Alejandro Villanueva and the Steelers will stride in unison onto the Paul Brown Stadium turf Saturday night, seeking a playoff victory that would bury a reviled rival and, perhaps, propel them to greater glory in the weeks ahead.
"It'll feel ... almost larger than life," the big man was telling me this week at his Rooney Sports Complex stall. "I can't wait. It'll be amazing."
And yet, hard as this might be to believe, he'd abandon it in a heartbeat.
I asked Villanueva, a U.S. Army Ranger, a three-tour Afghanistan combat veteran and a hero who's been decorated for having entered heavy enemy fire to care for the fellow soldiers under his watch, if he felt he's now setting an example that there is life after the military, even for professional athletes after sacrificing some of their prime years. And he came back with this: "The military is still the main thing I want to do with my life. If there was still a war going on right now, if there was another chance for me to take another platoon into combat, whether in Afghanistan or anywhere, I'd take that over this."
Yeah, he actually said that. And in a tone that suggested that he were answering a question about, oh, his favorite flavor of Captain Crunch.
"But there's no war, nowhere to be deployed," he continued. "So a lot of people in the Army just kind of sit around and don't do much. There's a lot of training and that sort of thing. That's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something more challenging. That's why I picked the NFL."
You know, to pass the time.
"I didn't really think of this as 'life after the military,' though, the way you described it. I knew I was going to be successful at whatever I did, whether it was going back to school or getting into corporate America. That would just be a matter of applying myself, and I've always been able to do that. But I wish I'd been able to stay in the military for 20 years, if I always had those challenges. So I'll keep seeking those."
Wow. This guy is your starting left tackle, Pittsburgh.
Just filling in a chapter of his life, between heroic escapades, by mastering one of the NFL's most difficult positions in a little more than a year.
Villanueva's military tale is well known -- though never before this had I heard him say he'd go right back to combat if duty called -- and it's been appreciated by everyone in the Steelers' camp from the day he arrived. Mike Tomlin has cited him as an example to other players. Last season, Ben Roethlisberger helped arrange that Villanueva, then on the practice squad, would accompany the Steelers to a road game in Nashville, just to help him feel part of the team.
And then, this past summer, Villanueva added almost 100 pounds to prepare for backing up at either tackle, even as he bulked up on knowledge under offensive line coach Mike Munchak.
Still, this chapter deserves its own level of appreciation.
"For everything else he's done and who he is, I just ... I just can't believe he's come this far this fast," Ramon Foster was saying. He lines up, of course, right next to Villanueva. "I mean, I remember thinking to myself -- and I've told him about this -- there's no way he's going to do this, just no way. This position is hard. People spend a lifetime there and can't figure it out. And here's this 6-foot-9 guy who's way too skinny, on top of all that."
Foster shook his head.
"And look at him now."
Arthur Moats, who lines up across from Villanueva in most practice drills, offered maybe the best perspective for appreciation, both on and off the field.
"I know what Aly has done at his position, and I hope people can see what he's done just in a football sense. Because it's amazing," Moats said. "But if you take all that out of there ... that man is my hero. He's a hero to all of us. A true American hero."
Living the American dream everywhere he goes.
FROM JASON MACKEY IN PITTSBURGH:
• James Harrison’s interception Sunday conjured up several memories of his play in Super Bowl XLIII.
It also happened to be a critical turning point in the Steelers’ 28-12 win over the Browns, and it underscored Harrison’s value to this team.
Separate point but still related: Lawrence Timmons still looks up to Harrison. He did when he was a rookie in 2007, and nothing has changed, he told me during a one-on-one conversation Thursday.
“I was a big ‘Deebo' guy,” Timmons said, drawing out that fifth word, Harrison’s nickname. “He showed me the way when I first came here. Took me under his wing. Showed me how to work out, what he does to prepare, stuff like that.”
One of those things may or may not have been wearing a weighted vest for practice, something I watched Harrison put on a few hours earlier.
Harrison played 67 snaps Sunday because of an injury to Jarvis Jones. He joked that he was well-rested, so no big deal. Timmons, who has averaged more than 1,000 snaps (1,022 to be exact) over the past four years, simply marvels as how productive Harrison is at his age.
Envies it, too.
“His name’s Deebo, man. What do you expect?” Timmons said. “If your name’s Deebo, what do you expect? He could be somebody’s daddy out there, but here he is the strongest person.”
• Speaking of Harrison, he was in fine form Thursday, his hilarious best. He answered 10 questions in 76 words, then smiled and laughed at all of us trying to get him to produce some bulletin board material.
Or at least invoke the Steelers-Bengals rivalry in some way that would be interesting.
Didn’t happen.
Two exchanges stuck out. One, WPXI’s Alby Oxenreiter started the interview by accidentally calling him “Jerome.”
“You call me Jerome?” Harrison snapped back.
