December 12, 2025 • 50 mins
Rob and Max are joined by Wolf's wife, Faith Wolfley, to share memories of our late friend and to discuss his book with Jim Wexell. The guys also continue to preview the Dolphins.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
And we thank you for being with us in the
locker room on this Friday before Monday night football against
the Dolphins alongside Max Starks at Justin Miller and are
iHeart Studio at the Controls. I'm Rob King Max. How
are you doing today, my friend?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am doing just peachy, Rob, I am doing awesome.
I am caffeinated and I am highly engaged.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So we have some cleaning up to do before we
move forward. And that up is the last we left you.
You were you were really looking forward to a bowl
of clam chowder with bacon bits, not baking bits like
the old bacon bits you get out of the shaker,
but bits of big.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah yeah not not not not not the baco's you know,
not the because no, sou did it live up to expectations?
It exceeded it nice? I you know you went, you know,
do it over over the stovetop. Uh, heated it, folded
in the bacon with it so you could let it
(01:36):
just immerse itself and get to know the rest of
the chowder. And then once I once I ladled it
into my into my bowl, I went and I did
the unthor the unthinkable. I added a shredded Gourmet three
(01:56):
cheese blend on top, just a little bit really just
a little little accoutrement and and just added to the creaminess.
And now now now there's a little bit of goo
in there. And it was it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
It does sound good. I was thinking you were going
to go like a little paprika or cayenne pepper, but no,
you went you went the opposite better.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I went while to go cheese and then cracked black
pepper on tok. I like to I like to emphasize
the pepper on that one because I feel like I
feel like if if I add cayenne or something like
like the spiciness, then you know with that cream like
you kind of lose it and you get a little
bit of the flavor. But cracked pepper just it's still
is it's so very pointed in flavor that it can
(02:37):
cut through the cream but not have the heat factor.
You know what I'm saying, like, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
You have to be more careful with paprika or or
cayenne pepper. You can ruin it if you over indulge it. Yeah. Yeah,
I like a little tiny hint of a kick in there.
I will say this, Uh okay, everyone in the Why
you go to a restaurant and it's one of those
restaurants where you you know, you have your seat are solid,
and somebody comes by with the pepper grinder, and I'm
(03:04):
always like, keep going, man, you know you're they'll they'll
take like three twists, and they'll take three twists and
look at you. I'm like, that's that's not cutting it. Man,
more pepper.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, that's that cut well. And then that's and then
the very next guy, which is the parmesan guy. Yes,
keep going as we see this like it's like listen, listen,
you're gonna blink before I will.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Let's just let's just keep this going. My goal is
to green on my plate, just white. I just want
to see white.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly exactly this winter time, isn't it
make it snow on my plate? On the plate okay,
so Max.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So so success. So it was a good it lived
up to your I think it was excellent. I think
a lot of locker room people who know what lunch
meant to Craig Wolfly and what it means to you
will be delighted to know that the clam chowder lived
up to your expectations. I'm glad of that. It is
kind of soupy and stew weather with this cold, the
(04:01):
cold is kind of getting that yesterday was that in
your bones cold. It just you know, it was twenty four,
but it felt like it was about felt like it
was ten below. It's just one of those one of
those days it comes up on you and it's just
a little colder than the rest and a little breeze
and oof. Good day for that sort of thing. And
speaking of Craig Wolfy Max at ten twenty, we have
(04:22):
Faith Wolfully coming up to talk about the new Craig
Wolfly book.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yes, yes we do, and cannot wait to have Faith
in the locker room, uh, you know, to talk to
talk about the book and of course the one that
you know we've talked like we've talked about the book
with Jim, but it's simply. You know, Jim is a
very humble and gracious person. Like you know, he's not
(04:49):
gonna he's not going to talk about the book. And
I think for Faith Having Faith, we'll get a more
in depth insight to the book because I mean, she's
she was there during the process, right, I mean, it's
about her late husband head and of course you know
the stories that he has shared. So it's it's gonna
be really fantastic to have faith in the locker room
(05:12):
coming up in the next segond. It's gonna be really nice.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, it is so. And Jim meaning Jim Wextel of course,
for regular listeners to the show in case you're stumbling
on our show for the first time, and if you are,
what took you, But anyway, we're glad to have you here.
So Max, I did not watch. I have to I
have to admit I did not watch very much of
last night's game at all. So, but it is you know,
(05:36):
we talk about the arcs of a season. We talk
about when to start playing well and when that is important.
And I know that I always break the season up
into into various chunks like just win early, who cares right?
And then is he Like I've said many times, I
don't care if you win three to two, you you
win five to four. They got two safeties, you got
(05:58):
a safety to feel. I don't care. Just win the game,
and then get into November and begin to build an
identity for the team, begin to build that belief in
a team. You know, what kind of team are we?
And then you get into December and you just got
to win. You gotta you gotta win, and hopefully that
momentum of getting early victories and identifying yourself. Now, of
(06:20):
course that's just a rough outline and and things go,
you know, every but every season and every team has
its own story. Arc I say all that because there
was a time when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were five
and one and people were wondering whether Baker Mayfield was
the MVP and whether this was the best team in
(06:40):
the NFL. So they won at Atlanta, they won at
Houston by a point, They beat the Jets by two.
They lost to Philly by six, but okay, no shame there.
They beat a very good Seattle team. I don't know
if we knew quite how good Seattle was at that point.
And then they beat the forty nine ers, right, So, okay,
so you have a you have wins over the forty
(07:01):
nine ers, Seattle, and Houston on your resume. Your only
loss is to Philadelphia, so you're a pretty good team, right. Okay,
you even lose to Detroit. All right, so you're five
and two. You come back and you beat the Saints
to go to six and two heading into your by
and here's what's happened since to buy now again. A
lot of these losses, these aren't disgraceful teams you lost to.
(07:22):
But if you are atop the power rankings, you can't
have a stretch like this coming out of the break,
New England and home five point loss at Buffalo, twelve
point loss at the Rams, twenty seven point loss, eke
out a win at home against the Cardinals, and then okay,
so now you're seven and five, right, Max, you're Tampa Bay.
(07:44):
You come out of your you have three tough games
in England, Buffalo, the Rams. Okay, you right your ship
against Arizona. Right, you're seven and five. Okay, time to
get back to winning because the schedule is not that tough.
You have some big games coming up against Carolina, which
is suddenly you know, suddenly, you know, making a little
bit of a run. Fine, no worries with that. You've
(08:05):
been there, done that, they have not. And then you
lose it home to New Orleans and you lose a
home to the Falcons and Tampa Bay. I'm pretty sure
they were number one in the power rankings at one
point this season. They are seven and seven max and
lurching toward not making the playoffs. They're at Carolina at
(08:27):
Miami and Carolina at home. I mean what you know,
you talk about when you want your team playing well,
and look the Steers, you know, comparing it at the end
of this year. The Steelers haven't gotten there yet, right,
they had they got off to their own hot start,
and we want to see them, you know, beat the
Dolphins and finish strong and look up and beat ten
and seven or even eleven and six, right, and then
(08:50):
you're gonna feel really good about this team going to
the playoffs. But just I think it's worth pointing out
that everybody wants it to be a smooth sale. Everybody
wants to graft to start bottom left and move smoothly
at a forty five degree angle to the top right
going into the playoffs. It just doesn't work that way
in Tampa Bay. I it's mystifying what's happened to that team?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Well, I mean it's also injuries happened to that team, right, Sure,
I get it. I think that yeah, I mean I
think that was they just got decimated at the wrong time.
And I mean it was a heartbreaker last night.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
If you're Tampa Bay, you know Baker has just been
on a downward trend playing. But you know, he got
his weapons back, He got Godwin, got Evans, got Irving
all back on the offense side of the ball, guys
that he's needed. But it has been you know, it's
been troubling. You know, a Mecca Abuka has just not
panned out as that receiver. And listen all the people
(09:49):
out there, they were like, oh my god, you gotta
have a Mecca Buka. Why didn't you try and draft him?
Da stop it, stop it, stop it. He he is
his his his catch percentage is like at thirty five
forty percent right now. Like he gets targeted, I want
to say, on average about nine a little bit better
(10:11):
than nine times a game. He has like just around
three to four catches off of nine targets every week
and I get that you're going to face some stiff competition,
and you know, with all those guys injury, gonna be
a wide receiver one. But booh, that's also not played
in their favor and really helped Tampa Bay in those moments.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
But by the way, by the way, to underscore your point,
fifty eight receptions on one hundred and seventeen targets, one
hundred and seventeen targets. And by the way, Mike Evans
twenty receptions on forty three targets, and he's one of
those guys that's been hurt. You know, they do have
Chris Godwin back, and I understand they have injuries. You know,
(10:53):
Servasier Dennis is out. Every team has injuries, Max, and
how you deal with them, And I'm I'm not trying
to discount them. I'm just saying, you know, it's easy
for people sometimes to discount them on their own team. Well,
we had injuries, but this guy and because you've heard
about these guys, and well you have this backup tackle
and I mean, hey, man, if Dylan Cook starts to tackle,
(11:18):
think about that. If he starts to tackle this week,
you had Broderick Jones, right, he's out. You had Calvin Anderson,
who you signed to a two year deal as your
swing tackle. He's out. And if Pete can't come out,
you're down to your fourth string left tackle, fourth string
and he went in last week and the Steelers didn't
bat an eye, and so there's you know, now, is
(11:42):
it game plan? Is it overcoming injuries? Is it having
great depth? We've always talked about the depth in this team.
