This Matthews doesn't hate Steelers
Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews throws his hair back before an NFL divisional playoff football game between the Packers and the Atlanta Falcons. (Jan. 15, 2011) Credit: AP
When Clay Matthews Jr. starred for the Browns from 1978-93, he grew to loathe the division rival Steelers during that time. But Packers linebacker Clay Matthews III doesn't share that same hatred of the Steelers, despite being born into the rivalry.
Clay III, the All-Pro outside linebacker who keyed the Packers' defensive resurgence this season, was born in 1986, so he couldn't quite grasp the venom of Browns-Steelers.
"I really didn't have a whole lot of resentment or anything for the Steelers," said Matthews, who will face Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV next Sunday in Dallas. "Obviously, I'm a Browns fan, still am. But it just didn't mean a whole lot to me, if anything."
In fact, Matthews was nearly drafted by the Steelers when he came into the league in 2009.
"I was a Steelers fan coming into the draft and whatnot, just because of the conversations I had with [coach Mike] Tomlin and with the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff," he said.
And now?
"I guess they're our enemy now," he said.
Fisher moves on
Had the Titans fired Jeff Fisher immediately after the season, it wouldn't have come as a huge surprise. After all, the NFL's longest-tenured active coach, who started out as head coach of the Houston Oilers in 1994, was on the hot seat after the team failed to make the playoffs for a second straight season.
But once Titans owner Bud Adams announced a few days after the season that Fisher would be returning to the team - and quarterback Vince Young would not - that was that.
Or so it seemed.
On Thursday, the Titans parted ways with Fisher, ending a saga that will likely benefit both sides.Fisher should be better off with a change of scenery. (He'll probably take this year off and recharge.) And the Titans, still raw from the turbulence of the Fisher-Young relationship, can get a new start under a different leader.
The odds-on favorite to take over: Titans offensive line coach Mike Munchak, a former teammate of general manager Mike Reinfeldt.
Steelers defenders want respect
Despite allowing the fewest pass plays of 20 or more yards this season (35) and producing 14 of the Steelers' 21 interceptions, there's a bit of a chip on the shoulders of the Pittsburgh secondary.
It all starts with hard-hitting safety Ryan Clark, who had a forced fumble and an interception that keyed the Steelers' second-half comeback against the Ravens in the AFC divisional playoffs.
Clark made it to the NFL the hard way. Undrafted out of LSU, he's playing for his third NFL team, and often is the forgotten man while lining up beside All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu.
Clark, Polamalu and the rest of the Steelers' secondary will have to be at their best against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense. Rodgers is the hottest quarterback in the playoffs, and Green Bay's passing attack was one of the league's best during the regular season.
Ward backs Roethlisberger
Aaron Rodgers might have the gaudy stats, but the only number that counts for quarterbacks, at least as far as Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward is concerned, is wins. Which is why there's no one Ward would rather play for than Ben Roethlisberger.
"I thought when you guys judge quarterbacks, it is all about wins and losses and Super Bowls," Ward said. " is 10-2 in the playoffs. I don't know why he isn't considered up there with some of the great guys."
If he wins next Sunday, he certainly will be. That would make it three Super Bowl championships for Roethlisberger, leaving him only one shy of the four won by Steelers Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw.
Captain Woodson
The Packers alternated captains during the regular season, but decided on a more defined set of captains for the playoffs, electing six players. But five of those captains, including Aaron Rodgers, wide receiver Greg Jennings and linebacker A.J. Hawk, decided that only one man should do the talking: cornerback Charles Woodson.
Last year's defensive player of the year, Woodson takes the role very seriously. After last week's NFC Championship Game win over the Bears, he offered a rousing postgame speech in which he tweaked President Barack Obama's announcement that he'd be attending the Super Bowl if his beloved Bears made it that far. After reminding his teammates of Obama's promise, Woodson broke the team huddle by yelling, "1-2-3 White House!"
"I feel like the things I can say to the team are things that mean something to them, and I can give them something that maybe I've been through and just shed a little light on this process," Woodson said.
"Anytime he speaks," Rodgers said of Woodson, "I think he's starting to realize he has a lot of respect in the locker room and guys listen to him. They appreciate what he has to say. And he's pretty good at it, too."
Woodley's time to shine
James Harrison gets the lion's share of attention when it comes to Steelers linebackers, but don't forget about fellow outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley. He comes into the Super Bowl with at least one sack in his first six playoff games.
"If my streak stops, as long as we win, that's what it's about at the end of the day," he said. "If I don't get a sack, but if I'm going in there putting pressure on the quarterback, I'll take that over a sack any day."
