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SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Rod Rust saw the flickering flame. Steve Nelson worked on the fire.
Ed Reynolds is what they forged.
He was the New England Patriots' leading tackler in '89, a man who had a Pro Bowl season for a no-bowl team.
Reynolds, perhaps, may give the best indication of the kind of team Rust will fashion, the kind of coach Nelson will be.
"It's amazing what happens over a small period of time," Reynolds said as he relaxed at Bryant College.
Last December, as Reynolds was enjoying the accolades for a 17- tackle effort against Miami, he talked about the next game.
A STEELER THEN
The Pats were getting ready to face Pittsburgh. And Rust was the Steelers' defensive co-ordinator then.
Reynolds acknowledged that it was Rust who made his career possible.
Reynolds was a free agent from Virginia in '83, a rookie trying to stick at outside linebacker where the Pats had the likes of Andre Tippett and Don Blackmon.
The 6-5, 240-pound Reynolds had a better chance of being a U.S. Army general.
But Rust saw something. "He had athletic ability. And he worked hard, he was always working hard."
Rust appreciates hard work more than the Brian Bosworth types.
MADE INSIDE LINEBACKER
So Rust kept the free agent and made him an inside linebacker.
"And I learned from one of...