I just I just think it bears pointing out. I
understand everybody's every team's journey is different, but it's not
like the Steelers haven't had injuries of their own. And
the Steelers are finding a way to to hang in there.
And you know, Tampa Bay is too, but the Steelers
(12:04):
are never number one in the power rankings. You know,
nobody was talking about anybody on the Steelers being the
m v P. I'm just pointing out that sometimes these
journeys are worth investigating and then trying to extrapolate what
you learn from those journeys and you know, sort of
code it onto your own team and see where you know,
see what bleeds out right, see where see where the
(12:24):
overlap is and where it isn't.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yeah, exactly I mean, I think that's just kind of
how it is, and some teams are better equipped to
handle it than others, let's just put it that way. Yes,
that's you know, and and I think I think you know,
for Tampa there, you know, this just goes in line.
These are the struggles that you have now. Todd Bowles
lost his lid a little bit last night at the
(12:49):
postgame press friends. I don't blame them, uh, you know,
but there was a lot of a lot of adult
words used in that press conference. But yeah, I mean,
you know, you get frustrated, and yeah, this is that
time of year, like December. You're supposed to be on
the rise, and you know you have to be able
to go and win these close games, especially division games.
Like division games, it's so paaramount. And you you listed
(13:14):
Tampa Bay's, you know, the remainder of their schedule, and
this is these are those moments, right, I mean, they
haven't played Carolina at all, and they're gonna play them
twice in three weeks to end the season, and that
could potentially be for the division. You know, you've dropped
your last two division games.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So too. You know, the teams you're quote unquote supposed
to beat and you had them at home. You don't
have had them both at home. You had him at home.
And listen, we maybe again we may be saying similar
things to the see this down the stretch. We don't know.
This is why you play the game. I'm just pointing
it out because, like I said, it is it's interesting
(13:54):
what teams go through over the course of a season.
And look, we'll see Carolina right now has got to
be tickled pink, right. I have to admit I was
not a Carolina believer at the beginning of the season.
I know they had some buzz and people talking about
Bryce Young and it's an improved team. I wasn't on
board with them, and I was wrong. I mean, there's
(14:14):
they're seven and six, are probably already they probably already
have as many wins as I thought they could they
could get to, and they've got a chance to win
the division. Again. We'll see, right at the end, we
may be looking up three weeks from now in Tampa
and may may have righted things and they may be
ten and seven and they may be feeling great about
themselves going in But uh again, another and another just
(14:35):
to spin a strange year, mac just a weird year
in the NFL this year.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah, it has been very very uh just you know,
I would say, you know, i'd say parity filled. How
about that? Does that? Is that that does that intrigue
a little bit? Is that intrigue does entice?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Team? It intrigues?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
All right? Yeah? Yeah, So I mean this is a
parody filled season, and like you said, it's not quite
the upside down, you know yet there we go stranger things.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Wow, have you watched it yet?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Have I? I'm like, but I'm stringing out this fourth
episode because i know that the next tronch is not
coming till the end of this month, so I'm trying
to not get to yeah right at Christmas. So I'm
trying my best not to like, you know, go through
it too fast. And I'm just sitting there waiting. So
I've played it since slow played it. I'm through three.
I'm waiting for four until I get back off of
(15:31):
my off of my run of games this weekend and
then and then yeah, I'll be ready because they will
time up just right. It'll be just some time in between.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Yes, good good man. I haven't watched it, and I'm
waiting for my daughter to get back from from for
the holidays, and we're all going to watch it together.
So it is time perfect for the Steelers Injury Report
presented by UPMC, the official healthcare provider health plan of
the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, I'll run through the
the where we are now with obviously an extra day
(16:02):
or two to figure this out for the Steelers. So
you know, dk metcalf full practice, worries about the abdomen
and staying behind in Baltimore after the game. Patrick Queen
has been limited, but he was full practice, as was
Aaron Rodgers bench. Kronick did not practice. Kyle Duggar full practice.
(16:23):
That is a large item for the Steelers team. James
Pierre with a calf, did not practice, Malik Harrison with
a concussion in Darnell Washington with a concussion limited, So
maybe that's encouraging. Concussions are strange things, right, Andrews Pete
did not practice, y A Black full, Keanu Benton full,
Derek Harmon did not practice. And the big news, which
(16:45):
we will get to a little bit later on involving
t J. Watt and a lung issue. He was taken
to a local hospital. The team announced that yesterday, and
that is something we're going to be digging into a
little bit later on, and so so we'll reserve of
comment on that, but we wanted to get the injury
report out to you because coming up next we want
(17:06):
to clear the board for Faith Wolfully to talk about
her late husband Craig's fantastic book put out in conjunction
with Jim Wexel. That is when we continue in the
Locker Room, presented by our neighborhood Forward Store. And this
tois Pro Shop on Steve Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Welcome back inside the locker room and we are joined
by a very very special guest with an item. By
the way, if you're anything like me and you are
stumped for Christmas gifts, we got a beauty for you,
which which is if these walls could talk stories from
the pittsburghs too. There's Sideline, locker room and press box
(18:09):
with Craig Wolfly helped from Jim Wexel, and joining us
now is Faith Wolfly, and you know, Craig's wife and
partner and and everything you could name. First of all, Faith,
thank you for being with us. And secondly, you know,
(18:30):
I can't think of too many examples of this, but
you really shared Wolf with the city of Pittsburgh, you
know what I mean. I mean you were married to him,
and the city of Pittsburgh was married to him in
its own way too. You know, I can't think of
too many people like that. He was just a unique,
wonderful man.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Oh I totally agree.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
And I am laughing as you're talking, because the last
time I think I ever called into the show was
when I called to bust him. He missed our anniversary
and for the whole city of Pittsburgh to know.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
He was a little shocked. But he loved Pittsburgh for sure.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
In a huge way, and he loved football on another scale,
and he just loved what he did. He loved to
talk about it, he loved when he played it, and
he just loved everything about it. So this book is
just a culmination of all that love and all that
he had again to share with Pittsburgh, even though he's not.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Here, Max, I just want to say one more thing
before we dive into the book. And I'm sure you
have some other things.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
One of the things that I admired about Wolf and
loved about Wolf in which he just brought up. And
I wasn't sure I was going to mention this, but
but I certainly will is he had a fearlessness. And
it wasn't just about being fearless on the football field.
He was fearless in life. He just went for it.
I mean, you know, he told me stories about you know,
(20:02):
the first time he ever lifted weights, he entered a
weightlifting competition. You know, he jumped up on stage with
a guitar. I think he joined Albert Collins up on stage,
you know, I mean just and and you know, World's
Strongest Man competition. You know, there's an old saying that
the you know, the wolf doesn't waste any time thinking
worrying about what a lamb thinks, you know, and and
(20:24):
our Wolf, I think was the same thing. He If
people wanted to laugh at his exploits, he laughed the
loudest and and you know, the ability to laugh at himself,
but also to not shrink away from life, to not
worry about what other people thought about what he was doing,
to simply go for it. And I will tell you
Faith that, and my kids will will they were with
(20:45):
one hundred percent tell you this is true. I used
to tell them be bold, like mister Wolfley, don't care
what other people say, go for it. I used to
tell that to my kids. I'm not kidding, yep, for sure.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
And Max, Max, he will be so proud of you
because because the best part is I'm listening to you
this morning and you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
He would have been so.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Proud of you. I mean, you know, we we we
share we we have shared many of gastronomic adventures together
and you know we talk about those extu and you know,
I feel like every time we mentioned it, like it's
just you feel a little bit closer to Wolf and
you know he's he's up and having smiling down on us.
(21:32):
But you know, Faith, I think one of the other
things that just is so compelling about this book. And
you know, people definitely you know you you say you
miss Wolf. I was like this book this book puts
Wolf I feel like right in right right right inside
your heart even more, uh, and it feels like he's
sitting next to you saying the story. It's very rare
(21:56):
that you could read a book and you hear that
person voice talking to you exactly right like you know
how you know when you read some books, you just
you kind of go, oh, I wonder what this character
would sound like, or you know, what, what what what?
What's the what's the author going for?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
No?
Speaker 3 (22:14):
You know who the author is the author. It's the
author himself and written from only a unique perspective that
only Wolf can provide, and the only way that Wolf
describes things. And I think that was that's what's so
unique about this book and why it's such a fun read.
And even though I've heard these stories, it's it's allowing
(22:38):
me to hear those stories as though Wolf is telling
them over again to me.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
And yeah, Rob Benson yesterday, how Myron Cope's book was
so much like that. You could hear Myron copin. And
I appreciated Jim Wexel being involved in this because he
knew how Craig talked, because Craig had wrote for him
for the Steel City Insider for years, and he knew
Craig's voice and he didn't take away from it, even
(23:03):
when he did editing or he had just change some things.
He knew it was important to keep his voice and
let him write like he talked. So that's what came
through in the end. It sounds like him. It sounds
like he's in the room.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Talking to you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
One of the other things that Jim said, too, was
that Wolf Faith took this really seriously. He went home
and he wrote all the time and made sure he
made all his deadlines, and he was very conscientious about
getting these thoughts down on paper.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yeah, he was. This book was really decades in the making.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
He literally was writing this book back in the nineties,
and every off season we'd be.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Talking about, so are we going to get this book done?
So who are we going to talk to?
