Watch Steelers Practice on July 31 | Training Camp Live | Pittsburgh Steelers

Watch Steelers Practice on July 31 | Training Camp Live | Pittsburgh Steelers

Hi everybody. Welcome to St. Vincent College. Good morning, as we should say. Uh not an afternoon practice today for your Pittsburgh Steelers. A morning one. A little bit of a change due to the projected weather this afternoon. Day six of practice or day seven I should say. Yeah, day seven. Yeah, day seven. It’s going so fast. Yes, it absolutely is. This is training camp live presented by FedEx and Missy Matthews alongside Max Starks. And yesterday it was hot, it was sweaty, it was humid. It was all the things that Coach Tomlin loves. He was wearing shorts. So that tells me it was extra hot. First time since 2007 I’ve seen that man’s legs. Just going to be honest with you. Not not. And I walked up to him. I was I said, “Coach,” I was like, “It must be that hot that we see that we’re that we’re seeing Shen.” He said, “You dog on right and Starky.” He was like He’s like, “It was it was steamy yesterday. It was hot.” It was. And yeah, then like you said, you saw something outside of the norm. So, Coach Coach Stalin was seeking just a smidge of relief, not comfort. He never seeks comfort. Absolutely. There was a little bit of relief yesterday from the heat. He still had on long sleeves and like part of a sweatshirt. So, I’ll give him that. that that’s way more than I was definitely would ever think about wearing. Yes, absolutely. But finally pads day. Uh it was 24 hours later, but it happened. What’s your biggest takeaway from what you saw yesterday, Max? Well, I was just happy to see really just the physicality, right? We saw we saw the the drag down tackling. We saw hitting in the hole. So, we got to see real football action yesterday. And I’ll say this, the backs on backers period was very live. It was a very live, very spirited uh segment of practice. But then, you know, other thing that I really like to see, I was really happy to see just how well team run went. There was some wins, there were some losses, give and take. And I would say, you know, begrudgingly that the defense had a better day than the offense as far as success on a perplay basis. Uh they won the seven shots. So defense definitely got day one in pads underway, which in most situations that’s usually what happens, right? You know, defense is usually going to hit a little bit faster than the offense because the offense has a little bit more to coordinate and guys to get up to pad level speed. But uh but a fun day and a very success I feel like a very successful day in pads for day one. We were just taking a live look as the players are coming down uh to the field for this morning practice getting started at 10:00 today. Uh number 93 in gold, Mark Robinson. He was coming down just uh a few seconds ago. Joey Porter, those two guys uh physicality. Coach Tomlin gave them their props. It’s an asset to their game and says it needs to show up and show up consistently and he felt like those two guys brought it yesterday. Oh, he they definitely did. Like Mark Robinson had a moment and uh at the end of uh at the end of team run where he literally stopped both of the last two plays by himself. uh he was in the back field. He made the tackle on one and then he led part of the tackle on another one. Uh both tackles for losses. Joey Porter to start that drill came right up and made a tackle in the back field. We’re trying they were trying to run a stretch concept play to the right and Joey Porter came up tackle for loss all by himself solo tackle. Had a couple of really big PBUs um in the in the team passing period. So yeah, both of them definitely jumped off the P. We tal, you know, I talked to like Rob King when I’m on our radio show and and Pursuit when we’re up here about, you know, kind of what do you do to make a name for yourself here? You have to pop off the tape at least once. Both those guys did it multiple times yesterday and it was very noticeable about who was making a play. 93 clearly made a play. 24 clearly made plays and they’re going to need them to to show up. For Mark Robinson, he’s fighting in a very packed inside linebacker room for a a space on there. He’s also a very good special teams guy. Joey Porter, like you said, starting corner. I need to see that you can tackle in space. You’re not afraid to go and mix it up if the ball swings out to you and it’s not a receiver. You know, tackling non-receiver personnel body types is a very good sign for for him. What have you seen the influence on Joey Porter right there as we see him coming down uh for practice of Darius Slay, Jaylen Ramsay, these guys that they’re working a lot together on the field, but it sounds like off the field as well. They are here and they are willing participants and helping him take another jump in his career. Well, I mean just just seeing the conversations right when he’s not in practice, the defensive back crews kind of huddled on the sidelines uh together and they’re talking football. They’re talking about what they can do. They’re cheering each other on when they make plays. Like they’ll run across the field, dap each other up, slap each other on the back of the helmet, you know, and say, “Good play.” And then, you know, you’ll hear guys again, you know, let’s do it again. Let’s continue to make plays. And I think that’s the biggest thing, right? When you have guys who not only just work together, but you see those little small huddles off the field, they sit together at in the lunchroom and the calf uh together, that means you’re trying to create synergies. They’re trying to understand each other because the biggest thing which separates success and kind of failure in the league is how well guys work together. And secondary, there has to be a communication when things change on the fly. And sometimes it’s non-verbal communication because you can’t just yell across to the other corner. Can’t really hear you. Yeah. He can’t really hear the guy. So hand signals, you know, any other type of stuff to give each other kind of a heads up or if you’re tracking with a guy and you end up on their side with them, you know, being able to communicate pass things off in zone, uh, is is really big. And I think it’s the same thing I say for offensive linemen, you know, looking at Troy Fatanu coming down here, like offensive line have to do the same thing. Like you got to hang together afterwards and the guys are grabbing snack together, the guys are always sitting together at lunchtime. You got to build that kind of trust. You got to build that friendship and you got to build something above just a working relationship with guys. So seeing all those guys kind of in their little pockets but still hanging out with everybody because that’s the other thing here about camp but they do it very well. Uh you were talking about Troy Fatan who yesterday coach Tomlin was asked about him going against TJ Wad and holding his own on some of those reps and how you know it’s easy for him to get better because he’s going against a great player a lot in every single day. What did you see from 76 yesterday? I thought I thought Troy looked good um in pads. You know, that’s always the the biggest worry, right? Because he’s coming off of injury and you haven’t hit since last season. So, when you come out here and you get that first day of pads, there’s a bit of anxiety, especially when you’ve had a knee injury as a guy who’s had four of them, right? I understand that there’s going to be hesitation like, can I pull the trigger? Can I not pull the trigger? Like, what is involved in the process? Um, you know, and I have to start trusting my knee. Me and me and my knee have to have a conversation daily. You’re good enough. You’re smart enough. And gosh darn it, you’re healed. You know, and that’s what you have to kind of have because you have to build that dayto-day I’m okay. Is this pain just a normal pain or is this a different pain? And you have to kind of quantify. You have to do almost like a full body scan, right? You know, like in yoga, you know, start head, go to the toes. Yeah. It’s like, okay, okay, head feel fine. I mean, there’s some things up there. It’s not because of football. Uh, shoulders, how does my elbows feel? How does my hips feel? Knees. Because that’s a chain. You know, your ankles, knees, and your hips are a chain. And when one is injured, the other