Andrews wants to make a big impact April 7, 2004 Steelers.com PITTSBURGH - The Steelers continued to host NFL Draft prospects when Arkansas tackle Shawn Andrews visited with the team on Tuesday. Andrews visited with head coach Bill Cowher, offensive line coach Russ Grimm and other members of the Steelers organization at the team's practice facility at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex. Andrews, 6-4, 345 pounds, would be an imposing figure on any offensive line but has actually slimmed down lately. He had a sinus condition and the medication caused him to go from 375 pounds to 400 pounds. He has gotten the problem under control and has been able to lose that weight and then some. Andrews talked about his sinus condition, his weight, and his two brothers - one Army Sgt. Derrick Andrews who just returned from Iraq and the other Stacy Andrews, an offensive tackle for Mississippi who will be drafted this year as well. What Andrews had to say: Q. Is this your first visit to an NFL team prior to the draft? A. Actually, it’s my third visit. I’ve been to Miami, and I was in Houston visiting with the Texans last night. I have two or three more trips scheduled. Q. What kinds of questions are you being asked during the visits? A. Some guys feel my weight was an issue, or still is an issue to some point, even though I’ve lost about 60 pounds. The questions are about why am I losing the weight now. There’s a lot to that, but I still feel like with my hard work my weight is not an issue anymore. Q. Was it your sinuses restricting your breathing and therefore limiting your ability to work out that was at the root of your weight gain? A. Dating back to December when my condition got worse, I went to a doctor and I was on Pregnazone medicine for a while. That helped clear up my condition a little bit, but it also made me gain weight. That’s where part of my weight gain came from. It helped me out, and so now my sinuses aren’t an issue. I still keep in touch with the doctors, just in case it does flare back up. Q. What was your playing weight last year? A. I started out at about 350, and I ballooned to 375. In the offseason I got up to 400. Right now, I’m about 345. Q. Did you have surgery on the polyps in your sinuses already? A. I didn’t actually have surgery yet. But I was out in Arizona to prove it to myself first, and then prove it to everybody else, that my weight was only because of being in college and not having the money to get what I needed to eat right. I wanted to eat right, but when you only have $2 in your pocket and double-cheeseburgers are 99 cents each, you have no other choice. Then there was a training table meal, and you have to fill up, because you don’t have anything back in your dorm room to eat. That was the situation. The medication I was taking shrunk the polyps, and it helped out a lot. I’m feeling great now, and having been in Arizona helped out, too. Q. Are you taking a different kind of medicine now that doesn’t cause weight gain? A. I’m not taking any medication right now. It’s not really an issue. When I’m in a different climate I get stuffy a little bit, but other than that it’s not as bad as it was. Q. What would happen if you went to training camp at a place where there was high humidity? A. I don’t think it would bother me any more. I saw images of the polyps before I got on the medication and then images after, the doctor said it’s a possibility it could flare up again, but the chances aren’t as great. It will be something I have to deal with, and if I have to have the surgery, my down time would only be something like two weeks. Q. Are NFL teams thinking of you as a guard? A. Some of them have asked me if I’d have a problem playing left guard, left tackle, right tackle. As long as I’m playing ball, it doesn’t really matter. Q. Have the Steelers looked at you as a right tackle? A. They really didn’t say. They just said they need offensive linemen, and they really didn’t get into specifics. Q. Is your brother still in Iraq? A. He just got home last Saturday. That was a burden off us. Hopefully he’ll make it home before the draft. He was over there for about nine months. He was in the danger zone a few times, but he’s a sergeant in the Army who wasn’t in the midst of everything. He got caught in crossfire a few times, his gun misfired a few times and that almost got him, but thank God he’s back home. His name is Sgt. Derrick Andrews. Q. Have you thought of what team you’d like to go to? A. It really doesn’t matter, but growing up I always said I wouldn’t mind being in Atlanta or anywhere in Florida. But it really doesn’t matter as long as I’m playing football somewhere. Q. What do you want your weight to be? A. In my freshman year in college, I weighed about 335, and that’s the best I’ve ever felt. In the 335-340 range is where I’ll be at my best. Q. Were you going to be academically ineligible to play in the Independence Bowl? A. At first I was on track, but then my condition had me up all night, I was unable to sleep and study, and things got out of hand. I bombed out on my finals, and I had to withdraw, so when I go back I don’t have to start from scratch. Q. Did you play any other sports? A. I played basketball and baseball. A little soccer. I gave up basketball as a junior to concentrate on football. I can play soccer. I never intentionally ran over anybody in soccer, but if you got in my way I guess that was your problem. Q. Does it bother you that Robert Gallery is considered the No. 1 prospect at offensive tackle? A. It doesn’t bother me at all. Gallery is a great guy from what I understand. He works hard and from talking to him, he’s a level-headed guy. He plays hard every snap. The only thing that set up apart is that with my weight getting up there, he was able to get to the second level to make blocks and my weight didn’t allow me to do that. Q. Is it important for you to play right away in the NFL? A. Some teams say that because they’ve invested this much money, they expect you to play right away, but you really don’t know. It’s different for everybody. It takes some people longer to learn the system and catch up with the speed of the game, but sometimes if you get drafted high in the first round, you’re expected to play right away. I’m not in a big rush, but I feel what I’m doing now is preparing me for whatever team I go to. If I get thrown into the fire, I’ll be ready. Q. Can you talk a little bit about your brother, Stacy, an offensive tackle from Mississippi? A. I was looking at a CD compiled of all the plays he was in for Mississippi, and I was impressed. Every other play it seemed he either was putting somebody on the ground or he had guys running away from him. After he’s in this league for five years, he’s probably going to be better than me. I really believe that. Q. Do you think your teammate at Arkansas, Jason Peters who played tight end in college, can play tackle in the NFL? A. It’s possible. He feels the same way I do about playing guard. As long as he’s playing and doing what he loves to do, it doesn’t matter to him.