Bill Cowher and the Steelers Had a Running Back On their Radar Had they Not Traded for Jerome Bettis

[Steeler Nation]

The Pittsburgh Steelers made a trade during the 1996 NFL Draft for a ‘disgruntled’ running back from Los Angeles. Truth of the matter was that Jerome Bettis wasn’t a problem. He wasn’t even disgruntled, he just wanted a chance to run the football for the Rams. Little did he know, the Steelers would save him, and he’d later propel them to a 5th Super Bowl trophy.

Today on Trey Wingo’s latest episode of his podcast ‘Half-Forgotten History’ Wingo sat down with Steelers Hall of Fame coach, Bill Cowher. During their discussion Wingo brought up the addition of Bettis, and how Bettis’ style was the perfect fit for the Steelers.

“He fit our system, Trey,” Cowher recalled. “I remember we had lost Bam Morris. He had got in some problems in the off-season. We were coming off the Super Bowl in 95 with Erric Pegram. We were a running football team. We were a team we had one of the best defenses in the NFL. We had Neil O’Donnell, but he had just left. We were probably going to start Mike Tomczak or Kordell Stewart, but we were still going to be a running football team. We needed someone to depend on.”

Cowher had gotten an up-close and personal view of Bettis a few years earlier. It was Bettis’ second game in the NFL, and while Cowher remembered it as a 100-yard game, Bettis actually only ran for 76-yards. But the Rams would stomp the Steelers 27-0 in Los Angeles and Bettis would score a touchdown.

ANAHEIM, CA – NOVEMBER 21: Running back Jerome Bettis #36 of the Los Angeles Rams runs upfield against the Washington Redskins at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California on Novemtber 21, 1993. The Rams defeated the Redskins 10-6. (Photo by Joseph Patronite/Getty Images)


With the Steelers transitioning to a new quarterback in 1996 it was more important than ever for the Steelers to have someone that could control the football game. They had that with Bam Morris, and Erric Pegram in 1995, and before that with Barry Foster. Veteran Jim Miller would beat out Mike Tomczak for the starting spot in 1996, but he would only last one half of week 1 before being benched. The quarterback situation was much worse than Cowher had anticipated, and the need for a back like Bettis was sky high.

“We needed someone to depend on. I remember Jerome ran against us a couple years before for over 100 yards. I said heck if you can’t beat em join em. So we traded for him. And I remember that draft if we hadn’t treaded for him we were looking at Eddie George as maybe being a guy that we could pick up that would’ve fit our system just as well.”

It’s interesting that the Steelers were interested in Eddie George. George of course would be drafted by Central Division foe, Houston/Tennessee with the 14th pick in the first round. They wouldn’t of been able to get him even if he would’ve been their first choice.

“And so we got Jerome Bettis and honestly he was just the perfect fit for us. We went out the next year and got Tim Lester the full back who was his full back with the Rams as well. He was just the perfect fit at the right time for us. I always said that the 97 team that we had, Kordell’s first year as a full time year as as starter was probably as good of a team as we had in my time being there. We lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game. Kordell threw a couple of interceptions in that game and we had our chances at the end of the fourth quarter but we couldn’t finish the deal.”

Cowher talks about losing the 1997 AFC Championship game, and if he would’ve just ran Bettis in that game more the outcome may have been different.

LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW:

“Just a special player, a special guy. I said to this day, just one of my favorite guys that I’ve ever coached.”

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