DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709050826

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   78 lines

HE WANTS CHANCE TO RUN THE SHOW STEWART HAS PROVEN HE CAN RUN, NOW THE STEELERS' QB MUST SHOW THAT HE CAN PASS, TOO.

On hot days in Marrero, La., Robert Stewart would leave the door from the kitchen to the garage open a crack. It was supposed to let in a little breeze, though more times than not, it let out toddler Kordell Stewart.

``He'd see that daylight and run to it,'' Robert Stewart once said. ``He'd get out into that garage and then down the street, just running and laughing.''

Later, as a high school senior, running still defined Kordell Stewart. He was considered the nation's best option quarterback, an offense that relies on a quarterback's ability to read defenses and run around or through them.

Not a lot has changed as Stewart begins his initial season as starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Everyone knows Kordell Stewart can run with the football. But can he pass the passing test?

Never mind that in his first start at Colorado, Stewart threw for 409 yards. Never mind that he became the first quarterback in Colorado history to pass for more than 2,000 yards in a season, that he once completed 16 of 17 passes for three touchdowns - in one half. Never mind that he finished Colorado with 6,481 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and a completion percentage approaching 60.

In his first two seasons with the Steelers, Stewart threw just 37 passes. Instead, he ran 54 times, caught 31 passes, scored 10 touchdowns and became ``Slash'' the most versatile player the NFL had seen in years.

One of those touchdowns was an 80-yard run against the Carolina Panthers last December. It began with Stewart at quarterback and was supposed to be a pass. It ended with Stewart in the end zone after the longest touchdown run by a quarterback in NFL history.

``The thing you've got to watch for from him is his movement,'' said Redskins coach Norv Turner, whose team tackles Stewart and the Steelers Sunday. ``He's practiced against us the last two summers and he's scary, he can make so many plays. And he's got as strong an arm as you could want.''

But all the emphasis seems to be on his wretched relief performance in last year's AFC playoff game against New England. Stewart entered the game with Pittsburgh trailing 21-0 and stars Jerome Bettis, Erric Pegram, Yancy Thigpen injured and out. He did not complete any of his 10 pass attempts.

And despite an excellent training camp and exhibition season in which Stewart averaged about eight completions every 10 attempts, the only numbers that seem to matter are his statistics from a 37-7 loss to Dallas - 28 attempts, 13 completions, 104 yards, three sacks. They tell naysayers he can't play with his hands under center.

``Now, come on,'' Stewart says plaintively. ``If you're smart and you really know football, you should know that a quarterback cannot play wide receiver for 11 games and then get to the last two and try to be John Elway, Dan Marino, Steve Young, Troy Aikman. It's impossible. It takes time. If you really know football, you have to say, `Hey, give this guy a chance.' ''

Steelers coach Bill Cowher is making every effort to do that. Pittsburgh signed Stewart to a four-year, $10 million contract in June. The week before the season-opener, Cowher cut Stewart's main competition in camp, Jim Miller.

``Kordell's like any other young quarterback,'' Cowher said. ``He's got a lot of ability and there are going to be times when he uses it to the fullest extent and makes something huge happen. And there are going to be times he struggles, because all young quarterbacks struggle.''

At 24, Stewart is the NFL's third-youngest starting quarterback. Only Rob Johnson of Jacksonville, who wouldn't be starting if Mark Brunell were healthy, and Steve McNair of Tennessee are younger. There's no reason for anyone to think he's going to play like a seasoned veteran in his prime. But people do.

``He's under tremendous pressure because of people's expectations,'' said receiver Charles Johnson, his teammate at Colorado and with the Steelers. ``His expectations from `Slash' are so high that I think people expect him to come out and be Steve Young. That's not fair.''

Steve Young is exactly who Stewart's agent, Leigh Steinberg, thinks he'll grow up to be, that deadly combination run and pass that will keep opposing defensive coordinators working overtime. But he begs for patience.

``I showed I could catch, I showed I could run,'' Stewart said. ``I've showed I was capable of throwing the ball. I showed I could make guys miss. If you take all that and groom it, you put it at quarterback as opposed to `athlete,' that guy, in my opinion, can bring a lot to a football team.''

He can, pardon the expression, run the show.

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