one’s usually to follow, lock up, get tight. So, you got to constantly work your hips. You got to work your ankles to make sure you give your knee the same receptors to say, “Hey, it’s okay to do this.” And you know, fa, let’s face it, you got to go through a situation where you think you might have tweaked something and say, “Oh, okay. I’m fine. No, this business as usual.” But that takes time. That takes situations. And I think for Troy, he took a step in the right direction. He stressed himself be he bent his knee, got in a got an awkward position. He felt okay. And you could see him building confidence in that. And he’s going to need those moments up until we get to the first game of the season to just test that knee and really know what he’s what he can do and what he can’t do. Max, another standout player uh yesterday in pads would be Pton Wilson, number 41. We know Coach Tomlin really wanted him verse Kenny Gainwell. They got that and much more. And I had a chance to catch up with Payton after practice yesterday. [Music] All right, it’s time now for our camp combo presented by the UPMC Health Plan. I’m Missy Matthews with Payton Wilson. First day in pads, but you had to wait a day. How did it feel to finally get back out there? It was exciting. Uh just to, you know, go good on good and, you know, fly around, make some plays. Uh this is why you play the game. You know, the past five days have been fun. Uh like coach calls it the acclamation days. And they’re real footballlike. So when you get out here and you put pads on and wearing seven shots in team periods and you’re actually tackling, you get a sense of what football truly is. In terms of coach Tomlin, he said heading into the first P of day, he wanted to see you and Kenny Gainwell go at it. Uh, take me through what that was like and all of your reps. Yeah, I mean, uh, KG’s, uh, excuse my language, he’s a hell of a competitor. Um, I mean, backs on backers, we go at it. If we’re running routes, we go at it. Uh, like KG said to me, we’re going to work every single day and eventually we’ll become world champions. Just the the the respect I have for KG, the way that he gets back up and the way that he works every single rep is, I mean, we’re going to make each other really good. Is there anybody that stood out to you in any of the competition periods today? He uh Mark Robinson. Uh he’s been around for a little bit longer than I have, but he’s a heck of a player. Uh plays his role and uh when it’s time to shine, he definitely shines. What was coach’s message to you guys after the first day in pads? It’s hot. It was a long practice. Um just, you know, we have some things to correct, but at the end of the day, get that first day under the belt and you continue to move forward. you know, uh, reach around, shake a man’s hand, thank them for, thank thank them for competing against you, and just, you know, try to get better each and every day. All right, Payton, thanks so much. We appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. [Music] All right. And, uh, the fact that Payton was telling me it wasn’t as hot and humid as he thought it would be, I kind of looked at him like he was crazy, but he honestly was not gassed. He uh seemed to be okay after that first padded practice. What did you take away from him, Max? Oh, I was watching backs on backers and yes, it it was very heated, very spirited, I guess, as you would say. Little talk. Yeah. Little little bit of uh little bit of honoriness. I could I I would say that’s from that group. That’s a good way. And you heard a lot of again run it back, you know, type of type of reparte. More so the backs asking for the backers. The backers I felt like, you know, had a better day. Now granted, how realistic is it backs on backers? Not very realistic. Like a back not necessarily fair. A guy a guy standing on the line of scrim like a linebacker standing on the line of scrimmage and not having to clear any trash, you know, not having to work through any other primary primary level blocking and then and then trying to get around it. Not not realistic. But the linebackers did win that drill. It’s it’s skewed towards them. I mean, the more realistic one is when we get them into the open field and they start doing some of the pass coverage stuff and having to stick with guys, then you’ll get a little bit more offensive minded, but I felt like Jaylen Warren had a really good day out there. Um, Peyton Peyton Wilson had an excellent day. He had a couple of swim moves on Kenny Gainwell and was standing in the box and talking to him. Then then they had some stuff where they went to the ground. I mean, it was uh it was very spirited. Caleb Johnson got a lot of reps. Yes, he did. He he grew up very quickly in that and you know realize how big and strong these guys are that are coming at them. Um but no it it was a great drill. Uh Peyton Wilson had a good day. Malik Harrison showed up really big in there. Um as well as Mark Robinson. I mean Robinson you give him one direction to go. He’s he he he is a boomstick. Uh so you know when you talk about a guy that’s a thumper in that room. I would say 93 stands out as a thumper. M um but you know as far as the coverage, the quickness and everything else, they want to see if the inside backers are going to be capable of blitzing and hitting home on the on on quarterback. So that was a great drill to kind of warm him up for it and get the action going. But no, I I really like what Peyton Wilson had to offer yesterday in that drill. And then of course in team drills as well. He was flying all over. Made a couple of great blocks or great tackles on on some wide stretch plays where you kind of get outside and forcing the receivers to block. I felt like he did a really good job of weaving through and and finding finding the uh the back. So, it was a good day uh for 4-1. Yeah. And I think you even go back to that Ravens game at Afrure Stadium uh last year, what he was able to do as a rookie. I I just think the knowledge that he takes in and how he’s able to translate that to the field so quickly. Uh you hear Patrick Queen, all of the guys in his room saying, you know, we really expect big things in year two from him. Uh he’s even talked about wanting to be the best in the world. And I think as you said it was one day in pads drill is skewed more towards his position group but he he’s bringing the heat and you know sticking to what he said well and he and he showed up when he was supposed to right. I mean that’s that’s the other thing you know cuz Mike Tomlin one thing was he always preached right do the routine things routinely and he came out and he did the routines routinely and he also did them exceptionally at times. Yeah. So a good day one but we always say this what’s your followup? What’s your next act? Right? Or when I’m sitting at the table, what’s the next phase of this course or next course in the meal uh acclamation and you know, great appetizer. Mhm. Let’s let’s see what the soup section looks like and then let’s get to know you love your soup. No matter the weather, no matter the weather. I mean, I was my pod mates were upset yesterday like, “Why are you eating a hot soup after a hot practice?” I said, “Cuz I love soup. I don’t know what to tell you. I I I enjoy soup.” So, yeah. You’re kind of with your podmates. But I I respect that you you love it in every weather, every season. Consistency. That’s the biggest thing that I can offer. Routine plays routinely. That’s you and me. Exactly. Yeah. Me. Routine soups routinely. Uh speaking of coach Tomlin, uh I love watching him during backs on backers and when the pads go in the competition periods because as you said, he wants to see things, you know, run it back. You hear that a lot. And also, hey, don’t say you want another rep and then not come back. Uh he said that a few times I think you know and he definitely knows how to get the best out of everybody and how to bring even more competition as if these you know A+ athletes Yes. aren’t competitive enough. Yeah. Yeah. It was it’s fun to watch because you know and like you said to to that point he was like hey if you’re going to ask for it you got to win too. Like don’t come out here and do the same exact thing over over and over again. I’m not going to give you those extra reps. And I thought it was good that guys showed up when they did ask for the extra rep. It was way more competitive. You saw the