It’s not that he doesn’t love football. Just the opposite. He appreciates the game more than ever now that he is enjoying a rebirth on the field after feeling his career was running into a dead end with the Rams.

Bettis points the finger for his past problems firmly at Rich Brooks, recently fired from his job as St. Louis’ head coach. Brooks could point squarely back at Bettis, who created some of his own problems with an ill-timed holdout before the 1995 season and some lackluster performances upon his return.

The friction between Bettis and Brooks got so bad that Bettis thought about quitting football after last season at age 24.

Before he was traded to Pittsburgh last April for two draft choices after three seasons with the Rams, Bettis was considering exchanging his Ram helmet for a textbook, returning to school to take a course in business management, building up the computer business he has started in South Bend, Ind., and perhaps pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a professional bowler.

“If I would have had to go back there [to the Rams],” Bettis said, “I would have been miserable. I couldn’t go back.”

That’s why bowling is so precious to him. Unlike football, it has always been a positive force in his life.

Bettis remembers his mother, Gladys, taking him to the Central City Lanes in the Detroit area beginning when he was 7 years old.

“She felt going bowling was a way to keep me out of trouble in the inner city,” Bettis said. “I learned to love it because it’s a sport in which you are in competition with yourself. You can only beat yourself. That’s what I love about it.”

In other words, no worries about muddy fields, bad coaches or missed blocks.

Still, Bettis didn’t seem to have much to worry about on the football field either as he rushed up the ladder of success. As a running back and linebacker at McKenzie High, he was rated the top player in the state by the Detroit Free Press and was also honored in his senior year as Circle of Champions Michigan Player of the Year. In three seasons at Notre Dame, Bettis rushed for 1,912 yards, averaged 5.7 yards per carry, scored 27 touchdowns and added 429 additional yards in 32 catches. He closed out his collegiate career with two touchdowns against Texas A&M; in the Cotton Bowl.

Entering the NFL as the 10th selection in the first round of the 1993 draft, Bettis never missed a step, leading the Rams in carries and rushing yards his rookie season while scoring seven touchdowns. He came back with another 1,000-yard season in 1994, but his production fell off badly in the second half. With the team struggling en route to a 4-12 record, Bettis’ carries per game were cut in half over the final seven games and, consequently, he wound up gaining only 211 yards in that span.

Rough times? They were mild compared to what lay ahead.

When the season was over, out went coach Chuck Knox, a strong advocate of the running game and a man who had handled pro football players for more than two decades. In came Brooks, a career college coach who was unfamiliar with player contracts, agents and holdouts.

Brooks had to learn fast. When he arrived on the job, he found he would not have his star running back for a while. Bettis was holding out for a new contract.

The running back eventually realized negotiations were going nowhere, but he never seemed to get on good terms with Brooks.

“I took a beating,” Bettis said. “They said I was a malcontent, that I was lazy and that I was overweight. A lot of things that were said were untrue.”

But it is true that Bettis missed all of training camp and reported out of shape.

He suffered for his actions. After carrying the ball 319 times in 1994 under Knox, his workload dropped to 183 carries under Brooks. And, of course, it showed in the results. Although his yards per carry were actually up, from 3.2 yards in 1994 to 3.5 in ‘95, Bettis gained only 637 yards and scored three touchdowns. And he no longer resembled that rookie sensation.

Yet, illustrating just how bad the Rams were on the ground in 1995, Bettis’ 637 yards still led the team.

“I had a bad image,” Bettis said, “but there was a lot more to it. There were problems with the offensive line. They needed to strengthen it. They needed to commit to the running game. They didn’t do enough of it in practice.”

But looking back, Bettis isn’t sure any of it would have mattered as far as he and Brooks were concerned.

“He expected me to come into camp when he said to come into camp,” Bettis said. “When I didn’t, he took it personal. He held a grudge. It wasn’t up to him. It was up to management. College coaches are more hands-on. But in the pros, you have to learn that you are the middle guy. You have to learn that you have management above you and the players below you.”

Ram General Manager Steve Ortmayer concedes there is blame enough for both sides.

Still, when Ortmayer saw a chance to dump Bettis and pick Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips in the draft, he jumped at the opportunity, trading Bettis to the Steelers.

The selection of Phillips, who had been found guilty of assaulting a former girlfriend and, in a subsequent incident, pleaded no-contest to a drunk-driving charge, infuriates Bettis.

“They said I was a bad influence,” Bettis said, “and then they went out and got this guy.”

The Steelers were wary about picking up Bettis. They had heard the stories. But they know that tapes don’t lie. And the tapes they saw of Bettis in action were impressive.

“I couldn’t see where he had lost anything,” Pittsburgh running back coach Dick Hoak said.

So the Steelers made the move, and neither they nor Bettis has regretted a moment of it. Playing for a team that emphasizes the run, behind an offensive line accustomed to vacationing in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl, in front of intensely loyal and supportive fans, Bettis’ only problem now is the groin pull that has left his chances of playing Sunday at 50-50.

Pittsburgh offensive lineman Jim Sweeney knows Bettis will be out there if possible.

“He knows the difference between pain and injury,” Sweeney said.

And he also knows the difference between football and bowling. But if Bettis can play Sunday, and if his team can somehow make it to the Super Bowl, he may yet find something on the football field to equal, if not surpass, that 300 game.