“Sorry, I’m gathering my thoughts,” Alby answered.
“I’ll gather you an ass-kicking you call me Jerome,” Harrison followed.
Then WDVE’s Mike Prisuta asked Harrison about the rivalry.
“Good one,” Harrison said. “I like it.”
Did it feel that way when you were on the other side, in Cincinnati?
“Yes.”
Care to elaborate?
“No.”
OK, it’s not the most 'insider' stuff, but it made us laugh.
FROM JOSH YOHE IN MONTREAL:
• Eric Fehr is only playing 12:34 per game, which marks his lowest amount of ice time in four seasons. He averaged around 15 minutes per game during the past couple of seasons with the Capitals.
Fehr is a good teammate, by all accounts, and isn't the kind of guy who privately or publicly complains. But you can sense, when dealing with him, that he would prefer to have a much bigger role. A third-line role, more specifically.
When the Penguins signed Fehr last summer, I assumed he'd be on the third line. I think he did, too. Given that the bottom six has again struggled to produce offense — and given that the call-ups from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season have made little mark, to say nothing of the lack of offense from Kevin Porter and Sergei Plotnikov — it is curious that Fehr hasn't been planted on the third line. He only has four goals in 30 games, so one could make the argument that he hasn't earned more playing time. But he is one of their nine most dangerous forwards and is a solid defensive player.
Look for him to become a fixture on the third line before too long.
• Fehr didn't play until late October because he was recovering from elbow surgery, which is an injury you don't often see in the NHL. I asked the veteran if his shot has been affected by the injury.
"Not one bit," he said. "I'm 100 percent."
• Sidney Crosby always says the appropriate thing and he handled the questions about not making the NHL All-Star Game very professionally on Wednesday night in Chicago.
While he isn't the biggest fan of All-Star Weekend — is anyone? — I did sense, after asking Crosby about not making the game, that it was a blow to his pride. I can only recollect one time when Crosby wasn't chosen for a team that he would have liked to have played for, that being the 2006 Canadian Olympic team when he was 18. This is new territory for him.
He handled the situation with class. But one got the sense that he is annoyed by those who have pronounced his demise after that bad start.
• Expect the Penguins to play very hard Saturday in Montreal. Even after losses during the past month, Mike Sullivan has been in a fair enough mood. After that loss in Chicago, however, Sullivan appeared borderline furious. He demands accountability from this team. Look for the Penguins to respond at Bell Center.
• Reviews of Derrick Pouliot's play remain mixed in the organization. In general, the Penguins believe he is making progress. But they don't think he's ready yet.
I can tell you that Mike Johnston and Gary Agnew preferred the idea of leaving Pouliot in Wilkes-Barre for the entire season, their thinking being that he wasn't completely ready for the NHL. It will be interesting to see when/if Jim Rutherford decides to bring him to the NHL. Sullivan knows Pouliot's game, which adds to the intrigue.
FROM MATT GAJTKA IN PITTSBURGH:
• I had never spoken to Tony Sanchez before Wednesday, when I interviewed him over the phone a few hours after Neal Huntington informed the former first-round pick of his release. You wouldn’t have known Sanchez and I were unfamiliar by how open he was about his time with the Pirates. You can see the majority of his words here.
One thing that didn’t make the story was his frustration about not getting more time with the Pirates last April. In his words, he “killed it” in the Grapefruit League, only to play in three regular-season games before Chris Stewart was activated from the disabled list.
Even though Sanchez told me he thought the Pirates “lost faith” in him during his throwing troubles two years ago, he still obviously thought he had a chance to make it in Pittsburgh.
• From midfielder Kevin Kerr to coach Mark Steffens, the Riverhounds have acknowledged that their lack of height on the back line last season led to numerous free-kick goals allowed -- and many of them late in games.
They took their first step toward fixing that problem this week with the signing of 6-foot-3 center back Karsten Smith, but the early theme of the Hounds’ offseason moves revolves around an influx of speed.
Recent signings Corey Hertzog, Zac Boggs and Alex Harlley should make Steffens’ team quicker on the attacking side of the field, a quality the coach told me he didn’t see enough of in his first year with the Riverhounds, particularly at the striker position.
• Just as interestingly, Steffens has expressed his desire to acquire more players with a “high work rate,” insinuating that some members of last year’s team operated at a pace too leisurely for his Dutch-inspired system to function at full capacity.
Part of that was the product of being hired in late December 2014, giving him and his staff little time to recruit their type of athlete. This year, with an entire offseason to work at it, Steffens is remaking the team in his image.
• I savored my few hours at the Petersen Events Center last Saturday, filling in for Alan as Pitt took care of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Even with the Oakland Zoo half-populated and the quality of opponent lacking, it was a reminder that we have a fourth world-class sporting venue in Pittsburgh. I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that it was my first time at the Pete for a basketball game, but it won’t be the last.