{"id":527738,"date":"2025-11-15T18:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/527738\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T18:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:51:19","slug":"steelers-lb-patrick-queen-honors-gold-star-families-for-salute-to-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/527738\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers LB Patrick Queen Honors Gold Star Families for Salute to Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Steelers\"Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen hosts gold star families through T.A.P.S. — Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

PITTSBURGH \u2014 Being the Salute to Service award recipient from your respective team is one of the highest off the field honors you can receive, and one Patrick Queen has embraced. <\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen spent Friday afternoon giving back to those who have served, taking part in the team\u2019s annual Salute to Service weekend by hosting gold star families through T.A.P.S., an experience he described as an honor and profoundly meaningful.<\/p>\n

Queen, who has close ties to the military through family and friends, spoke about why the event resonates so strongly with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s an incredible honor, just having friends, friends of friends, getting to hear stories about that stuff and just knowing people who went through so much,\u201d he said. \u201cIt means a lot. It hits home, and I couldn\u2019t be more grateful to be able to do this and have this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the event, Queen spent time speaking with veterans families, taking photos, and offering encouragement. Families were given tickets to Sunday\u2019s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, and also individual copies of the banners that have been hung around Acrisure Stadium honoring their loved ones.<\/p>\n

\"PITTSBURGHSalute to Service banner outside Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 14, 2025. \u2014 Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

For him, dedicating time to service members is not an obligation, it\u2019s something he says he would gladly do far more often.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s incredible, just taking however much time out of my day to be able to come do this,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d do it every single week if I could. It\u2019s incredible what they go through and how they\u2019re able to keep moving forward. I know some days are rougher than others, but hopefully this is a bright day in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event also carried deep meaning for the families in attendance. Stephanie Riley Hannon shared an emotional story about her brother, an Air Force Master Sergeant whose love of football connected them across continents throughout his service.<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen with the family of USAF Master Sergeant Brian Riley on Nov. 14, 2025. \u2014 Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for me, this is extremely important because my brother and I would go to Steeler games together, and everywhere he was stationed in the world I\u2019d send him Steeler gear and Steeler hats. He never got rid of the hat, he just retired them in little arrangements, and so it feels really incredible to be able to still share this with him, and this is so awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queen also shared how military service has been a constant presence in his life. His uncle served, as have numerous friends and acquaintances, giving him a deep appreciation for the sacrifices service members make.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilitary ties, my uncle actually served, and then I have friends all over,\u201d Queen said. \u201cI\u2019ve got friends of friends who served, so it\u2019s just always been around me. And then now, even more, just getting older, the more people you meet, the more people you find out served, and you get connections through them. You just keep getting stories, and the stories hit. You try to feel for what they go through, and you\u2019ll never understand until you\u2019re in that situation, and hopefully you\u2019re never in that situation, but it\u2019s definitely just incredible what they go through.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

For Queen, the Salute to Service event is more than a scheduled appearance. It\u2019s a chance to honor the bravery, resilience, and sacrifices of the men and women who have served, and to make sure they know how valued they are. And as the Steelers Salute to Service Award nominee, Queen\u2019s presence reflected exactly why he earned the recognition, his genuine compassion for military families, his personal connection to their stories, and his unwavering commitment to supporting those who have served both on and off the field.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Patrick Queen<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Salute to Service<\/a> Steelers<\/a> top<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen hosts gold star families through T.A.P.S. — Alan Saunders \/ Steelers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,7584,520,57,2360,39724,426,3444],"class_list":{"0":"post-527738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-patrick-queen","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-salute-to-service","15":"tag-steelers","16":"tag-top"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115555224784541945","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}