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Tuesday, December 17, 2002

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Pitt starting defensive tackle Dan Stephens has the medical history of someone who plays a physically demanding sport. There's the broken shoulder blade he got in spring 2001, the sprained ankle that knocked him out of the starting lineup last season and the separated shoulder that slowed him earlier this season.

He also had shoulder and ankle problems at the Linsly School in Wheeling, W.Va.

It has been more than two weeks since the end of the Panthers' regular season and there's more than a week to go before No. 24 Pitt (8-4) plays Oregon State (8-4) in the Insight Bowl Dec. 26 in Phoenix, so Stephens has time to heal.

"I'm really good," he said yesterday afternoon before practice. "I feel great. I'm getting back to 100 percent."

Stephens, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound redshirt sophomore, has one health problem that doesn't show up on an injury report. When he was 10, he was diagnosed with Type I, or juvenile, diabetes.

Every day, he must give himself as many as five injections of insulin. He constantly monitors the level of his blood sugar, including several times during practices and games. If the level is low, he has some Gatorade or a sugary mint. If it's too high, he needs insulin.

While some children with that type of diabetes might be discouraged from participating in athletics or frightened of contact sports, Stephens never was.

"A lot of people let it control them, and then it becomes a hindrance to play football and sports," he said. "But it actually helps the insulin work. I was really fortunate to have doctors who told me it would be tough, but if I was able to monitor and control it, it would work.

"The key is just monitoring it closely."

Stephens doesn't have any trouble talking about the illness. He thoughtfully explains it to anyone who is interested or concerned.

"I think that's a big problem with some people -- they think it's a problem and they try to hide it from people," he said. "I know years ago, back then, if you had it, they just waited around for you to die. Now I'm able to live a normal life."

And have a football career.

Stephens, who this year replaced the departed Joe Conlin at one of the interior defensive line spots, has 50 tackles, including four for lost yardage and 1.5 sacks. He also has three quarterback "hurries" and has recovered a fumble. He has started all but two games -- consecutive games against Boston College and Virginia Tech, when redshirt freshman Charles Spencer started because Stephens had a shoulder problem.

Last season, Stephens started the first five games at nose tackle before a sprained right ankle slowed him and he was replaced by Tyre Young. He played in three other games and finished with 12 tackles, including a sack. He also recovered a fumble and broke up a pass.

He chose Pitt in large part because he trusts his doctor, Dorothy Becker, who works at Children's Hospital and has been treating Stephens since he was 11 and living in Wheeling.

Stephens said Becker has kept him up to date on progress toward finding a cure for Type I diabetes, but she is reluctant to have him try new, experimental treatments because what he is doing is working well.

"I have the mind-set that this is what I'm going to expect forever," he said. "If they come up with a cure, great."

Pitt officials have been great, Stephens said. If his teammates think he's looking a little tired, they ask about his blood sugar. Trainer Rob Blanc and his staff help Stephens monitor his blood during practices and games.

"Every year it's a new transition with new guys who want to know about it," Stephens said. "I have no problem explaining it."

The most difficult times, he said, are in early February when the team undergoes rigorous early-morning winter conditioning and trips like the one to Phoenix, where his body has to adjust to a two-hour time difference for things like meals, practices and insulin shots.

It's all worth it, though.

"I just have to monitor it to be able to play at this level," Stephens said.

NOTES -- No. 3 receiver Roosevelt Bynes, a sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., apparently is considering leaving Pitt, but he is still an official member of the squad. Practice last night was closed to the media and the Panthers declined to say whether he worked out or whether he is expected to travel to the bowl game. ... After practices this afternoon and tomorrow morning, Pitt players will be given time off to go home because they will be away for Christmas. The team is scheduled to travel to Phoenix Saturday.