Speaker 5 (23:45):
And he'd write a little more, and he'd kicked a
can down the road a little bit more, but it
just never ever came to fruition. And then finally about
two years ago, Jim Wexel got in his ear and
really talked to him and whatever he said, whatever he did,
it got him fired up.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
And he was always writing.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
In his in his off time, anytime he had he
was writing. And last January everything all came to the
end and he finished it up right at the end
of January, and all the transcript was ready to go
to the publisher.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Oh that that that that's that's so wild. And and
here's the thing. As much as Wolf liked to kind
of self deprecate and talk about how he did that
kid his degree for Syracuse said, and yet he's in
the I mean he is. He is such a beautiful writer,
you know. And that's where I think, you know, it's like, well,
(24:36):
give yourself. And he never wanted the credit right for himself.
He always he always wanted to kind of push the
credit towards others because he's just such a selfless individual.
But you know, just kind of I think, since this
is a unique opportunity to have you on here, Faith
just kind of speak to just Wolf at home, like
Wolf as dad, Like he loved his kids, he loved you, right,
(25:00):
he loved his family, you know, talking about his brother.
And trust me, I work with Ron every week, so
I'm treated to the spirit of the wolf Lees every
single week I get to work with Ron. But just
how much he just he loved people. He loved his family, right,
he loved his just kind of speak to that person
(25:22):
out because I think that's also a huge part of
who he is or who he was.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Well, that's what made that's what made it so cool
because even though he had the book written, the little
bits and pieces at the beginning and the end weren't
done yet.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
So it was such a gift to us, to the.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Whole family that Ronnie, his brother, was able to write
the forward, and then our son Kyle was able to
write the afterword. I wrote the acknowledgments page, and then
of course Jim Wexhell wrote the introduction. And it was
so fun because even when I was writing acknowledge of
his page, I'm talking to our kids and I'm asking
him questions, and I talked to his mom and asked
for information.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
To write that. And it was such an.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Effort from everybody, and the family just loved the fact
they felt like they played a part in this book.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
And that was really cool. And sure at home, he
was amazing.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
It was funny because he didn't like compliments, like you said,
and he didn't need to be told, you know, he
was doing a good job.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
But at home. He would when he felt like.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
He did something really good, he'd be like, I don't
need anybody else to tell me, but I need you
to tell me.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Yeah, you kind of need your wife to tell you. Yes,
no one else does.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
That faith that is so true and faith and faith
right his two faiths in his life. You know, one
of the things that I I admired uh wolf very
deeply and had the pleasure of. I mean, I, you know,
only one year with the Steelers, but as you both know,
I worked maybe a decade with him doing high school football.
(26:54):
And by the way, we would ravage the the the
food tents, you know, uh and uh you know we
we we would oh yeah, and so you know that
what you were looking for is and look at you know,
the local Uh you know that the some some places
have the big you know, national chain food, which what
(27:16):
you wanted was what you wanted to go in and say, hey,
are those meatball subs ready? And you know, no, Gladys
hasn't brought him in yet, because then you knew they
were homemade, right, So then then you get all excited
about it. Uh. But you know, one of the one
of the other things that I just really admire that.
There's a lot of things, you know, and I'll get
to another one in a moment, but but one of
(27:36):
them was the fact that you know, look, I applaud
anybody for doing any good, making any appearance in public,
you know, bringing their notoriety and fame to any cause.
But Wolf Uh, in conjunction with with Tounch, but then
later on his own as well, not only went to
(27:56):
the big fundraisers for the Light of Life Rescue Mission,
but would just show up sometimes too, you know, and
no camera's there, nobody doing a story, yep, just just
him doing good stuff, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Yeah, he loved the Life of Life Mission in a
big way.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
And we were down there volunteering on a Friday night
and there was no one around, or you know, we
were involved in different things, and he would just go
down there and be there. They would call for something
to come down and he was there. It was never
a question ask if he had the time, he was
going to do it. He loved them and some other
charities that were involved in. He just wanted to give
(28:34):
back in a huge way. And that was just an
everyday thing that was that was a part of our
life all the time.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
And it was, you know, really important to him.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
No, and it's one of those that he shares his stories.
He makes sure that he highlighted those individuals doing the
work as well as him actually doing the work. And
you know, you talk about living examples of just faith
and service and honor, and Craig Craig lived by those credos.
(29:07):
And and I'm just so proud of of the relationship
that I had with him and the fact that, uh,
you you, you were able to be okay with sharing
him with the world, Faith, because I know that's something
that you know, uh does not go you know, unseen,
because I mean it's a lot of hours we're away.
I mean I look at my own wife and I
(29:28):
just I just sit there and I say, I say,
thank you, Han, you know, for allowing me to do
what I love. Because he truly loved all of that,
whether it was service, whether it was to the Steelers,
and the travel that's involved with going to games, and
you know, you kind of miss weekend activities because you're
so entrenched in the season. So I also want to
(29:48):
say thank you to you, Faith. I do want to
turn to the book because I gotta I gotta ask
you know, there's always for everybody. There's always something different.
As you've read the book, I know I have to
ask a is there a favorite chapter that you read?
It just that just makes you chuckle every single time,
(30:11):
you know, even though you've heard the story a thousand times,
it's just something that makes you chuckle. And then and
then the other great thing about this book it has
so many great photos in here. I mean, these are
some there. There there are some good classic ones in here.
But you know, is there a favorite photo that you
look at like, I mean, there's one where I mean,
(30:32):
he he looks, he looks like he's in the eighties hairband.
You know it was it was you know, it was
the one I have to see the Wizard chapter. Yeah,
that that the hair was the hair was flowing back then.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
Well, I have to say, really, there's a lot of stories.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
I don't know if I could tell you my favorite,
but there's one that's very funny, but really my favorite.
And I didn't get to see this till after the
book got to me that I didn't know this was included.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
Was all the people that wrote really cool little things
in the beginning, the blurbs in the beginning, but.
Speaker 5 (31:04):
My favorite was yours, Max, and you were so kind
as to write that Craig interjected into our lives like
a ballistic enemy.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Nima forgot.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
He would have loved those words coming from you.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
Max. Oh, no, you get a visual like no other.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Wolf definitely had away with words. Yeah, I remember the
first time you used that. I don't know if you
used it in high school football was are you gloud
to say that?
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Can you? I think he I think he told the
story about.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Tounch when he really speared him in the back and
it was something along those lines, and then tried to
pretend to like it wasn't him until until the film.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Was shown, and then of course on the film. But
I to say one of my favorite stories is the.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
One about Myron Coke and about him, Myron cop being
honored at halftime and Tony Quatrini at the time, the
head of marketing, had picked Craig to do it, and
then right before he was ready to go on, he said,
you know, Craig, these halftime shows, you know they're only
twelve minutes long.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
You know we can't go over.
Speaker 5 (32:20):
The NFL finds us per minute a ton of money
if we go over halftime show.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
So you know how Myron likes to talk.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
Man, you got to make sure you cut this off,
you know when when the time's up. And Craig was
quite nervous at the time, and he's like, what are
you talking about?
Speaker 4 (32:35):
How am I going to stop Myron from talking? And
he goes through in.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
The story and talk about his thought process leading up
to this thing with Myron, and he thought, oh my gosh,
my broadcasting career is over. I'm going to be the
guy remembered for tackling Myron and resting him for the money.
He said, I'm going to traumatize the entire city of
Pittsburgh because this three hundred pounds man is going to
(33:00):
while down this five foot two, one hundred and thirty
pounds man. But it all turned out well because of
course my own is a pro and he gave up
the mike willingly. But it was a funny story his
whole thought process.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
So faith, this is a great book for people looking
for items, obviously to get for Christmas, right for the Holway. Yes,
So how do people get the book?
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Sure? Sure it is on Amazon.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
The sales on Amazon are going on and it's really
easy to google the name, and it comes right up
on Amazon available. It's also down in the Steelers Pro Shop.
Both shops they have it in stock there, so if
you wanted it right here or needed to get it
quick at the pro Shop and also Barnes and Nobles
they have them in stock and Barnes and Nobles.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
I know it's.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
Online on other sites like walmartin Target, but the quickest
way around here is through Barnes and Nobles or the
Pro Shop.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Oh Faith, thanks for coming on with us, Thanks for
sharing some time with us, Thanks for sharing Wolf with us,
Thanks for sharing you a little bit about this book
with us. Just a great man and we love him,
and we love you, and we thank you for coming on.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
And we're doing kind of a fun social media campaign
a little bit with the help of my teenage daughters,
of course, and Max. You are quite a social media mogul,
so you'd appreciate this. We're doing hashtag gad zekes. I
saw that people to post some good stories that they
love about the book or that they know themselves. Mary Banazak,
she posted a hilarious story with her and we just
(34:38):
are love reading the stories that are people are posting.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
So it's been really fun.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Faith, Thank you Mary, Christmas to you and the family,
and thanks so much for coming on with us.
Speaker 4 (34:50):
Thanks Max, Thanks for Merry Christmas, all of you.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Merry Christmas. Christmas, Faith wolfully, and just one last thing
I want to add about Wolf for people out there,
when you heard him on the radio, that was him.
You know, I think Max, nobody would look at you
and I and say we're pessimistic people. Wolf had that ability.
You know, you try to keep the crew loose and
(35:12):
make sure you're having a good time. Wolf would just
come in and just he just lifted everybody up. His
energy is enthusiasm. Everybody loved him. Everybody was drawn to him,
and I think everybody's gonna love and everybody's gonna be
drawn to this book as well.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah, it's good. It's going to make you not only
love it, love Wolf all over again. But you know,
it does fill that void when you're reading that book
of knowing that even though he's not here with us,
he's here with us. And this book just brings that
spirit just back to life and it just it really
(35:52):
puts it in perspective. And you know, this book was
definitely a tough one to get through for me, but
I was so happy I did. And it's a book
that I know I can always go back to. That's
the other thing. It's one of those books like, once
you've read it, you want it on the bookshelf because
you want it readily available and to be able to
(36:13):
just go there and you and you could read it. Here.
