Dancing keeps Steelers' Mendenhall sharp
Pittsburgh Steelers Rashard_Mendenhall caused quite a stir over his tweets about the death of Osama bin Laden, and disagreement with Americans celebrating his death. (Feb. 1, 2011) Credit: AP
FORT WORTH, Texas - What do you do when your first year in the NFL is reduced to four games and 19 carries and you can only stand by and watch your team win a Super Bowl?
If you are Rashard Mendenhall, you dance.
After his first season ended with a thunderous hit by Ray Lewis that fractured his shoulder, Mendenhall needed a way to stay in shape. He wound up joining a hip-hop class in Pittsburgh and liked it so much he signed up for a few more.
"It was something to keep moving and do work that wasn't too strenuous," the Steelers' running back said Wednesday. "I really enjoyed it, and now I feel a lot more limber and have control of my body in areas you don't really strengthen in workouts."
Mendenhall won't be watching the Super Bowl this time, he'll be playing in it. He's the Steelers' starting running back - the prima footballerina, if you will - and that has given him a new perspective. "It's a whole different experience,'' he said, "going through this season and being the lead dog."
It's also different doing it in Pittsburgh, where running the football is a way of life. He's an heir to Franco Harris and Jerome Bettis, bruising backs who thundered their way to championships. Mendenhall understands his place in that tradition.
"Tough, hard-nosed football," he said when asked what it means to be a Steeler. "You think of a team that is not going to beat themselves and is ready to hit you."
Mendenhall started all 16 games this season, rushing for 1,273 yards and 13 touchdowns. He appeared to be slowing down late, though. In the last five regular-season games he did not have a 100-yard effort. But in the playoffs he has been re-energized, running for 121 yards against the Jets in the AFC Championship Game.
"I don't think it's a second wind as much as when the playoffs hit, play rises for everybody," he said. "It's just time where there's no turning back. Nobody wants to go home."
When the Steelers grabbed Mendenhall out of Illinois three years ago, they knew there would have to be some development.
"He was a 20-year-old, third-year junior when we drafted him," coach Mike Tomlin said. "We like that. He's grown into a mature man and player. He continues to get better . . . There is no question that he is a guy who is still in development as a player and a person. He's 23 years old now. It's been fun to watch, and I'm sure it will continue to be fun to watch him grow and develop."
And watch him dance. Mendenhall has performed in several recitals with his classes - which he now takes during the offseason - and videos of them can be found on the Internet. He's not prancing in a tutu, and it's clear how these routines can help an athlete stay in great shape.
There were several classes in which he was the only man in a room filled with dancing women. That didn't bother him and it didn't bother them. While having a Steeler work out in a public weight room in the middle of Pittsburgh might cause a stir, having one dancing with mostly unfazed women who wouldn't know a Mendenhall from a Moonwalk hardly made a ripple.
"I'll probably be dancing the rest of my life," Mendenhall said.
He'll have every reason to if things play out the way he hopes they will on Sunday.
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