#99 — Levon Kirkland

Levon Kirkland, for no particular reason, rounds out the Five Jerseys in Five Days Tour. Kirkland, who left the Steelers in 2000, wound down his career — perhaps in this case ironically — rather unceremoniously in Seattle. Kirkland was a long-serving linebacker who was an absolute terror defending the run. He was the perfect mould LB that the Steelers have so long been known for and I liked him.

My brother told me he lost respect for Kirkland because he had heard he had said he didn't want to be in Pittsburgh anymore, but I never heard that, found any information to confirm that he had ill feelings towards the Steelers or his time there. I bought Kirkland's jersey for 20 bucks after he had left Pittsburgh mostly because I'm a sucker for a jersey and I didn't care, 20 bucks is 20 bucks, so that was a lock.

What I like about the Kirkland, and the Woodson one as well, is that it still reminds me of the old Steelers jersey without the italicized numbers and it reminds me of old Three Rivers Stadium, which represents one of my sporting regrets: That I never got to watch a game in that relic. My introduction to being a Steelers fan came when they were still playing in Three Rivers and I loved the requisite announcer comment, when coming back from a commercial and seeing the overhead view of the stadium:

"Back at Three Rivers Stadium located at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers."



(Don't underestimate how much geography you learn from sports, by the way.)

So now, it's time to look ahead to next year ... and what other Steelers jerseys I should get.

In no particular order, here's what you can consider buying me, just for the heck of it.

Heath Miller
Joey Porter
James Farrior
Troy Polamalu or even his AFC Pro Bowl look.

That's it for now folks. Spring game for Nebraska is just around the corner and the NFL combine is next week in Indy. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about on those topics.

All I can say is I really look forward to bring you the Five Jerseys in Five Days Tour again next year right around this time.