Here's the other thing. Here's the other secret. Right now,
I'm telling everybody you could read it in order, but
each chapter is written so well that you can just
go in and read a specific chapter out of order
because the stories are so isolated within it. Right, It's
(36:34):
not like, oh my gosh, I got to read the
previous chapter to get to this chapter in the next, Right,
there's a timeline progression. But the way that the chapters
are written, you can literally specifically go in and say,
I want to read Thanksgiving Day Massacre, Right, I just
want to read that chapter. You can do that. So
this is when you can. Also it's almost like a
choose your own adventure book right to a degree where
(36:57):
you could literally go in and pick specific spot and
points in the book and just read it and and
you don't have to worry about well, did I read
the previous one? I have to read the next one
from it, You'll want to keep reading it because it's
so engaging. But that's the other beauty about this book
that I think that people should know is that you
can't You can go through and pick and skip and
(37:18):
come back and read again specific points of the book.
That's how that's how well is written.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Good stuff. And the name of the book once again,
Barnes and Noble. You can go to Amazon there, it's
various bookstores around the region. Those are probably the two
most noteworthy and accessible for most readers, although as always
I you know, seek out those local bookshops to give
them your support if you if you can, But most
(37:47):
of all, get the book and get it for yourself.
And it makes an awesome present for the holidays as well.
If these walls could talk, what's that? You know? What
we forgot?
Speaker 3 (37:59):
What we forgot to ask? Because Faith is doing a
book signing with Jim wexel Oh. I just thought about
that and I forgot to get weird, and so guess
what I'm going to have that on the other side
of this break. Yes you are the info. Yes, I'm
going to text Faith to ask her because I realized
for journalistic integrity, that's something we should have asked. And
(38:21):
we were so about the book, we forgot to.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
Do it, got to throw it in there. If These
Walls Could Talk stories from the Pittsburgh Steelers Sideline locker
Room and press box, Craig willfully with Jim Wexel check
it out. We'll get you some more information on the
book signing as well on the other side of the
break when we continue in the locker room presented by
your Neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on
stee there's Nation Radio apart of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your Neighborhood Forard Store.
The F one is the official truck of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from
the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop dot
Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Well, thank you for being back with us, Thank you
for faith woefully for spending some time with us once again.
The book is called If These Walls Could Talk and
its stories in the Pittsburgh Steelers Sideline Locker Room at
press box Craig Wolfully with Jim Wexel. Jim has talked
a little bit about the book with us. Faith Wolfully
just joined us to share memories of Wolf and to
(39:34):
talk about the book as well, and we'll get that
information for you on the book signing coming up with Faith,
as will Jim Wexel. Shortly, I wanted to go back
to something that we talked about. I just mentioned it
briefly because it bears some talking about, and that is
a Steelers injury report presented by UPMC, the official healthcare
(39:54):
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, we
will not have a show on Monday, data game. We
don't have a show, So this is kind of our
final look at some of these injuries and where guys
are trending. And the big one, sort of the shocker
that came out of nowhere yesterday afternoon Max was TJ. Watt.
So here was the statement released by the team. TJ.
(40:16):
Watt is currently in a local hospital for further medical
evaluation of his lung after experiencing discomfort at the practice
facility on Wednesday. He will not be a practice on Thursday.
Of course, that was yesterday and his status for Monday
night's game versus Miami is in question. When you hear
something like that, max it, it certainly gets your attention
(40:39):
because you know there's some vagueness to it in that
we don't know what the what specifically the issue is,
and of course it you know, can get the mind
racing one way or the other. And the first thought
is you just hope that you know TJ. Watt the
man is okay. I mean he started talking about along
with somebody. I mean that that certainly sends up some
(41:00):
some thoughts that you hope you know, don't run out
of control.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Yeah, no, absolutely, And that's something that you know is
always scary when you're talking about especially the respiratory system, right,
I mean, we all we all have to breathe, and
for an athlete that that efficiency, you know, that creates
for the endurance. And when you talk about playing a
game and the the variability of that, you know, you
(41:27):
just you worry about just long term health stuff. So
you know, thoughts and prayers are with t J. Watt
and the family, just you know, hopefully there's some resolution.
You know, the biggest thing is getting answers, right, because
I think the biggest thing that while you read the test,
because you don't know, and it's a scary thing because
we can't just look inside our bodies. It's sick. Oh yep,
I see that. Yeah, that's it. No, And so, you know,
(41:51):
very scary. You know, you know, care less about the game,
more care about the man, you know, in that moment
and and and how he how he's doing. So hopefully
you know, they get some good news, they get some
answers most importantly, and you know, you know, thoughts and
prayers with or with or with or with TJ.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
So on the injury front, we we kind of went
through the Steelers and we can get more into it
a little bit later on, but there's really not you know.
The big news that people I think we're waiting for
was Devon a Chan and a Chan you know, was
came out of the game, said he could return. You know,
(42:33):
he was limited in practice, but I think that when
you look at the Dolphins, they are pretty healthy and
he did participate in a limited uh form. The only
two guys you did in practice were guys that mostly
are used on special teams. That's Elijah Campbell and Caleb Johnson.
Caleb Johnson played three years I think three years of Jacksonville,
(42:56):
three or four years now with Miami, and he's rarely
taken any defensive snaps. He's a linebacker, he's a special
teams guy. So those two guys did not practice Campbell
with a knee at ankle knee, Johnson with his shoulder.
Everybody else was limited or full go for the Dolphins.
So the d NPS this for this Steelers we mentioned
(43:19):
just again to recap Ben Scarnic with a hand, James
Pierre with a calf, and Just Pete with his concussion,
t J. Watt obviously, and Derek Harmon with his knee.
Harmon saying yesterday before practice talking to Brooke Pryor and
saying that he thought he was treading in the right direction.
Good to see Kyle Dugger back, and so all in
(43:41):
all here, I mean, obviously, the TJ. Watt situation is
going to loom over everything until we know his health.
But you are kind of hoping that, by the way
keanum Benton back at full practice by a Black at
full practice, full participant in practice, that these other guys
who could possibly be trending in the right direction. Dougart
for sure, but Derek Harmon, Darnelt Washington, Leek Harrison who
(44:05):
were limited with a concussion, and Andrews Pete with his concussion.
You know, we just talked about it with Tampa Bay.
Injuries are a big part of what goes on this
year and you're hoping this time of year and you're
hoping those guys will be back and available.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yeah, you absolutely are, you know, hoping for the best.
I mean, yeah, the great thing is getting Kyle back.
I know he had the hand and that's what kept
him out, and you know glad that that's you know
that that's been taken care of. You know, but I
will say this, you know, a great job kudos go
to Chuck Clark, you know, filling in in his stead,
(44:40):
and of course they just an amazing job that everybody did.
Brandon Eccles and guys just kind of stepping in and
playing a role in that secondary, you know, having having
guys down you know, from the Dolphin side as much
as yeah, I'm just said you talked about You've talked
about We've been talking about this since camp and how
(45:02):
nice is it to have a Chuck Clark who can
come in and play for you and Peppers yeah, and
Gibrill Peppers as well. So you know, these are the
things that I know they didn't start camp with us
and didn't start you know, and Jibril didn't start the
season with us. But being able to go get those
guys and find them, and you know, kudos to the
front office guys for going and scouring and finding those guys.
(45:25):
But uh, you know, as much as I talked about
the health and the welfare of t J. Watt and
of course caring about the man over the player in
these moments, uh, when it comes to the Miami Dolphins,
uh and their injury report, I don't care. I really
don't want them playing well. You know what you should
(45:45):
You should care about your you know, you should care
about your ribs. I was like, because we're not, I'm
hoping every defensive player knows to go for the ribs
come game day.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yes about yeah, and so there hester yeah, they don't
have as many of the d nps. And just if
you can for fans, you know, dealing with concussions, I mean,
you have to go through some testing out there on
the field, so you have to be out in the
(46:17):
field to begin the testing. But again, these are not
necessarily linear in recoveries from these concussions. Somebody could have
you know, symptoms could flare back up in a couple
of days. So I would say that I'm encouraged that
Malie Harrison and Darnel Washington were limited participants in practice.
(46:37):
Obviously Andrews Pete wasn't even able to take the field
with his concussion issue. But I think, Max, we just
have to caution it. We just don't know at this point.
We don't we don't know whether they're going to be
available or not. Yeah, no, we we don't know if
they will be.
Speaker 3 (46:53):
But like I said, it's trending in the right direction.
So that's all we can ask for. And you know, Pittsburgh,
I should say, Pittsburgh sports fans. I think that I
think that's the best way to say this. Should should
should all know you know very well, you know about
the concussion process and how it's unique to each person
(47:15):
because I remember when remember when Sidney Crosby had had
his concussion in hockey and how long he was out
for that, so you know, he he I want to say,
he was out for well over a month, and so
that just goes to show you that not all concussions
are the same, and not every person deals with a
(47:36):
concussion the same way. I mean, I remember that here
was the funny part. I guess.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
I guess it's funny to me.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
I could laugh, So I guess I'm giving everybody else
permission to laugh at me on this one. Uh So
I've got you know, I got taken out one time
for a concussion in a game, and I went back
and you know, you do the testing, you know, you
do the visual testing on the sidelines, and then they
take you back into the locker room and there's additional
(48:06):
testing and and there's there was there there was I
don't I can't remember if they still do this or not.