focus. Oh, yeah. Because sometimes guys can get a little bit lazy or lulled in those moments and it’s great to see that competition coming out and it’s also in a controlled environment, right? Nobody’s going to get hurt in those moments and guys are ready for the action. Um, so we’ll see how it goes. Day two here out here. how teams and guys that didn’t respond well in previous segments of practice, how they grow from one practice to the next cuz that’s the biggest thing you want to see. Where’s the growth? Like as a offense, you know, yeah, you might there might have been a jailbreak on a play, but do you make the same jailbreak when we run that play again? I need to see what is or do you make the right the right call? And then defensively, can you get lined up in the right position? because there was times, I will say this, for both sides that they were out of out of out of out of uh out of position and not everybody got the call cleanly. So, that’s something you’re gonna want to continually work on. It might have looked good from the stands perspective watching it, but then when you understand the schematics of the play, you’re like, “That guy’s not supposed to be there or that guy is not in the right hole.” And that’s why good things or bad things happen depending on what side of the ball you are on any given play. So, you want to continue to grow. The mental mistakes have to be minimized from one day to the next. You got to get cleaner and especially when we know what tomorrow is, right? You This is your last kind of dress rehearsal before you get to the Friday night lights. So, you get to the scrimmage aspect of what’s of what’s to come. And I think too with the defense, the communication is something they have all preached that needed to get better from the end of last season to this year and wanting to clean it up here. So, when they get back to Pittsburgh, it is a non-issue. As you said though, first day in pad, so they’ll continue with that. Uh yesterday though, Brick Jones was not able to be a full participant. Not that we have to list those labels, but some good news today. Isaac Seumalu who was on the non-foot injury list to start training camp. He is off of that list. Uh and he is not somebody he has been here, but we have not had a chance to see him with everybody. And we talked so much about how important this offensive line is going to be. Uh not having any injuries and being able to see them grow as a unit. And that is the guy that I I think, you know, stirs the pot in terms of what the offensive line does. He doesn’t talk a lot, but people follow him by his actions. So, it’ll be great to see number 73 down there on the practice field and starting to get him acclimated back into practice. Yeah, he he’s a guy that’s been there the entire time, been on the sidelines. He’s he’s over there right when the guys come off the field communicating with the offensive line. Hey, what did you see here? what I think you should have done this like being the big brother mentor that he is given his experience. I mean he’s vastly experienced compared to the field so to speak. So to get him back in the huddle communicating I’m sure that will be a big plus for uh Zack Frasier and for Mason McCormack being there in the interior how to communicate certain calls that he’s just seen and he’s going to know. And so having that kind of human reference book in the huddle with you is going to be a big addition for that offensive line. I I mean that’s but that’s a perfect way to sum it up. Uh and everybody leans on 73 because as you said he’s won a Super Bowl. He’s been in the league so long and he brings that consistency in his play. Uh just the demeanor that you want from an offensive lineman. He’s never too high, never too low, but he does help all of the young guys and there is, you know, a lot of things that need to be done to fortify this O line. Um and Brick Jones, as we said, did not practice fully yesterday. So, how do you make how this will work, Max, in terms of Isaac isn’t going to be thrown in full uh today and Broadick is working his way back of how they can bring consistency among the group and you still have two young guys in Zack Frasier and Mason McCormack trying to do and get better from what they did during their rookie season last year. Yeah, it it it’s a process. I mean, that’s the biggest way, but having guys present is always a good thing. having those veterans there and those potential starters there and hearing everything, hearing the calls, going through it mentally. You know, I sat behind, you know, a couple of the offensive drills with Rodri and just watching the focus, him communicating with his teammate Calvin Anderson, who was in for him at the left tackle. Hey, Cal, you need to do this. Hey, you know, and kind of being very vocal in those things. I think those all go a long way. It also helps give him the mental reps that he wants to see and also gives him practice on saying things, correcting things mentally and then like you said, Isaac Camalu being there when guys come off the field and talking with them about what they did um in those moments and guys being able to ask him questions. Those all go into it and it’s a holistic approach. It’s not just I’m in there physically doing everything, but I’m communicating. I’m also giving young guys, especially the why I did what I did. Because when you don’t know the why, you’re just out there just throwing darts in the dark. You’re just throwing whatever you can together. But when you have a veteran there that knows all of this, it’s easier to communicate and help you as a young guy kind of speed up your maturation process. What did you have a chance to see from Spencer Anderson as he was getting some of those one reps when Isaac was out? Talent. I saw a lot of talent. I mean, Spencer easily, when you say one of the most integral pieces of this offense, he is the one guy who can play all five positions, and that is a humongous advantage when you go into game day, knowing that if anybody goes down, he can step in at any position and perform. And I think him staying at the left guard position gave him some more quality reps at the interior position because he’s still a and still a very good good tackle. Um, and like you said, and a very serviceable center if anybody should go down. So being able to play all five positions uh is just phenomenal. And then like you said, getting in a starting position and looking like you fit in with the rest of the group. That’s the biggest thing you can say. He fits in just fine. And I think that’s what I’m looking for. Guys who who can fit in and guys who can do multiple things within the offensive structure because it is a lot of youth. It’s a lot of depth, but it’s a lot of youth in that depth. And so continuing to grow and continuing to have those opportunities. Spencer Anderson’s just gotten better every single year that he’s been here. Now, because this is an earlier practice than what it was supposed to be because of the weather, first day in pads, I’m sure some bodies hurt a little bit. Uh, what is the adjustment like for them? Do you feel going from that late day practice yesterday in the hot heat till today? I will say it’s about 30° cooler. It feels like it feels amazing right now. I know you can’t really tell from our backdrop, but this is a nice cloudy, overcast, little bit of wind in the air. It’s a completely different condition. So, you should see some freshness uh flying around. It’s only day two. You know, day one, yeah, you’re going to get some aches and pains because it’s always a natural progress. There’s going to be some marks on your chest as an offensive lineman from defensive lineman trying to grab your shoulder pads and vice versa. Um that you’re going to feel and be like, “Oo, that feels a little sensitive today.” Um but for the most part, body should be fresh and guys know how to recover. So, I mean, the cold tubs were going yesterday and uh the whirlpool. So, you can do some contrasting things to get your body back into it. Of course, a lot saw a lot of guys stretching last night up in Rooney Hall. Uh just making sure they were fresh and ready to go cuz they got the news last night that yeah, this could potentially be a morning practice. So, be ready for the short turnaround. We’re taking a live look at the fans uh who came here for that morning practice as you said, they adjusted accordingly. Oh, almost the perfect weather