Friday, October 17, 2003

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

He was signed to replace popular linebacker Earl Holmes, and it's looking like a good move. Now that he's leading the Steelers in tackles through six games, James Farrior can reveal his secret.

	Steelers linebacker James Farrior stops Ravens running back Jamal Lewis in the first game of the season at Heinz Field. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) Steelers Report: 10/17/03

Well, sort of.

Farrior was one of those guys who didn't regard college as a stopover on his way to the NFL. He was a psychology major at Virginia. He learned something.

"Yeah, I use it for a little trash talk," Farrior said this week. "I just try to get their head out of the game and put the focus on me."

And it works?

"Sometimes."

Farrior's mind twists go beyond your basic Psych 101, Pavlovian, negative reinforcement sort of pap. That's all he'll say.

"I can't tell you what I do," he said.

Outside linebacker Jason Gildon hasn't analyzed all of Farrior's tactics, but he sees the results. Farrior, who starts at the left inside spot, leads the team with 39 unassisted and 44 total tackles. His inside partner in the 3-4 alignment, Kendrell Bell, is second with 37 total tackles. Seven of Farrior's tackles have been for negative yardage. He also had an interception against Kansas City.

"Potsie's a very smart player," Gildon said, using Farrior's nickname (more on that later). "He plays with a lot of instinct. I think he's finally settling into a position.

"He brings another dimension to our inside linebackers. You have Kendrell, who brings a physical presence. James, on the flip side of that, he also plays downfield, but also he's in charge of getting us lined up, making the calls, things like that."

Farrior has always put up good numbers, dating to his days at Matoaca High School in little Ettrick, Va., about 30 miles south of Richmond. As a senior, he logged 78 tackles, 11 sacks, 5 blocked kicks, 4 fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions.

He also wrestled there, which helped make him strong even if it was difficult to cut weight to make his 189-pound class. He ran track, too, mostly sprints and hurdles. "You'd be surprised the things you can learn on the track, technique that can make you that much faster," he said.

At Virginia, he started three years and made 381 tackles. As a senior he was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference player. Although the ACC is a dirty acronym around here after it raided Pitt's league, the Big East, to get Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, Farrior looks forward to following Virginia in its retooled league.

"I think it will be good for the conference to do something different and add quality teams," he said. "It'll bring a lot of quality athletes to the ACC."

When Farrior returns to Virginia, he's a big man in his little hometown.

"I do get a lot of attention when I go back home," he said. "Those are the people I grew up with. Most of them are like family to me."

Which means to them he's both the hometown hero playing in the NFL and the same Potsie they've known forever.

Farrior's mother, Rebecca, hung the nickname on him.

"My teammates call me Potsie. My family calls me Potsie. Everybody that really knows me knows that's my nickname," Farrior said. "My mother said I was a little fat baby. I had a potbelly. And she said 'Happy Days' was a popular show."

It's a bit of a misnomer considering Farrior has grown into a 6-foot-2, 242-pound professional athlete.

"Now my mother says looking back on it, if she had known I was going to be a linebacker, she would have given me a better nickname," he said. "It's fine. I'm used to it. I've never tried to shake it. I'd never be able to anyway if I tried."

Farrior had to make a name for himself all over again with the Steelers after signing with them as a free agent before the 2002 season.

He was a first-round draft pick by the New York Jets, eighth overall, in 1997 and averaged 48 tackles a year in his first five seasons. Then he blossomed in 2001, starting all 16 games for the first time and finishing with 181 tackles, 116 of them solo.

After signing with the Steelers, he beat out John Fiala for a starting job but gave way to Joey Porter in the dime package on passing downs. He finished tied for fourth on the team last year with 81 tackles, 63 of them unassisted. This season, he played in the dime defense the first three games while Porter recovered from a gunshot wound.

"This year I feel a lot more comfortable in the scheme of the defense than I did last year," Farrior said. "I really was learning on the run. It's a complicated defense, and I have a lot of responsibility in this defense."

Farrior, who is signed through the 2004 season, not only is fitting in himself but also sees some good things happening this year for a team that is 2-4 headed into its bye weekend.

"Even though we're not doing that well right now, I still like our chances with this team," he said.

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