I think I think I think it's gotten more sophisticated there.
But they have something called an impact test. And the
impact test is a test you have to take to
see where you are. And so you take you take
the baseline test at the beginning of the season or
(48:28):
at some point, you know, early on preseason, postseason, and
they want to get a baseline for where kind of
you know, your mind is already. So it's a it's
like it's a psychological test, but it's a visual test.
So you test that and then if you test below
the line, obviously that that gives an indication that, hey,
(48:50):
there's something mentally going on with this person, you know,
because you know your faculties aren't there, if your slower
reaction time, if you miss some thing easily confused like
all those there's a lot of different markers. So I
go back and I took my impact test and I
scored better after getting hit that I did before.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
I got hit.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Oh god, okay uh and the doctor goes. The doctor
was like, oh, they knocked cents back into you, n
can get out of you.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
It's funny.
Speaker 3 (49:29):
So I was able to return to play because of that.
But it was just funny that I tested higher after
getting hit than I did before I got hit. So yeah,
glad I got.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
That is that is very funny. Mind the old WKRP scene.
But but I just want to say real quick, Crawfee
was ten months. Ten months, there we go. That's about say.
I knew it was fun. It was a long amount
of time, and there was you know, now the rumors
start coming his careers in Jeopardy and his agents say no, no, no,
and then you know, you come back to camp and
in August. Hey, you still feeling the affection.
Speaker 3 (50:00):
Whoa man? This is?
Speaker 2 (50:01):
This is you just never know. We're just saying you
just never know. With a concussion. We want you, We
want to remind you. You can gear up with the latest
game day necessities. Get the official Students Pro shops. Get
the latest sideline appair of jerseys, terrible towels, authentic memorabilia
and custom exclusives you can only find directly from the team.
Visit one of the official Students Pro shops located at
(50:22):
Akroscher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets or Tanger Outlets. Or
gear up online at shop dot Steelers dot com. Get
it direct from the team at the Steers Pro Shop
at shop dot Steelers dot com. We will be back
with Missy Matthews in the Locker Room presented by you Neighborhood,
Ford Store and the Stewish Pro Shop on Steard's Nation Radio,
a part of the Steelers Audio Network
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
And we thank you for being with us in the
locker room on this Friday before Monday night football against
the Dolphins alongside Max Starks at Justin Miller and are
iHeart Studio at the Controls. I'm Rob King Max. How
are you doing today, my friend?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am doing just peachy, Rob, I am doing awesome.
I am caffeinated and I am highly engaged.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So we have some cleaning up to do before we
move forward. And that up is the last we left you.
You were you were really looking forward to a bowl
of clam chowder with bacon bits, not baking bits like
the old bacon bits you get out of the shaker,
but bits of big.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah yeah not not not not not the baco's you know,
not the because no, sou did it live up to expectations?
It exceeded it nice? I you know you went, you know,
do it over over the stovetop. Uh, heated it, folded
in the bacon with it so you could let it
(01:36):
just immerse itself and get to know the rest of
the chowder. And then once I once I ladled it
into my into my bowl, I went and I did
the unthor the unthinkable. I added a shredded Gourmet three
(01:56):
cheese blend on top, just a little bit really just
a little little accoutrement and and just added to the creaminess.
And now now now there's a little bit of goo
in there. And it was it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
It does sound good. I was thinking you were going
to go like a little paprika or cayenne pepper, but no,
you went you went the opposite better.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I went while to go cheese and then cracked black
pepper on tok. I like to I like to emphasize
the pepper on that one because I feel like I
feel like if if I add cayenne or something like
like the spiciness, then you know with that cream like
you kind of lose it and you get a little
bit of the flavor. But cracked pepper just it's still
is it's so very pointed in flavor that it can
(02:37):
cut through the cream but not have the heat factor.
You know what I'm saying, like, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
You have to be more careful with paprika or or
cayenne pepper. You can ruin it if you over indulge it. Yeah. Yeah,
I like a little tiny hint of a kick in there.
I will say this, Uh okay, everyone in the Why
you go to a restaurant and it's one of those
restaurants where you you know, you have your seat are solid,
and somebody comes by with the pepper grinder, and I'm
(03:04):
always like, keep going, man, you know you're they'll they'll
take like three twists, and they'll take three twists and
look at you. I'm like, that's that's not cutting it. Man,
more pepper.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, that's that cut well. And then that's and then
the very next guy, which is the parmesan guy. Yes,
keep going as we see this like it's like listen, listen,
you're gonna blink before I will.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Let's just let's just keep this going. My goal is
to green on my plate, just white. I just want
to see white.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly exactly this winter time, isn't it
make it snow on my plate? On the plate okay,
so Max.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So so success. So it was a good it lived
up to your I think it was excellent. I think
a lot of locker room people who know what lunch
meant to Craig Wolfly and what it means to you
will be delighted to know that the clam chowder lived
up to your expectations. I'm glad of that. It is
kind of soupy and stew weather with this cold, the
(04:01):
cold is kind of getting that yesterday was that in
your bones cold. It just you know, it was twenty four,
but it felt like it was about felt like it
was ten below. It's just one of those one of
those days it comes up on you and it's just
a little colder than the rest and a little breeze
and oof. Good day for that sort of thing. And
speaking of Craig Wolfy Max at ten twenty, we have
(04:22):
Faith Wolfully coming up to talk about the new Craig
Wolfly book.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yes, yes we do, and cannot wait to have Faith
in the locker room, uh, you know, to talk to
talk about the book and of course the one that
you know we've talked like we've talked about the book
with Jim, but it's simply. You know, Jim is a
very humble and gracious person. Like you know, he's not
(04:49):
gonna he's not going to talk about the book. And
I think for Faith Having Faith, we'll get a more
in depth insight to the book because I mean, she's
she was there during the process, right, I mean, it's
about her late husband head and of course you know
the stories that he has shared. So it's it's gonna
be really fantastic to have faith in the locker room
(05:12):
coming up in the next segond. It's gonna be really nice.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yes, it is so. And Jim meaning Jim Wextel of course,
for regular listeners to the show in case you're stumbling
on our show for the first time, and if you are,
what took you, But anyway, we're glad to have you here.
So Max, I did not watch. I have to I
have to admit I did not watch very much of
last night's game at all. So, but it is you know,
(05:36):
we talk about the arcs of a season. We talk
about when to start playing well and when that is important.
And I know that I always break the season up
into into various chunks like just win early, who cares right?
And then is he Like I've said many times, I
don't care if you win three to two, you you
win five to four. They got two safeties, you got
(05:58):
a safety to feel. I don't care. Just win the game,
and then get into November and begin to build an
identity for the team, begin to build that belief in
a team. You know, what kind of team are we?
And then you get into December and you just got
to win. You gotta you gotta win, and hopefully that
momentum of getting early victories and identifying yourself. Now, of
(06:20):
course that's just a rough outline and and things go,
you know, every but every season and every team has
its own story. Arc I say all that because there
was a time when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were five
and one and people were wondering whether Baker Mayfield was
the MVP and whether this was the best team in
(06:40):
the NFL. So they won at Atlanta, they won at
Houston by a point, They beat the Jets by two.
They lost to Philly by six, but okay, no shame there.
They beat a very good Seattle team. I don't know
if we knew quite how good Seattle was at that point.
And then they beat the forty nine ers, right, So, okay,
so you have a you have wins over the forty
(07:01):
nine ers, Seattle, and Houston on your resume. Your only
loss is to Philadelphia, so you're a pretty good team, right. Okay,
you even lose to Detroit. All right, so you're five
and two. You come back and you beat the Saints
to go to six and two heading into your by
and here's what's happened since to buy now again. A
lot of these losses, these aren't disgraceful teams you lost to.
(07:22):
But if you are atop the power rankings, you can't
have a stretch like this coming out of the break,
New England and home five point loss at Buffalo, twelve
point loss at the Rams, twenty seven point loss, eke
out a win at home against the Cardinals, and then okay,
so now you're seven and five, right, Max, you're Tampa Bay.
(07:44):
You come out of your you have three tough games
in England, Buffalo, the Rams. Okay, you right your ship
against Arizona. Right, you're seven and five. Okay, time to
get back to winning because the schedule is not that tough.
You have some big games coming up against Carolina, which
is suddenly you know, suddenly, you know, making a little
bit of a run. Fine, no worries with that. You've
(08:05):
been there, done that, they have not. And then you
lose it home to New Orleans and you lose a
home to the Falcons and Tampa Bay. I'm pretty sure
they were number one in the power rankings at one
point this season. They are seven and seven max and
lurching toward not making the playoffs. They're at Carolina at
(08:27):
Miami and Carolina at home. I mean what you know,
you talk about when you want your team playing well,
and look the Steers, you know, comparing it at the end
of this year. The Steelers haven't gotten there yet, right,
they had they got off to their own hot start,
and we want to see them, you know, beat the
Dolphins and finish strong and look up and beat ten
and seven or even eleven and six, right, and then
(08:50):
you're gonna feel really good about this team going to
the playoffs. But just I think it's worth pointing out
that everybody wants it to be a smooth sale. Everybody
wants to graft to start bottom left and move smoothly
at a forty five degree angle to the top right
going into the playoffs. It just doesn't work that way
in Tampa Bay. I it's mystifying what's happened to that team?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Well, I mean it's also injuries happened to that team, right, Sure,
I get it. I think that yeah, I mean I
think that was they just got decimated at the wrong time.