if you’re a fan when you don’t have a chance to go under anywhere and uh catch some shade. I will say I was very impressed with the number of cars that were still waiting in line to get here when I came on to campus this morning and they were like, “Hey, we’re we’re flexible, too. We’re light on our feet.” Yeah. We’re practicing. We’ll be there. Yeah. Yeah. And they’re like, “We’re in.” Uh you love to see it. Who else stood out to you yesterday that we haven’t already spoken about? Let’s see. Let’s Let’s go through the mental checklist real fast. Um I think in wide receiver drills, I thought Calvin Austin had a really good day yesterday. Okay. Uh I saw him in the wide receiver DB drills. Um he had a really good catch over Darius Slay for a touchdown. Um that was really nice and you just see Cal just doing his job right just weaving through and playing through it. I thought Chuck Clark had a solid day yesterday as well for the first day in pads flying around from the safety position. Um Beanie Bishop had a really good day. He We haven’t talked about him a lot. We haven’t talked a lot about Beanie because we got all these other big names in the secondary, but Beanie had a really good had a really good interception um on Mason Rudolph. Um he was in coverage. I think it was Keshan Williams he was in coverage with and just read the route perfectly. Was in perfect trail position, turned around, high point of the football, interception before he went out of bounds. So, you know, those are some other guys that really stood out to me. Um I thought Connor Hayward had a heck of a day in backs on backers. um when it was seemed to be a little bit of a struggle for everybody a little bit getting into the mode, Connor came in, he was ready. Back-to-back reps, whipped the blocks, and did a really good job and made some great catches also in practice. So, those are a couple of the names I saw that really stood out when I was going through and watching practice live and you go back and you watch the tape and you see things, you’re like at 83, Meatball. Meatball. Meatball. Meatball was not going to be denied yesterday. Meatball lost some weight though, too. Yeah. I mean, he he’s he’s he’s like a turkey meatball right now. Better for you, right? But well, Aaron Rogers, uh, one of the guys who spoke yesterday prior to practice, saying it was going to be his first time doing some live uh, drills like that in almost a decade. So, let’s take a listen to what else Aaron had to say yesterday. How does a guy be doing this as long as you’ve been doing it, still have fun at camp? I mean, once it stops being fun, you should probably hang it up. So, I love that we’re out here in Lrobe. I love the opportunity for true camaraderie at night time after meetings are done. Um, guys hang out, you know, guys come to my room. Last night I was in High Smith’s room. Um, so that’s it’s pretty cool to see everybody hanging out the way they are and it’s a lot of fun. Aaron, you played in a lot of really great offenses over the years. What do you like about this offense at Arthur Smith specifically? I like the flexibility. You know, Arthur is not rigid in what he’s doing. He wants to tailor the scheme to the personnel that you got. when you bring in a Kenny Gainwell, bring in a January Smith, bring in a DK Metave and myself with some of the stuff I’ve done over the years, you know, we’re we’re we’re trying to find out what guys do best and implement that in the offense. So, I love that about Arthur. Um, so we’re going to keep doing that. First, first actual pads today. What are you looking forward to for that? Listen, I mean, I love throwing run solutions, you know, when the box is loaded and you got one-on- ones outside, but today I’m going kind of let it go. I haven’t been a part of a true tackling uh period in a long time. So, uh there might be some times where in a game I might want to spit it out to DK or Calvin, but today I might just hand it off to Jaylen and see what happens. When was the last time you were in a pack? I I was trying to rack my brain, sit next to AJ over there, but it’s been a long time. It’s uh it’s got to be, you know, over a decade. You think people were overlooking uh Jaylen Warren with the with the rookie in the backfield, uh Caleb Johnson? I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t know what the what the narratives are out there, but Jaylen’s super smart uh just from playing against him. I know he was a great change up back. He was great in protection, great on third downs, but I think he can be a three down back, and that’s the biggest compliment you can give a running back. You guys like protection, too. Well, we haven’t had pads on yet, but I like what I’ve seen on some old clips. Yeah. How how has the defense helped you guys improve? You seem like you’re giving you guys a lot of looks and you’re doing that back. How have you seen you guys’ chemistry improve against them? Yeah, I mean they played pretty soft the first four days. So, you know, it was a lot of a lot of checkdowns and different things, but uh they got a lot of players on that side of the ball. You know, obviously we brought in Jaylen got multiple guys that can rush, got a good interior rush, got great linebackers who are multiple, can cover and pressure and and fill holes. So, you know, it’s going to be a good test for us. I think for any offense that’s kind of trying to find their footing as we are, uh it’s not a bad thing to get beat up a little bit. So if if we go out there today and they kind of get after us a little bit, that’ll be the best thing for us. So you’re not hoping for that because you want to have great practices, but uh you know, sometimes you can learn more from uh from the failures in training camp than uh getting after them every single day. How’s the application going with with Zack and the offensive line? How how do you feel that’s meshing? Well, it starts with Zack. I mean, Zach is a highly intelligent player. Um, and it helps because as much as I I have a good feel for the offense, I’m not what I would call an expert of the offense yet. Uh, you become an expert. Well, I I become an expert when you break the huddle and you can see the picture in your mind. And every now and then the picture’s a little fuzzy still, so I’m still working some things out. But Zach is so freaking smart. He’s making some calls for me. I told him the other day, I said, “Don’t get used to that.” I said, “At some point, I’m going to I’m going to be making the calls for you.” But uh but he’s got a real good disposition for a center. He’s obviously a talented player and I think uh his leadership is what I’d like to see most continue to grow because uh the leadership often grows uh at the same rate as a performance and everybody knows what kind of player he is. So he’s going to have more opportunities to lead. Why was he your first pick for a fight today during pads? Uh because if you watch the first four days, there was two matchups that uh they brought out uh a little bit of angst, shall we say? And when he gets those big uh West Virginia paws on somebody, uh that could definitely start something. You mentioned two more guys in the offense. How long does that process take for you to start seeing the picture come in a little bit more clearly at the snap? No, I mean I want to have it down uh by the end this week, but we’ll see. You getting to know Jaylen Ramsay at all? What how’s he as a as a teammate? He’s a tempo violator in the walkthroughs. Um I know I like I like Jaylen. I have a ton of respect for him, what he’s accomplished in his career. Um he’s a very versatile guy. I was telling him we were walking to to the calf one of these days and I I was reminding him how Charles Woodson late in his career moved to safety and there’s, you know, truly only a few elite guys who’ve done everything that he’s done. If you think about it, you can play outside corner and dominate. You can play nickel and dominate and then go to safety and be a dominant player. And I think he can do all three of those things. That was Aaron Rogers before practice yesterday. There we see him uh getting ready here at St. Vincent College for a morning practice. As we said, about 30° uh cooler, not a ton of sun, feels great here. Um and he was talking about mastering and being an expert at that offense. Uh wants to have it kind of down pat where he feels comfortable with it. What have you seen in terms of him