For Steelers’ Farrior, career comes full circle

Associated Press

Pittsburgh

Troy Polamalu and James Harrison are marquee stars. They’re the ones who draw headlines for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ferocious defense.

But it’s James Farrior who sets the tone.

Fourteen seasons into his NFL career, the linebacker has come full circle in Pittsburgh. The former first-round draft pick of the New York Jets has morphed into the Steelers’ sage veteran in his seventh year as captain.

“Our unquestioned leader is James Farrior,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said without hesitation this week. “I think if you polled anybody, player or coach, equipment man or receptionist, they realize he sets the tone for this outfit.”

An outfit that is one game shy from another trip to the Super Bowl. And that one game just happens to be against Farrior’s former team.

But don’t look for a revenge storyline. At least not at Farrior’s locker.

After all, he’s been a Steeler now for nine seasons. That’s an eternity in the NFL. He’s as much a part of Pittsburgh as the bridges that crisscross the city.

“I am so far removed from being with the Jets. I really don’t even think about it anymore,” Farrior said. “We’re just happy to be here in the AFC Championship game. I don’t think it would have mattered who we would have played.”

Well, one way or the other, the Steelers (13-4) drew the Jets (13-5), a team that beat Pittsburgh in the regular season.

Farrior remembers, of course. How could he not? He has started all 16 regular-season games each of the last five seasons. His 137 tackles this season were second on the team to teammate Lawrence Timmons (149), and Farrior led the team in tackles at one point for seven consecutive years (2003-9).

Not bad. But there’s more. He has 96 career playoff tackles in 16 games — equivalent in length to a full regular season.

But it hasn’t always been fun in the postseason. Farrior’s first three career playoff games were with the Jets, and one game with New York still haunts him. That would be the 1998 AFC title game.

Denver Broncos 23, Jets 10.

“We took an early lead, 10-0, at halftime. It seemed like the wheels fell off in the second half,” Farrior said. “That was a rough game.”

It was also an unsettling period for the Jets organization. Farrior, in fact, went through three head coaches in his five years there. Contrast that to the Steelers, the NFL standard for franchise stability, and it’s night and day. Tomlin is Pittsburgh’s third head coach since 1969, following Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher.

“Once I got here, I felt like everything was stable,” Farrior said. “The Rooney Family does a great job of getting people in here to fit within the Steeler mold.”

And it’s clear that Farrior fits.

After playing outside linebacker with the Jets, Farrior moved inside in Pittsburgh. But it’s that mental and physical toughness that Farrior has, that’s allowed him to play so many games over so many seasons, no matter the position.