And I mean it was a heartbreaker last night.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
If you're Tampa Bay, you know Baker has just been
on a downward trend playing. But you know, he got
his weapons back, He got Godwin, got Evans, got Irving
all back on the offense side of the ball, guys
that he's needed. But it has been you know, it's
been troubling. You know, a Mecca Abuka has just not
panned out as that receiver. And listen all the people
(09:49):
out there, they were like, oh my god, you gotta
have a Mecca Buka. Why didn't you try and draft him?
Da stop it, stop it, stop it. He he is
his his his catch percentage is like at thirty five
forty percent right now. Like he gets targeted, I want
to say, on average about nine a little bit better
(10:11):
than nine times a game. He has like just around
three to four catches off of nine targets every week
and I get that you're going to face some stiff competition,
and you know, with all those guys injury, gonna be
a wide receiver one. But booh, that's also not played
in their favor and really helped Tampa Bay in those moments.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
But by the way, by the way, to underscore your point,
fifty eight receptions on one hundred and seventeen targets, one
hundred and seventeen targets. And by the way, Mike Evans
twenty receptions on forty three targets, and he's one of
those guys that's been hurt. You know, they do have
Chris Godwin back, and I understand they have injuries. You know,
(10:53):
Servasier Dennis is out. Every team has injuries, Max, and
how you deal with them, And I'm I'm not trying
to discount them. I'm just saying, you know, it's easy
for people sometimes to discount them on their own team. Well,
we had injuries, but this guy and because you've heard
about these guys, and well you have this backup tackle
and I mean, hey, man, if Dylan Cook starts to tackle,
(11:18):
think about that. If he starts to tackle this week,
you had Broderick Jones, right, he's out. You had Calvin Anderson,
who you signed to a two year deal as your
swing tackle. He's out. And if Pete can't come out,
you're down to your fourth string left tackle, fourth string
and he went in last week and the Steelers didn't
bat an eye, and so there's you know, now, is
(11:42):
it game plan? Is it overcoming injuries? Is it having
great depth? We've always talked about the depth in this team.
I just I just think it bears pointing out. I
understand everybody's every team's journey is different, but it's not
like the Steelers haven't had injuries of their own. And
the Steelers are finding a way to to hang in there.
And you know, Tampa Bay is too, but the Steelers
(12:04):
are never number one in the power rankings. You know,
nobody was talking about anybody on the Steelers being the
m v P. I'm just pointing out that sometimes these
journeys are worth investigating and then trying to extrapolate what
you learn from those journeys and you know, sort of
code it onto your own team and see where you know,
see what bleeds out right, see where see where the
(12:24):
overlap is and where it isn't.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Yeah, exactly I mean, I think that's just kind of
how it is, and some teams are better equipped to
handle it than others, let's just put it that way. Yes,
that's you know, and and I think I think you know,
for Tampa there, you know, this just goes in line.
These are the struggles that you have now. Todd Bowles
lost his lid a little bit last night at the
(12:49):
postgame press friends. I don't blame them, uh, you know,
but there was a lot of a lot of adult
words used in that press conference. But yeah, I mean,
you know, you get frustrated, and yeah, this is that
time of year, like December. You're supposed to be on
the rise, and you know you have to be able
to go and win these close games, especially division games.
Like division games, it's so paaramount. And you you listed
(13:14):
Tampa Bay's, you know, the remainder of their schedule, and
this is these are those moments, right, I mean, they
haven't played Carolina at all, and they're gonna play them
twice in three weeks to end the season, and that
could potentially be for the division. You know, you've dropped
your last two division games.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So too. You know, the teams you're quote unquote supposed
to beat and you had them at home. You don't
have had them both at home. You had him at home.
And listen, we maybe again we may be saying similar
things to the see this down the stretch. We don't know.
This is why you play the game. I'm just pointing
it out because, like I said, it is it's interesting
(13:54):
what teams go through over the course of a season.
And look, we'll see Carolina right now has got to
be tickled pink, right. I have to admit I was
not a Carolina believer at the beginning of the season.
I know they had some buzz and people talking about
Bryce Young and it's an improved team. I wasn't on
board with them, and I was wrong. I mean, there's
(14:14):
they're seven and six, are probably already they probably already
have as many wins as I thought they could they
could get to, and they've got a chance to win
the division. Again. We'll see, right at the end, we
may be looking up three weeks from now in Tampa
and may may have righted things and they may be
ten and seven and they may be feeling great about
themselves going in But uh again, another and another just
(14:35):
to spin a strange year, mac just a weird year
in the NFL this year.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah, it has been very very uh just you know,
I would say, you know, i'd say parity filled. How
about that? Does that? Is that that does that intrigue
a little bit? Is that intrigue does entice?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Team? It intrigues?
Speaker 3 (14:54):
All right? Yeah? Yeah, So I mean this is a
parody filled season, and like you said, it's not quite
the upside down, you know yet there we go stranger things.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Wow, have you watched it yet?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Have I? I'm like, but I'm stringing out this fourth
episode because i know that the next tronch is not
coming till the end of this month, so I'm trying
to not get to yeah right at Christmas. So I'm
trying my best not to like, you know, go through
it too fast. And I'm just sitting there waiting. So
I've played it since slow played it. I'm through three.
I'm waiting for four until I get back off of
(15:31):
my off of my run of games this weekend and
then and then yeah, I'll be ready because they will
time up just right. It'll be just some time in between.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Yes, good good man. I haven't watched it, and I'm
waiting for my daughter to get back from from for
the holidays, and we're all going to watch it together.
So it is time perfect for the Steelers Injury Report
presented by UPMC, the official healthcare provider health plan of
the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, I'll run through the
the where we are now with obviously an extra day
(16:02):
or two to figure this out for the Steelers. So
you know, dk metcalf full practice, worries about the abdomen
and staying behind in Baltimore after the game. Patrick Queen
has been limited, but he was full practice, as was
Aaron Rodgers bench. Kronick did not practice. Kyle Duggar full practice.
(16:23):
That is a large item for the Steelers team. James
Pierre with a calf, did not practice, Malik Harrison with
a concussion in Darnell Washington with a concussion limited, So
maybe that's encouraging. Concussions are strange things, right, Andrews Pete
did not practice, y A Black full, Keanu Benton full,
Derek Harmon did not practice. And the big news, which
(16:45):
we will get to a little bit later on involving
t J. Watt and a lung issue. He was taken
to a local hospital. The team announced that yesterday, and
that is something we're going to be digging into a
little bit later on, and so so we'll reserve of
comment on that, but we wanted to get the injury
report out to you because coming up next we want
(17:06):
to clear the board for Faith Wolfully to talk about
her late husband Craig's fantastic book put out in conjunction
with Jim Wexel. That is when we continue in the
Locker Room, presented by our neighborhood Forward Store. And this
tois Pro Shop on Steve Nation Radio, a part of
the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
This is in the locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Welcome back inside the locker room and we are joined
by a very very special guest with an item. By
the way, if you're anything like me and you are
stumped for Christmas gifts, we got a beauty for you,
which which is if these walls could talk stories from
the pittsburghs too. There's Sideline, locker room and press box
(18:09):
with Craig Wolfly helped from Jim Wexel, and joining us
now is Faith Wolfly, and you know, Craig's wife and
partner and and everything you could name. First of all, Faith,
thank you for being with us. And secondly, you know,
(18:30):
I can't think of too many examples of this, but
you really shared Wolf with the city of Pittsburgh, you
know what I mean. I mean you were married to him,
and the city of Pittsburgh was married to him in
its own way too. You know, I can't think of
too many people like that. He was just a unique,
wonderful man.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Oh I totally agree.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
And I am laughing as you're talking, because the last
time I think I ever called into the show was
when I called to bust him. He missed our anniversary
and for the whole city of Pittsburgh to know.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
He was a little shocked. But he loved Pittsburgh for sure.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
In a huge way, and he loved football on another scale,
and he just loved what he did. He loved to
talk about it, he loved when he played it, and
he just loved everything about it. So this book is
just a culmination of all that love and all that
he had again to share with Pittsburgh, even though he's not.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Here, Max, I just want to say one more thing
before we dive into the book. And I'm sure you
have some other things.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
One of the things that I admired about Wolf and
loved about Wolf in which he just brought up. And
I wasn't sure I was going to mention this, but
but I certainly will is he had a fearlessness. And
it wasn't just about being fearless on the football field.
He was fearless in life. He just went for it.
I mean, you know, he told me stories about you know,
(20:02):
the first time he ever lifted weights, he entered a
weightlifting competition. You know, he jumped up on stage with
a guitar. I think he joined Albert Collins up on stage,
you know, I mean just and and you know, World's
Strongest Man competition. You know, there's an old saying that
the you know, the wolf doesn't waste any time thinking
worrying about what a lamb thinks, you know, and and
(20:24):
our Wolf, I think was the same thing. He If
people wanted to laugh at his exploits, he laughed the
loudest and and you know, the ability to laugh at himself,
but also to not shrink away from life, to not
worry about what other people thought about what he was doing,
to simply go for it. And I will tell you
Faith that, and my kids will will they were with
(20:45):
one hundred percent tell you this is true. I used
to tell them be bold, like mister Wolfley, don't care
what other people say, go for it. I used to
tell that to my kids. I'm not kidding, yep, for sure.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
And Max, Max, he will be so proud of you
because because the best part is I'm listening to you
this morning and you're talking about.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
He would have been so.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Proud of you. I mean, you know, we we we
share we we have shared many of gastronomic adventures together
and you know we talk about those extu and you know,
I feel like every time we mentioned it, like it's
just you feel a little bit closer to Wolf and
you know he's he's up and having smiling down on us.