trying to grasp and also work with Arthur Smith and all these new people to him and also to Arthur Smith to make this offense what they want it to be? Oh, no. You you you’ve seen great respect and kind of a great communication between Arthur Smith and Aaron. You know, when he gets to the sidelines, they’re talking about what he saw, why he did that, because there’s a lot of new information, a lot lot of new communication he has to make, and the terminology is different from what he’s used to. So trying to marry what he knows versus what he what everybody else knows has been has been a process. And you could see it, you know, there’s sometimes there’s like frustration like, man, I should have had that. Like for him like, man, he didn’t do it. But he’s trying a lot of different things to see what he can and can’t get away with, especially in the passing looking off defenders and getting the ball to different guys. And it might not end up in a reception every time, but you can see the thought process of how can I do this to create this space for a receiver. You know, when I’m at the huddle, I’m making an audible. What am I seeing and how much time do we need to communicate what the adjustment is? Um, but it but it’s been it’s been really fun to watch just how his mind works and how he communicates those things. And even when there is a miscommunication, wide receivers and they’re coming off like DK came over and talked to him about it or you know Janu about hey this you know should have had this and blah blah blah. You’ve seen good communication. You don’t see bad body language or any of those things that you would normally typically see when guys get frustrated. He’s not at that point where he understands, hey, it’s a new thing every time. So we’ve got to work on this. We don’t have hours and hours and pass attempt after pass attempt together. We’re trying to manufacture those things in a live team environment and trying to speed up our connection together. So, it’s been really fun to watch how that is and it’s been and it’s been enlightening, you know, because I get to sit back there. I sit next to Charlie Batch during drills and just I get to talk with Charlie. Charlie, what do you think he saw there? No, this is this this and this like he needed to do that and then we sitting and we watch the film together. You know, he’s talking about, well, this play was set up bad from the beginning. You know, this isn’t necessarily Aaron’s fault. he made the best out of it or vice versa, he should have made that throw. So, it’s been really and that’s that’s what the thing is. This is I call it the forge. Like, you’ve got to test elements and put different elements together to see if they mix well, if they create a bond. And that’s what this is. And Aaron is going through that and trying to create a bond with everybody that he comes into contact with. And I like that he really spelled that out, especially that first day. Everyone made a big deal about the Patrick Queen interception. uh he was trying to get it to DK and he said, “Look, I historically take care of the football when it counts. I’m going to throw some interceptions, but I’m going to throw a lot more clearly that he is known for throughout his career.” And I think the, as you said, almost testing different things and what works with this offense. It is a growing process. Um I don’t think it would be a good thing if he went out there and never threw an interception because then that means something’s not probably working well in the defense. It’s still vers Steelers at this point and it’s crazy. We’re almost uh you know getting to the point where the first preseason game feels like it’s on the horizon next weekend. Um so it’ll be interesting to see you know how that goes in terms of divvying up snaps and who’s playing who’s not and what they need to do because the goal ultimately is September uh and the New York Jets. So I I kind of like you know his as coach said Aaron is a football junkie. He works he’s a workaholic. Um, so I’m sure at some point it’s going to be coach protecting Aaron from Aaron. Yeah, you I mean you have to do those things that that that’s the conversation. That’s the compromise with it. Protect players from themselves at times, you know, from what they could initially get entrapped into, right? You can you can get into a certain logic and process in your mind where you’re just spinning in the same hamster wheel over and over again. The goal is to change the maze, right? to change the cheese in the maze for the rat to go find it. And so I think that’s that’s what that’s what you’re dealing with. Um, and trying to manage, you know, put guys in positions where they have to think, you want to challenge them, but you also don’t want to suppress them as well to a degree. So, it’s keeping enough variety in there. And you heard him talk about that, Mike. What he loves about this offense, right, is the flexibility that it has. M I mean we saw yesterday, you know, 13 personnel going out there and then them spreading out into 11 personnel. You know, that doesn’t happen everywhere. Not every team has that flexibility to do that. And you can try these different combinations and see how it works. And that’s what I love about I love the variety because I want to know all the parameters that you can give me. And they’re also seeing how wide a net they can cast within this offense for Aaron to be able to run. A lot of, you know, you see a lot of double plays. you see a lot of opportunities for guys to make calls and make decisions on the fly. And for the offensive line especially, that’s a lot more communication that you’re passing down the daisy chain, right? You’re trying to Oh, yeah. If a left tackle sees something, he needs to make sure the right tackle sees it because it changes how he’s going to block a guy. Um, you know, when a play audles out and you’re going to it, do you do you understand what your what your built-in checks are and what the new checks are? So, it’s a lot of it’s a lot of processing and a lot of verbal and and kind of non-verbal communication that has to go on before each play and how well they’re handling that load. Uh there you see Aaron Rogers talking to some of the defensive guys. is uh Beanie Bishop there to his right said, you know, one day we just had lunch together to talk about different things and Aaron said in that clip that we just listened to how sometimes, you know, he’s with DK or the offensive guys, but he spent a night playing some games in Alex Highmith’s uh room as well. And I think, you know, you cannot say anything other than hi him immersing himself into this team, into this culture, uh taking over as a leader and somebody that is available to everybody, all 89 guys. Um it is not just you know the people that he is working with on the field. Yeah. And that’s what it has to be. That’s what leadership looks like. And I think that’s a good thing when it just comes naturally. I mean he’s there with Logan Lee and Daniel Aqual, right? Uh on top of the other guys that were there in that group that look at that’s his warm-up group. You know, it’s great. Why not? I mean he’s not just there with Skyler Thompson and Will Howard and Mason Rudolph warming up. he’s warming up along with the defense trying to mix himself and integrate himself uh around the team because at certain points we’re going to depend on everybody to make a play to do something and you and you can’t be afraid I think that’s the other thing you can’t be afraid to go talk to someone you can’t be afraid to go communicate with somebody especially if it’s good bad or indifferent right we need to have open dialogue clear communication and all of us have to be working towards the same goal which is winning games when it comes time for week one, you’re in Met Life playing the Jets. It’s going to get hot. It’s going to get heated, especially when we know the the existing history there. Oh, yeah. You know, we did Red Rover, Red Rover for for quarterbacks. And, you know, there’s going to be a testament where he’s going to need that defense to go make a play for him and get them the ball back cuz maybe things didn’t go well his last offensive series. And vice versa, defense going to need him to make a play because they need they need a break uh and they want to rest a little bit. So there’s a good balance of need, want, and respect for each other that you have to have uh within within the