Rashard Mendenhall's Breakout Season Poetry in Motion for Pittsburgh

DALLAS -- It is a good look now, an enriched view for Rashard Mendenhall as he arrives here on Monday with the Steelers.

Thirteen rushing touchdowns and a cornerstone 324 carries during the regular season. Two rushing touchdowns against the Ravens in the divisional playoffs. A potent 121-yard rushing night against the Jets in the AFC championship game. Those are jaunts, leaps that make people take a second look at this running back. A revised look .

Mendenhall, 23, in only his third pro season, has a chance for his second ring. This is the surface of what Super Bowl XLV offers him.

But Mendenhall reaches much deeper.

Something has clicked, something has settled with this player, this ardent reader, this passionate poet who remains mysterious to many.

He left the University of Illinois as a junior and was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2008, the 23rd overall selection. Two weeks later, he was robbed at gunpoint in Chicago. Four games into his rookie season, he suffered a shoulder injury on a Ray Lewis hit that caused him to miss Pittsburgh's final 15 games, including the Super Bowl XLIII victory over Arizona.

"It was about as rough a pro start as you could have,'' Mendenhall said. "I was sitting at home during my rookie year in Pittsburgh. I was thinking about things. It was snowing outside. I was looking out of the window at the snow falling. And I just started to write.''

He crafted a poem from that look, from that view of the snowfall -- from that strained time in his pro career. He had written many poems before it. He has written many since. But that one became his favorite.

He titled it "A Prayer."

My life is placed back in perspective

As I sit and witness God's glory.

There's something beautiful about

The brief pieces of clouds

That fall out of the sky

And land on the ground

A reminder of our father

Who paints our world

The same color as the heavens

There's something unique about

The way a fire dances

To the tune of a slight breeze

It flirts with those who watch

And leaves an aroma

That will never be lost

Trees prepare for this time of year

My soul is in awe

As I paused to stop and stare

I feel reborn, replenished

And ready to move ahead

But this time it's different

It's not about me

But for him

Mendenhall knew he had to find a place, a start to getting his pro career on track. That poem became a genesis.

Back from injured reserve in 2009, Mendenhall played in 16 games, started 12, rushed for 1,108 yards and seven touchdowns. The growing pains still continued; he was benched in an early-season game against Cincinnati for "making a lot of mistakes in practice that week, just messing up -- but I hadn't played a lot of football," he said. "Some of that was to be expected.''

The next week against San Diego, he blossomed with 165 rushing yards and two rushing scores.

"Rashard came here and wanted to rely on his God-given ability. ... But I'm very proud of Rashard -- the way he grew up and became a man."
-- Illinois coach Ron Zook And since that breakout game, after correcting fumbling issues, he became a Steelers fixture by being fed 20 or more rushing attempts in nine Steelers games this season.

Steelers scouts who studied him in 2008 said physically he was ready but mentally he was not. They did not believe he understood the importance of "diving into his craft.''

Illinois coach Ron Zook offered something similar, telling me: "Rashard came here and wanted to rely on his God-given ability. He had to run tougher, not bounce outside all the time. Sometimes he did not like the way I was going with him. But I'm very proud of Rashard -- the way he grew up and became a man. It's his second Super Bowl, but it's his first where he's the guy.''

Mendenhall responded: "I haven't talked to him (Zook) since before I was drafted. My issues with him are bigger than him and me. I think I've just had normal growth as a football player. It takes time in the NFL to understand things, see how it works. Know the guys in your locker room. See how you fit in. Learning the playbook and learning as your whole life changes. It's one step from high school to college -- you go through that -- and then on a bigger level from college to the pros.

"I think it's about my demeanor," Mendenhall added. "It's very difficult for people to understand sometimes. I am really reserved and laid back most of the time. People wonder how much I love football just from that. My demeanor throws them off. I'm different from what they think and what they are used to seeing. I don't have the typical attitude of a football player. Poetry? Reading? Roller skating? I like them all. What makes you a football player? I enjoy doing a lot of other things. I want to be great at all of them.''

His current coach, Mike Tomlin, had challenged him to do something in these playoffs, to make the team proud. In his 27 carries against the Jets plus two receptions, in his 1-yard run where second- and third-effort got him the score (Jets running back LaDanian Tomlinson failed to convert late in the game in a similar circumstance), well, Mendenhall did something. Tomlin and all the Steelers were indeed proud.

It was his AFC championship game performance that kept the Pittsburgh offense on schedule. It was a violent performance by Mendenhall, one where he delivered blows, sped forward and gained yards after contact. He ran inside. He ran to the edge.

At 5-feet-10, 225 pounds, he is a power back, yet, possesses scat-back abilities. Consider that Mendenhall this season produced 11 rushes of 20 or more yards, fifth best among all NFL backs. The backs atop that list include Oakland's Darren McFadden, Tennessee's Chris Johnson and the Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw. Few would think of Mendenhall in that kind of shifty, evasive, explosive group ... but he belongs.

The Packers, in their preparation for Super Bowl XLV, say they see it, his rare power-speed mix.

Mendenhall describes it this way: "I don't think people really understand yet my skills set. My running style can change from game to game and from every single play. I can make you miss. I can outrun you. I can run through you. I can spin. I can come out of the backfield and catch it. It changes all of the time.

"I'm a big fan of Bruce Lee. His whole style. He said his style was like water. Water is something more -- it can freeze; it can fall down; it is not concrete. I like that. That's my style.''

He will bring it to the Packers, to Super Bowl XLV. Mendenhall is hearing the respect coming his way, especially that from his teammates, his coaches and from Green Bay.

Sometime this week before kickoff, he will reflect on his favorite poem. He wrote it. He desires to live it.

"I don't know what's going to happen in this game, how the game is going to pan out, but I am doing everything I can to prepare for that,'' Mendenhall said. "Spiritually, I am expecting something great. And not just for me, but a shared experience for our team, from Mr. Rooney to Coach Tomlin to the practice squad guys. A shared experience. I think that says more than anything.''

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