(21:32):
But you know, Faith, I think one of the other
things that just is so compelling about this book. And
you know, people definitely you know you you say you
miss Wolf. I was like this book this book puts
Wolf I feel like right in right right right inside
your heart even more, uh, and it feels like he's
sitting next to you saying the story. It's very rare
(21:56):
that you could read a book and you hear that
person voice talking to you exactly right like you know
how you know when you read some books, you just
you kind of go, oh, I wonder what this character
would sound like, or you know, what, what what what?
What's the what's the author going for?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
No?
Speaker 3 (22:14):
You know who the author is the author. It's the
author himself and written from only a unique perspective that
only Wolf can provide, and the only way that Wolf
describes things. And I think that was that's what's so
unique about this book and why it's such a fun read.
And even though I've heard these stories, it's it's allowing
(22:38):
me to hear those stories as though Wolf is telling
them over again to me.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
And yeah, Rob Benson yesterday, how Myron Cope's book was
so much like that. You could hear Myron copin. And
I appreciated Jim Wexel being involved in this because he
knew how Craig talked, because Craig had wrote for him
for the Steel City Insider for years, and he knew
Craig's voice and he didn't take away from it, even
(23:03):
when he did editing or he had just change some things.
He knew it was important to keep his voice and
let him write like he talked. So that's what came
through in the end. It sounds like him. It sounds
like he's in the room.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Talking to you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
One of the other things that Jim said, too, was
that Wolf Faith took this really seriously. He went home
and he wrote all the time and made sure he
made all his deadlines, and he was very conscientious about
getting these thoughts down on paper.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yeah, he was. This book was really decades in the making.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
He literally was writing this book back in the nineties,
and every off season we'd be.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Talking about, so are we going to get this book done?
So who are we going to talk to?
Speaker 5 (23:45):
And he'd write a little more, and he'd kicked a
can down the road a little bit more, but it
just never ever came to fruition. And then finally about
two years ago, Jim Wexel got in his ear and
really talked to him and whatever he said, whatever he did,
it got him fired up.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
And he was always writing.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
In his in his off time, anytime he had he
was writing. And last January everything all came to the
end and he finished it up right at the end
of January, and all the transcript was ready to go
to the publisher.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Oh that that that that's that's so wild. And and
here's the thing. As much as Wolf liked to kind
of self deprecate and talk about how he did that
kid his degree for Syracuse said, and yet he's in
the I mean he is. He is such a beautiful writer,
you know. And that's where I think, you know, it's like, well,
(24:36):
give yourself. And he never wanted the credit right for himself.
He always he always wanted to kind of push the
credit towards others because he's just such a selfless individual.
But you know, just kind of I think, since this
is a unique opportunity to have you on here, Faith
just kind of speak to just Wolf at home, like
Wolf as dad, Like he loved his kids, he loved you, right,
(25:00):
he loved his family, you know, talking about his brother.
And trust me, I work with Ron every week, so
I'm treated to the spirit of the wolf Lees every
single week I get to work with Ron. But just
how much he just he loved people. He loved his family, right,
he loved his just kind of speak to that person
(25:22):
out because I think that's also a huge part of
who he is or who he was.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Well, that's what made that's what made it so cool
because even though he had the book written, the little
bits and pieces at the beginning and the end weren't
done yet.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
So it was such a gift to us, to the.
Speaker 5 (25:37):
Whole family that Ronnie, his brother, was able to write
the forward, and then our son Kyle was able to
write the afterword. I wrote the acknowledgments page, and then
of course Jim Wexhell wrote the introduction. And it was
so fun because even when I was writing acknowledge of
his page, I'm talking to our kids and I'm asking
him questions, and I talked to his mom and asked
for information.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
To write that. And it was such an.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Effort from everybody, and the family just loved the fact
they felt like they played a part in this book.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
And that was really cool. And sure at home, he
was amazing.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
It was funny because he didn't like compliments, like you said,
and he didn't need to be told, you know, he
was doing a good job.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
But at home. He would when he felt like.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
He did something really good, he'd be like, I don't
need anybody else to tell me, but I need you
to tell me.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Yeah, you kind of need your wife to tell you. Yes,
no one else does.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
That faith that is so true and faith and faith
right his two faiths in his life. You know, one
of the things that I I admired uh wolf very
deeply and had the pleasure of. I mean, I, you know,
only one year with the Steelers, but as you both know,
I worked maybe a decade with him doing high school football.
(26:54):
And by the way, we would ravage the the the
food tents, you know, uh and uh you know we
we we would oh yeah, and so you know that
what you were looking for is and look at you know,
the local Uh you know that the some some places
have the big you know, national chain food, which what
(27:16):
you wanted was what you wanted to go in and say, hey,
are those meatball subs ready? And you know, no, Gladys
hasn't brought him in yet, because then you knew they
were homemade, right, So then then you get all excited
about it. Uh. But you know, one of the one
of the other things that I just really admire that.
There's a lot of things, you know, and I'll get
to another one in a moment, but but one of
(27:36):
them was the fact that you know, look, I applaud
anybody for doing any good, making any appearance in public,
you know, bringing their notoriety and fame to any cause.
But Wolf Uh, in conjunction with with Tounch, but then
later on his own as well, not only went to
(27:56):
the big fundraisers for the Light of Life Rescue Mission,
but would just show up sometimes too, you know, and
no camera's there, nobody doing a story, yep, just just
him doing good stuff, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Yeah, he loved the Life of Life Mission in a
big way.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
And we were down there volunteering on a Friday night
and there was no one around, or you know, we
were involved in different things, and he would just go
down there and be there. They would call for something
to come down and he was there. It was never
a question ask if he had the time, he was
going to do it. He loved them and some other
charities that were involved in. He just wanted to give
(28:34):
back in a huge way. And that was just an
everyday thing that was that was a part of our
life all the time.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
And it was, you know, really important to him.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
No, and it's one of those that he shares his stories.
He makes sure that he highlighted those individuals doing the
work as well as him actually doing the work. And
you know, you talk about living examples of just faith
and service and honor, and Craig Craig lived by those credos.
(29:07):
And and I'm just so proud of of the relationship
that I had with him and the fact that, uh,
you you, you were able to be okay with sharing
him with the world, Faith, because I know that's something
that you know, uh does not go you know, unseen,
because I mean it's a lot of hours we're away.
I mean I look at my own wife and I
(29:28):
just I just sit there and I say, I say,
thank you, Han, you know, for allowing me to do
what I love. Because he truly loved all of that,
whether it was service, whether it was to the Steelers,
and the travel that's involved with going to games, and
you know, you kind of miss weekend activities because you're
so entrenched in the season. So I also want to
(29:48):
say thank you to you, Faith. I do want to
turn to the book because I gotta I gotta ask
you know, there's always for everybody. There's always something different.
As you've read the book, I know I have to
ask a is there a favorite chapter that you read?
It just that just makes you chuckle every single time,
(30:11):
you know, even though you've heard the story a thousand times,
it's just something that makes you chuckle. And then and
then the other great thing about this book it has
so many great photos in here. I mean, these are
some there. There there are some good classic ones in here.
But you know, is there a favorite photo that you
look at like, I mean, there's one where I mean,
(30:32):
he he looks, he looks like he's in the eighties hairband.
You know it was it was you know, it was
the one I have to see the Wizard chapter. Yeah,
that that the hair was the hair was flowing back then.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
Well, I have to say, really, there's a lot of stories.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
I don't know if I could tell you my favorite,
but there's one that's very funny, but really my favorite.
And I didn't get to see this till after the
book got to me that I didn't know this was included.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
Was all the people that wrote really cool little things
in the beginning, the blurbs in the beginning, but.
Speaker 5 (31:04):
My favorite was yours, Max, and you were so kind
as to write that Craig interjected into our lives like
a ballistic enemy.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Nima forgot.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
He would have loved those words coming from you.
Speaker 4 (31:24):
Max. Oh, no, you get a visual like no other.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Wolf definitely had away with words. Yeah, I remember the
first time you used that. I don't know if you
used it in high school football was are you gloud
to say that?
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Can you? I think he I think he told the
story about.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
Tounch when he really speared him in the back and
it was something along those lines, and then tried to
pretend to like it wasn't him until until the film.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Was shown, and then of course on the film. But
I to say one of my favorite stories is the.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
One about Myron Coke and about him, Myron cop being
honored at halftime and Tony Quatrini at the time, the
head of marketing, had picked Craig to do it, and
then right before he was ready to go on, he said,
you know, Craig, these halftime shows, you know they're only
twelve minutes long.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
You know we can't go over.
Speaker 5 (32:20):
The NFL finds us per minute a ton of money
if we go over halftime show.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
So you know how Myron likes to talk.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
Man, you got to make sure you cut this off,
you know when when the time's up. And Craig was
quite nervous at the time, and he's like, what are
you talking about?
Speaker 4 (32:35):
How am I going to stop Myron from talking? And
he goes through in.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
The story and talk about his thought process leading up
to this thing with Myron, and he thought, oh my gosh,
my broadcasting career is over. I'm going to be the
guy remembered for tackling Myron and resting him for the money.
He said, I'm going to traumatize the entire city of
Pittsburgh because this three hundred pounds man is going to
(33:00):
while down this five foot two, one hundred and thirty
pounds man. But it all turned out well because of
course my own is a pro and he gave up
the mike willingly. But it was a funny story his
whole thought process.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
So faith, this is a great book for people looking
for items, obviously to get for Christmas, right for the Holway. Yes,
So how do people get the book?