concept of the team. Johnny Smith is somebody that I was telling you and Mike yesterday prior to practice, first offensive guy out, he was wearing the long sleeves, worked the Jugs machine before practice, after practice, uh a new addition to this team that came in terms with the Jaylen Ramsay trade. Uh what have you seen from him so far? He’s exceptional receiver. Uh, I will say that um, you know, he doesn’t he doesn’t run like a tight end. He runs like a wide receiver, but like willing blocker in the in the backs on backers drill and a guy who who’s very vocal as well with the guys. Um, trying to understand and trying to pick up this offense. So, trying to ingratiate himself and and inundate himself with this system, I think, has been a really nice addition to that group. I’m not going to say pleasant surprise cuz we kind of expect it. you’re a professional, so you want to go and make sure that you’re doing all the things necessary. I feel like he’s doing all the things even when he wasn’t practicing early on. Sure. Being right there talking to the young tight ends, talking to JJ Greath uh and company and and just understanding, hey, this is what this is what we’re going to do. Here’s what the concept is. Do you have any questions about a play? Like seeing all of that up close and you see the veteranness of him and we haven’t had that veteran presence in the room because let’s face it, Pat Fmouth was the most experienced guy in that room and he was just in his second year, you know, when he when he first came here. So seeing some growth and having some different perspectives always helps the entire group grow as a as a unit. Well, I think too, you know, he’s worked with Arthur Smith uh at multiple stops, and that’s not primarily why he was brought here, but that doesn’t hurt either. Uh Scotty Miller, somebody there there was a lot of people even last year um that can help, but I think their history is a positive, not a negative. And as you said, uh you know, Fri kind of took that leadership role on a lot earlier than they probably wanted him to. even, you know, going back to his rookie season, just it was just very different, uh, you know, then as it is now. But I think too, just the additions of DK Metaf, um, it it just seems like this team is starting to really gel. I was talking to some of the Pat McAfee guys yesterday and, you know, they were like, does it feel different? And it does, but I don’t know if I feel that every year, but there is just something I can’t put my finger on necessarily about why it feels different this year. And maybe it’s because the off season was unlike any offseason we have seen in Pittsburgh Steelers history. But hopefully this is the start of something special that’s brewing and can hopefully uh you know take them to where they want to go this year. No. And I think the biggest thing you talk about in that off season like the aggressiveness of Omar Khan to go out and get free agents and then how they handled the draft. They didn’t jump really for anything even though there were might have been some glaring needs. Mhm. A lot of their needs fell to them so they didn’t have to be on edge and kind of do something uncharacteristic of themselves. And it it right now I could say that for next year it yielded a lot of fruit. They got 12 draft picks as it stands right now. Crazy because of it. Even with the trades that they’ve made for picks and everything. So I think when you’re talking about looking at the grand scheme, this has been a very very wholesale type of change. But we’ve seen a lot of material changes over the years. We’ve seen a lot of new guys here. In fact, we have 43 new guys out there on the practice field that weren’t here a year ago. Um, so the turnover has been high, but the quality of those turnover uh players that are now coming into their first training camp here at the Steelers has been very, very noticeable. And when you’re talking about frontline starter capable, noticeable, that’s what we haven’t seen in years past. Usually is a guy that fits in and it’s a rotational thing. were light at linebacker bringing in remember we brought in Juan Alexander a couple years ago because of injuries and you know and then of course we realized that oh man this was like a like a like a precursor to what actually happened in season when we lost all those linebackers and you were bringing guys in. So this year you have so much depth to work with that you can truly build two strong units per per group and have those guys roll out at any moment. Um, that’s why I think the biggest change has been when you look at it, it’s just, okay, seconds are in, twos are in. You’re like, oh, was that the first? No, that is the twos. Okay, because they’re that good, right? You know, normally years past you’re like, this is the second unit. So, I think that’s what’s kind of been the biggest difference is the quality of depth of the guys that you’ve brought in. I think too, you mentioned uh the patience that Omar Khan and company have had. You know, during the draft, you don’t have a second round draft pick for a good reason. you got DK Metaf, but in terms of the running backs, they were patient. Caleb Johnson was there. Uh maybe it was tempting to try to trade in or trade up not having that pick to get somebody like him. But I I think too, even the whole Aaron Rogers situation and Omar has said, uh we looked at patience as a strength, not as a negative. Um and I’m not a patient person, so you know, that makes me antsy. But once we’re sitting here now and you’re seeing the team that they’re building and putting together, it starts to make a lot more sense. No, it does. You know, patience is in the process, right? When you want when you watch a cook go to work, you don’t like the initial process, right? Ingredients are everywhere. And you don’t know what this this is in this bowl that you’re doing. Is is it a marinade? Are you making a soup? I don’t know. But then hopefully a soup. Yeah. You hope it’s a soup for my my sake. But and then you look at it and then that’s why you don’t get to sit in the kitchen, right? You have to sit you sit out in in the main dining room and you wait for the meal to come and the meal is this beautiful meal. But if you watch the process, you would have had no clue. And I think for us, we always want to be in the kitchen. And it’s like sometimes you just got to sit at the table and wait, right? Trust your order that you made that it’s going to come out like you thought it was. And that’s what we’re seeing here, that patience uh to wait for it to come out. It’s rounding out. Obviously, we’re not at the finished phase yet. We’ll see how that looks. in about another four months. But for right now, all the ingredients look like you expect them to look right now. So, it’s like seeing these players interact now. They just need to come together and become one. Uh Jaylen Ramsay was somebody that Aaron Rogers was also speaking about. Uh clearly one of the new ingredients uh to this team of the Pittsburgh Steelers of 2025. Aaron Rogers called him a tempo violator in walkthrough and you got a good laugh out of that. Uh what does that mean necessarily and what have you seen from number five? No, I mean it it I I love I love the kind of tongue and cheek type of uh like this is the sarcasm we talked about the players were talking about. Man, he’s got he’s got the sarcasm. It’s good sarcasm meaning that it’s a walkthrough and he might be jogging. Yeah. You know, he might he might be a little bit past the the walk speed that you’re supposed to do. Yeah. He’s more of a power walker. You know, he on the treadmill where I’m doing like 3.0, 0. He’s probably doing 5.2 and he’s just he’s still walking. Yeah, the elbows are are going a little bit faster when he goes through it. But um but I think that but that’s Jaylen Ramsey. I mean that’s what that’s what makes him a top 100 NFL player is that he ha he has to go to the beat of his own drum and he also has to see things the way he can interpret them because it’s not just a one-sizefits-all. But he’s always communicating. He’s always talking to TA. He’s always figuring out what he can and can’t do. And also, he’s playing a variety of positions. So, you got to make sure you have it cleared in your mind when you’ve got a lot of like motion, right? And you’re in an interior position. I can’t bump with this guy to the outside. As much as I know I can play corner and I can