The other side of the NFL

With the big game coming this weekend and the world's media descended on Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII, spare a thought for the guys who are pivotal figures all week, and then fade into the background come game day.
NASN.com has a really interesting piece with some of the Steelers' practise squad, including the rookie lineman Doug Legursky.
Here's a snatch from it:
Doug Legursky is sitting in the stands during media day at Raymond James Stadium, wearing a Super Bowl cap and gazing down on the Steelers everyone knows so well: Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, James Harrison.
The rookie lineman is used to the view.
''This is exactly how it is on Sundays,'' Legursky said, musing about his plight. ''Hopefully I'll get there one day.''
For now, he's a weekday warrior.
Legursky and his ilk are members of the practice squad, those on-the-fringe, oft-rejected guys who spend the week helping their teammates get ready to play, then morph into spectators once the game actually kicks off. They can do all the work in practice - actually, they probably do more than the regulars - but they don't share in the glory.
On Tuesday, they mostly just lounged in the seats, yukking it up with each other while hordes of reporters, television crews and D-list celebrities descended on the Pittsburgh and Arizona players who'll actually be suiting up for the title game.
Legursky is a center hoping to make it with the Steelers; defensive lineman Keilen Dykes is another rookie who's been on the Cardinals' practice squad all season.
''It's a very humbling experience,'' Dykes said. ''But some players have to go through it. Some players have to go through the back door. We can't all go through the front door.''

To read the whole piece click here but you can also read many other interesting articles from the NASN reporters ahead of Super Bowl XLIII. When the world's eyes will be on Tampa, Florida

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