The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - When Tim Lewis saw quarterback Tommy Maddox crumpled on the field, not moving as worried teammates clasped hands and prayed he wasn't seriously injured, it was 1986 again for the Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive coordinator.

Maddox, injured Sunday in Pittsburgh's 31-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans, was up and walking again before being released Monday from a Nashville hospital. He has concussions to the brain and spinal cord but no structural damage.

Maddox hasn't been cleared to play - he was admitted to a Pittsburgh hospital Monday night for more precautionary tests - but the Steelers are relieved and optimistic he might return later this season.

Lewis never got that chance.

Lewis, a former defensive back and the Green Bay Packers' first-round draft pick in 1983, retired after being hurt during a 1986 Monday night game against the Chicago Bears.

Doctors determined a congenital condition in his spinal cord left him vulnerable to paralysis - or worse - if he kept playing.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," Lewis said Monday. "I said to Tommy Flynn, my teammate at Pitt and with the Packers, to put my legs and arms down, and he said, `They are down.' I said, `Where are they?' I thought they were floating up in the air. I put my hand in front of my face and I thought, `Oh my God,' and it hit me."

Maddox, hurt while being hit in the back by Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck, was out less than five minutes but didn't regain consciousness for nearly 45 minutes. Lewis never blacked out, which made the entire experience surreal to him.

"It was a `Why me?' disbelief," Lewis said. "I remember wondering if I would have to move back home, if my mother would have to take care of me my entire life. I had a bunch of thoughts, and maybe a profanity-laced tirade, too."

With Maddox out for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals and likely longer, Kordell Stewart regains the starting job he lost to Maddox in the third game of the season. Maddox hadn't started an NFL game in 10 years but quickly became the comeback story of the season, leading the Steelers (5-4-1) to five wins in his first six games and breaking the club passing record with 473 yards last week against the Atlanta Falcons.

Once Maddox is healthy, several Steelers don't expect him to have any hesitancy about playing again.

"As we prayed about it, you had a sense he was going to be OK because of what Tommy's been through over the years," receiver Terance Mathis said.

Dr.Anthony Yates, a Steelers doctor, isn't certain if the injury makes Maddox more vulnerable to another such injury in the future.

Quarterbacks Steve Young and Troy Aikman retired following multiple concussions. Ongoing medical studies suggest football players who have more than one concussion are more susceptible to additional concussions than those who have never had a concussion.

"As a player do you worry about it? Yes," Mathis said. "Can you prevent it? No, you can't. If you worry about it, it's going to affect the way you play. You've got to go out and play - and pray that you leave the field the same way you stepped on it."

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