probably lock this guy down, I am a safety in these moments. I’m a nickel in these moments or I am that corner in those other moments. So, it’s a lot of information that he’s processing and taking, but you see him doing it with tenacity, ferocity. I mean, he was blitzing, you know, and I mean, that’s something where it’s like, okay, you don’t think of a corner as a blitzer, but you know, Jaylen Ramsey, this guy’s pretty good. He He was a number one corner and number one uh safety when he came out in his draft year. So, all those skills are very innate for him. And how do you fit within the structure and how do you also understand how to work within it and not kind of dominate it is the other thing I think that we that we’ve gotten to see because I’m sure there’s an itch. I’ve been there, done that. I know what this looks like. I could do this. I’m going to jump this route. But it’s like, nope, got to play the concept. got to play the concept and fit in with his team and learn and help all of us grow. And I think he’s been really good at that. I love how you were uh talking about, you know, coach Tomlin mentioned he was the number one quarterback, the number one safety uh for good reason when he was coming out in the draft and the Steelers did not have a draft pick that would been anywhere near where he was going to go, but they still the night before his proday took him out to dinner. Jaylen said, “Well, you know, NIL didn’t exist. I I I’ll take a free meal anytime.” And but it was also a good experience and this is something that we consistently see with coach Tomlin of building those relationships with guys that maybe you’re not going to get right now but you know down the road if you want to do business with them. Uh that is who who you want to do it with. And that matters and that makes a difference especially for you know Jaylen Ramsay when he’s having to say yeah I’m cool with this trade. Let’s do it. Not that you always have say um but I’m I’m sure there was a reason why he was like absolutely send me to Pittsburgh. Yeah. And I think that that’s what matters. That’s what the good evaluators do, you know? Hey, I can’t get this guy every time. I don’t I don’t have a million draft picks at my disposal. I’m not drafting in the top 10 where I think a guy will go. We’re drafting in the back half of the first round. So, if it’s a first round talent, we’re probably not going to see the top tier of it. We’re going to find those steels in the first round. But, like you said, maybe it doesn’t work out with that player at that time. So maybe I can circle the block and come back when it comes second contract time and that guy is a true free agent. Maybe he’ll think twice because of an interaction we had during combine during bowl game, you know, uh all-star games, I should say. I call them bowl games, senior bowl, but it’s really an all-star game. Then also with the with the team visits when you I mean you have all of your team visits. Why not utilize them to understand what this talent thinks? And then of course, like you said, life and football life. If you’re as good as we thought you were, you will still be around in five years. You’ll still be around in seven years. And we could come get you maybe even your ninth year. You’re still playing at a high level. You think Jaylen Ramsey, this is a guy played a lot of football, gone to a lot of other places, but still ended up here. And it’s based off of his interactions that he had as a pre draft pick rookie, right? That they remember. And they also have that catalog. And it also is an advantage when you had a coach who’s been here, right? he could build that kind of catalog and library of players when you’ve done it for 19 years, right? You know, you can sit there, you can look at all these guys and say, “Okay, I remember this guy back then 12 years ago and what type of guy he was.” And like in the case of Aaron Rogers, we’ve had a lot of interactions that lost the Super Bowl to him. We’ve known who they are. There’s a mutual respect between coach and player that have been here just about almost the equal amount of time in this league and their positions. So, it makes it a lot easier to say yes in the future because like now he’s been the same guy. He’s still there and just like you’re looking, hey, that player’s still playing, right? So, it’s a good reparte. I was laughing yesterday when coach Tomlin jumped on the McAfee show. Pat said, you know, I always wanted to play for you and you always told me when I was old and cheap you’d come get me, but it didn’t work out. He said, “Did you tell Aaron that? Is that how that worked out?” He said, coach laughed and said, “No, I wish I told him that. Maybe I would have got him sooner.” Um, but you know, I think it’s just that respect as Pat was saying that people want to come here to play for coach Tomlin and Aaron has talked about it. It feels like every time he speaks he is asked about coach Tomlin and he has his glowing review of their relationship that they built um over the years of course of being competitors but even now and during part of the waiting process this off season of talking to each other and staying in touch but not necessarily talking football. Yeah. I mean and that I think that’s the greatest greatest attribute you can have is that there is variety and conversation you know cuz that that’s what really creates the relationship right is not about what we do necessarily on the field but how do you think off the field how do you think about things in life what’s your life perspective view and do we have commonalities off the field that make it that make it even a deeper bond like you’re looking for those things I mean like I think about it you know I look Charlie Batch like I mean Charlie Batch’s love for philanthropy and giving back to the youth that was an immediate thing because I wanted to start my foundation. I wanted to do I wanted to give back to youth back in my home hometown. I do that in Orlando going on 20 years now. So we have that relation that’s why Charlie and I will always be buddies. Willie Cologne and I right we love travel you know and and we and we like food. So you know we have those type of conversation and builds deeper bonds. We both are dads trying to figure it out. you know, I’m the godfather of his son and you know, so we we get together and we and and we have family time together. I think that’s all important with how you grow as teammates and it lasts a bond that that extends beyond football. I mean, we’re here in a football environment that brings us back together, but it’s not what keeps us going. There’s a lot of different things. So when you can have those outside external relationships, uh they they can also help and benefit the quote unquote internal football relationship as well. And I think for the Steelers, uh the continuity that they have built of coming here to St. Vincent College for so many years, minus the co years, of course, when they physically were not allowed to. Um but I think it’s the stoop talks that the guys always talk about outside of Rooney Hall. Uh the casual lunches you’re having with someone that you might not really know. um just the different things that there’s just so much to it that is the intangibles that it brings and it is always surprising the NFL always sends out an email of here’s where everybody’s training camps are and there’s only you know seven or whatever that still go away. Um I understand there’s probably a cost related to it that might be part of the reason but when you’re trying to build a team um it just seems to make too much sense. Yeah. Well, it said, you know, Mike Tomlin, you know, has gone on record saying, “Hey, listen, you know, I’m not I’m I’m not I’m not gonna get fired because I spend too much money. I’m gonna get fired if I don’t win enough games.” So, if there is a cost and I’m sure and and in this situation, like for the run, the deep relationship that the ownership has with this university, with this college and this hallowed grounds for football, I’m sure there’s a bigger compromise. So, he’s he’s not worried about it. It’s the traditions that hold up. You know, when you realize that every Super Bowl champion that played for the Pittsburgh Steelers was forged back right out in those fields down there, literally means something over the It means something. There’s a nostalgia, you know, it almost gives you like Field of Dreams type vibes. Of course, we