Bettis isn't conceding his job despite pay cut and Staley's bid

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) -- Jerome Bettis is the No. 6 rusher in NFL history, even though he is no longer guaranteed 1,000 yards every season merely by stepping into the huddle. He effectively acknowledged that by accepting a $3.4 million pay cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That doesn't mean the player known as the Bus -- the nickname is trademarked and appears in some form on nearly all of his training camp apparel -- plans on spending most of the season in the garage.
The Steelers gave free agent Duce Staley a $4 million signing bonus to entice him to leave the Eagles, but Bettis isn't conceding the starting job he has held for most of eight seasons.
Bettis thinks coach Bill Cowher prematurely handed his job to Amos Zereoue early in training camp last year, a move that wasn't reversed for weeks. This time, Bettis is determined to make Cowher's decision tougher by forcing him to wait later into camp to make up his mind.
"My drive is such, I don't feel that I'm finished," Bettis said Monday. "I still feel like I've got some life left in me. I haven't proven everything I need to prove."
Showed a lot
The 32-year-old Bettis seemingly showed a lot last season when, despite not returning to the lineup until November, he passed up former stars Jim Brown, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen and Thurman Thomas on the NFL career rushing list. With 12,353 yards in 11 seasons, he needs 387 more to bypass Tony Dorsett and move into fifth place.
Still, it was uncertain whether Bettis fit into the Steelers' plans following their unexpectedly poor 6-10 season. Bettis averaged nearly 86 yards in his final four games, yet the Steelers brought in Staley, a free agent who was unhappy after going from 269 carries and gaining 1,029 yards in 2002 to getting only about one-third as many carries (96) last season.
If Bettis disliked Zereoue being promoted ahead of him last year, why stay around when the Steelers' major off-season move was to bring in another running back?
"This is about the Bus and the Duce, not the Bus vs. the Duce," said Bettis, who was due $3.7 million in salary and $750,000 in bonuses this season but agreed to play for $1 million. "This is not going to be a competitive situation. We're both going to have to play."
Staley said the Steelers' long-standing commitment to the run attracted him to Pittsburgh, even though Bettis didn't leave.
"He's a future Hall of Famer," Staley said. "We're going to push each other, make each other better."
Zereoue gone
Bettis no doubt wishes the Steelers hadn't stayed as long as they did last season with Zereoue, who averaged only 3.3 yards while gaining 433 yards -- about half the 811 yards Bettis got. Zereoue subsequently was released and signed with Oakland.
Zereoue is better at running wide and catching the ball than Bettis, but his style of running didn't mesh well with a much-injured Steelers offensive line that changed almost weekly.
"You're asking him to play with an offensive line that was on the edge a lot, and he's not that type of running back," Bettis said. "Two years ago when the offensive line was solid and intact and blowing people over, it gave him some running room and he made some things happen.
"We didn't have the right group of guys in terms of pounding the football that he needed. It looked like he couldn't get it done, and that wasn't the case. Duce is a bigger running back, so even if the offensive line is playing on the edge, he's going to be able to be more physical."
Staley, a three-time 1,000-yard rusher, probably will open the season as the starter. For now, Cowher is alternating both running backs with the starting offense.
"That's how it's been since minicamp, and I guess it will be that way until coach makes a decision," Bettis said.