don’t see like the ghosts of Steelers Pass coming through and building a stadium for him, but you get that kind of knowledge. I mean, it’s Chuck Null Field, right? right? You know, it’s the general down there that that had that type of vibe and he commanded us and and molded this team into what it is today. So, you honor that by playing at that field. You know, we think about Rooney Hall like the players are actually staying in Rooney Hall and it’s not like ah it’s a distant relative. No, this was built because of Mr. Rooney. You know what I’m saying? So, there’s a lot of those in and in instill things and also fans know this is the pilgrimage site, right? Mh. This is a place that if you say you’re a Steeler fan, you’ve got to make the trek to Latroe. You know, I get texts all the time from buddies and everything, man. You know, I want to come up to training camp. I’m like, come on. Because it’s a once ina-lifetime type of opportunity for a lot of people, but you also know that this is the right of passage. You get to watch it live and in person. And people come year after year after year. They bring their kids. I mean, heck, Ben, you know, it was we’re talking about what Ben Scoranic came here as a kid and sat on the hill watching Steelers practice. And guess what? He’s now practicing. There’s another kid that’s going to be watching Ben Skironic practice and trying to continue that type of tradition. So, it’s really special when you have those type of moments that you can look back on and you know, it’s a very special place. I mean, look how look how excited Pat McAfee was yesterday. He was a little kid. Yes, he was. He was a little kid here. He was so emotional. He was so excited. He had that frenzied emotion. even when he was on the field, he’s running around slapping high fives everywhere. Like he looked like a kid that got that got the VIP pass for the day, you know, and it was really fun to see. Well, it’s funny you say that. The security guard that was, you know, tailing him a little bit to make sure that he was okay because I I’m pretty sure he signed autographs for fans after their two-hour show of no breaks uh for at least an hour, maybe more. uh wanted to, you know, everybody who stayed, he wanted to sign the autograph, but the security guard said, “I don’t have kids, but I feel like this is probably what it feels like to be a parent just trying to figure out where your kids’s going.” And I was like, “But this is like grown Pat. Imagine him as a kid.” Uh because, as you said, he had that bepping mentality of holy, holy cow, I’m here and I want to, you know, go say hi to all these people, but I’m also just uh so blessed. He got a chance to meet Father Paul. He was like, his mind was blown that there were monks walking on campus. He’s like, “I don’t remember that from the hill, so we probably didn’t have the access that they did yesterday.” Um, and he said, you know, standing next to Mr. Rooney and having a chance to talk to him as we’re watching practice. Uh, those are, you know, really cool things to see. And as you said, uh, like the Ben Scoranic, you know, coming here, going to Kennywood as a kid, all the Pittsburgh things that, um, it it’s cool to see, especially whenever you look outside of what happens outside of this organization, this team in terms of what teams are doing. Well, and I I think the biggest thing is right when dreams come true and you know, you you you don’t think that I can be there, you know, you have to be here to see. You have to sit on the hill and say, you know what, I might want to do that one day, right? But if you don’t get exposed to it, you don’t have the opportunity to do those type of things. And I think that’s what really makes this special and this makes this a very special place is gener spans through generations. M you know parents can say remember when I did this as a kid and then those kids become adults and they say remember when I did this as a kid and you and it carries on and that’s what tradition is right it’s it’s it’s a carrying on of of things and rituals that people do and they merge families like this is a family destination spot for a lot of people right and when you can have multigenerational families you know there’s so many times you see grandparents along with with their kids and then their kids, you know, there you see three generations coming to Steelers practice. Like that doesn’t happen in a lot of other organizations. Like you said, there’s only seven teams that still kind of do that. Like Green Bay is one that’s steeped in that nostalgia, the bicycles and everything. Bikes are so cool. It it’s a cool thing that kids get to do that. And you know, that’s where you don’t get that. Kansas City goes to that one little college as well. I mean, the Cowboys go to Oxnard. I don’t know how traditional that is for Dallas. Yeah. You’re getting on a plane. Yeah. You’re getting on a plane. You have to fly. as a destination location, right? But, you know, the team being in the same environment in the same region where you can have a short drive to get to the place, it’s pretty special. And not a lot of teams do that anymore. And I feel like if there was a team I would want to count on to keep that tradition the longest, it would be the Steelers. No doubt about it. Uh, another thing, speaking of tradition, uh, here for Steelers training camp is the Friday night lights. It’s the yellow school buses that everyone rode uh you know in in a past got to ride the cheese wagon. Got to ride the cheese wagon. You know, takes you back to the high school days. Um but it is so cool. You get to LRO Memorial Stadium. It’s small but it’s packed. Uh fans just it’s Tickets are sold out. That’s what’s was wild. We got a waiting list for tickets. It’s it’s crazy to see. Um, but it is one of those environments that unless you experience it, you cannot perfectly explain it, but taking place tomorrow, uh, what’s a favorite Friday Night Lights memory for you? Oh man, uh, live goal line period was was one of my favorites because I’ll never forget it. and my good buddy Ike Taylor, who’s now a scout here for the team. I’ll never forget I was a rookie and Ben was a rookie and and we’re in with the we’re in with the number two unit and I remember lining up as a jumbo tight end on the left and I was supposed to run a shallow drag from left to right going along the sideline. Well, I sprained my I sprained my thumb the day before. So, it was this thumb right here. I had jammed it and I hit and I was running a shallow drag and Ike has me in coverage. Oh boy. He grabs the right hand and I stick the hand out like, “Ben, throw it to me.” Ben throws it. It literally hit the cast and doked off. And Ben was like, “Well, there goes that experiment.” I was like, “Ah, come on.” So, I remember like that that’s a funny moment. I mean, but like signing autographs for the fans where we get that time to just go out and sign and the entire stadium ring is just completely full. So, you’re trying to pick a spot that not everybody else is going to. You know, you don’t go to the main stands. Everybody’s there and they want every autograph. But I try and go to like the outskirts, go to the opposite side and I like to zigzag across the field. And so it’s just a cool opportunity to really interact with fans and really get up close and personal. Here is close. That place is personal. Oh yeah. Yeah. You you can hear everything everybody is saying. You can hear a sneeze and Yeah. You can even hear thoughts at certain moments if you just if you concentrate enough. It’s also worth getting the 50/50 tickets. Oh, you got to I mean because it’s going to be a very healthy If I could buy one, I would. But I know obviously as a staff personnel can’t really do that, participate in gambling and everything else, but I would I would have bought the ticket because it it’s a very significant amount. It blows my mind every year. So if you are going tomorrow to LRO Memorial Stadium, make sure you get those 50/50 tickets. We’ll be there as well with live coverage. Uh that is going to do it for us today. We have to get Max down to practice to watch some more uh things happening today, but uh stay tuned for tomorrow for our show coming your way from Latro Memorial Stadium. This is Training Camp Live presented by FedEx for Max Starks and Missy Matthews. Thanks for joining us. Have a great day everybody.

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