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Sure? Sure it is on Amazon.
Speaker 5 (33:29):
The sales on Amazon are going on and it's really
easy to google the name, and it comes right up
on Amazon available. It's also down in the Steelers Pro Shop.
Both shops they have it in stock there, so if
you wanted it right here or needed to get it
quick at the pro Shop and also Barnes and Nobles
they have them in stock and Barnes and Nobles.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
I know it's.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
Online on other sites like walmartin Target, but the quickest
way around here is through Barnes and Nobles or the
Pro Shop.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Oh Faith, thanks for coming on with us, Thanks for
sharing some time with us, Thanks for sharing Wolf with us,
Thanks for sharing you a little bit about this book
with us. Just a great man and we love him,
and we love you, and we thank you for coming on.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
And we're doing kind of a fun social media campaign
a little bit with the help of my teenage daughters,
of course, and Max. You are quite a social media mogul,
so you'd appreciate this. We're doing hashtag gad zekes. I
saw that people to post some good stories that they
love about the book or that they know themselves. Mary Banazak,
she posted a hilarious story with her and we just
(34:38):
are love reading the stories that are people are posting.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
So it's been really fun.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Faith, Thank you Mary, Christmas to you and the family,
and thanks so much for coming on with us.
Speaker 4 (34:50):
Thanks Max, Thanks for Merry Christmas, all of you.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Merry Christmas. Christmas, Faith wolfully, and just one last thing
I want to add about Wolf for people out there,
when you heard him on the radio, that was him.
You know, I think Max, nobody would look at you
and I and say we're pessimistic people. Wolf had that ability.
You know, you try to keep the crew loose and
(35:12):
make sure you're having a good time. Wolf would just
come in and just he just lifted everybody up. His
energy is enthusiasm. Everybody loved him. Everybody was drawn to him,
and I think everybody's gonna love and everybody's gonna be
drawn to this book as well.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah, it's good. It's going to make you not only
love it, love Wolf all over again. But you know,
it does fill that void when you're reading that book
of knowing that even though he's not here with us,
he's here with us. And this book just brings that
spirit just back to life and it just it really
(35:52):
puts it in perspective. And you know, this book was
definitely a tough one to get through for me, but
I was so happy I did. And it's a book
that I know I can always go back to. That's
the other thing. It's one of those books like, once
you've read it, you want it on the bookshelf because
you want it readily available and to be able to
(36:13):
just go there and you and you could read it. Here.
Here's the other thing. Here's the other secret. Right now,
I'm telling everybody you could read it in order, but
each chapter is written so well that you can just
go in and read a specific chapter out of order
because the stories are so isolated within it. Right, It's
(36:34):
not like, oh my gosh, I got to read the
previous chapter to get to this chapter in the next, Right,
there's a timeline progression. But the way that the chapters
are written, you can literally specifically go in and say,
I want to read Thanksgiving Day Massacre, Right, I just
want to read that chapter. You can do that. So
this is when you can. Also it's almost like a
choose your own adventure book right to a degree where
(36:57):
you could literally go in and pick specific spot and
points in the book and just read it and and
you don't have to worry about well, did I read
the previous one? I have to read the next one
from it, You'll want to keep reading it because it's
so engaging. But that's the other beauty about this book
that I think that people should know is that you
can't You can go through and pick and skip and
(37:18):
come back and read again specific points of the book.
That's how that's how well is written.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Good stuff. And the name of the book once again,
Barnes and Noble. You can go to Amazon there, it's
various bookstores around the region. Those are probably the two
most noteworthy and accessible for most readers, although as always
I you know, seek out those local bookshops to give
them your support if you if you can, But most
(37:47):
of all, get the book and get it for yourself.
And it makes an awesome present for the holidays as well.
If these walls could talk, what's that? You know? What
we forgot?
Speaker 3 (37:59):
What we forgot to ask? Because Faith is doing a
book signing with Jim wexel Oh. I just thought about
that and I forgot to get weird, and so guess
what I'm going to have that on the other side
of this break. Yes you are the info. Yes, I'm
going to text Faith to ask her because I realized
for journalistic integrity, that's something we should have asked. And
(38:21):
we were so about the book, we forgot to.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
Do it, got to throw it in there. If These
Walls Could Talk stories from the Pittsburgh Steelers Sideline locker
Room and press box, Craig willfully with Jim Wexel check
it out. We'll get you some more information on the
book signing as well on the other side of the
break when we continue in the locker room presented by
your Neighborhood Ford Store and the Steelers Pro Shop on
stee there's Nation Radio apart of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
This is in the locker room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio presented by your Neighborhood Forard Store.
The F one is the official truck of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from
the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop dot
Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Well, thank you for being back with us, Thank you
for faith woefully for spending some time with us once again.
The book is called If These Walls Could Talk and
its stories in the Pittsburgh Steelers Sideline Locker Room at
press box Craig Wolfully with Jim Wexel. Jim has talked
a little bit about the book with us. Faith Wolfully
just joined us to share memories of Wolf and to
(39:34):
talk about the book as well, and we'll get that
information for you on the book signing coming up with Faith,
as will Jim Wexel. Shortly, I wanted to go back
to something that we talked about. I just mentioned it
briefly because it bears some talking about, and that is
a Steelers injury report presented by UPMC, the official healthcare
(39:54):
provider and health plan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, we
will not have a show on Monday, data game. We
don't have a show, So this is kind of our
final look at some of these injuries and where guys
are trending. And the big one, sort of the shocker
that came out of nowhere yesterday afternoon Max was TJ. Watt.
So here was the statement released by the team. TJ.
(40:16):
Watt is currently in a local hospital for further medical
evaluation of his lung after experiencing discomfort at the practice
facility on Wednesday. He will not be a practice on Thursday.
Of course, that was yesterday and his status for Monday
night's game versus Miami is in question. When you hear
something like that, max it, it certainly gets your attention
(40:39):
because you know there's some vagueness to it in that
we don't know what the what specifically the issue is,
and of course it you know, can get the mind
racing one way or the other. And the first thought
is you just hope that you know TJ. Watt the
man is okay. I mean he started talking about along
with somebody. I mean that that certainly sends up some
(41:00):
some thoughts that you hope you know, don't run out
of control.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Yeah, no, absolutely, And that's something that you know is
always scary when you're talking about especially the respiratory system, right,
I mean, we all we all have to breathe, and
for an athlete that that efficiency, you know, that creates
for the endurance. And when you talk about playing a
game and the the variability of that, you know, you
(41:27):
just you worry about just long term health stuff. So
you know, thoughts and prayers are with t J. Watt
and the family, just you know, hopefully there's some resolution.
You know, the biggest thing is getting answers, right, because
I think the biggest thing that while you read the test,
because you don't know, and it's a scary thing because
we can't just look inside our bodies. It's sick. Oh yep,
I see that. Yeah, that's it. No, And so, you know,
(41:51):
very scary. You know, you know, care less about the game,
more care about the man, you know, in that moment
and and and how he how he's doing. So hopefully
you know, they get some good news, they get some
answers most importantly, and you know, you know, thoughts and
prayers with or with or with or with TJ.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
So on the injury front, we we kind of went
through the Steelers and we can get more into it
a little bit later on, but there's really not you know.
The big news that people I think we're waiting for
was Devon a Chan and a Chan you know, was
came out of the game, said he could return. You know,
(42:33):
he was limited in practice, but I think that when
you look at the Dolphins, they are pretty healthy and
he did participate in a limited uh form. The only
two guys you did in practice were guys that mostly
are used on special teams. That's Elijah Campbell and Caleb Johnson.
Caleb Johnson played three years I think three years of Jacksonville,
(42:56):
three or four years now with Miami, and he's rarely
taken any defensive snaps. He's a linebacker, he's a special
teams guy. So those two guys did not practice Campbell
with a knee at ankle knee, Johnson with his shoulder.
Everybody else was limited or full go for the Dolphins.
So the d NPS this for this Steelers we mentioned
(43:19):
just again to recap Ben Scarnic with a hand, James
Pierre with a calf, and Just Pete with his concussion,
t J. Watt obviously, and Derek Harmon with his knee.
Harmon saying yesterday before practice talking to Brooke Pryor and
saying that he thought he was treading in the right direction.
Good to see Kyle Dugger back, and so all in
(43:41):
all here, I mean, obviously, the TJ. Watt situation is
going to loom over everything until we know his health.
But you are kind of hoping that, by the way
keanum Benton back at full practice by a Black at
full practice, full participant in practice, that these other guys
who could possibly be trending in the right direction. Dougart
for sure, but Derek Harmon, Darnelt Washington, Leek Harrison who
(44:05):
were limited with a concussion, and Andrews Pete with his concussion.
You know, we just talked about it with Tampa Bay.
Injuries are a big part of what goes on this
year and you're hoping this time of year and you're
hoping those guys will be back and available.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yeah, you absolutely are, you know, hoping for the best.
I mean, yeah, the great thing is getting Kyle back.
I know he had the hand and that's what kept
him out, and you know glad that that's you know
that that's been taken care of. You know, but I
will say this, you know, a great job kudos go
to Chuck Clark, you know, filling in in his stead,
(44:40):
and of course they just an amazing job that everybody did.
Brandon Eccles and guys just kind of stepping in and
playing a role in that secondary, you know, having having
guys down you know, from the Dolphin side as much
as yeah, I'm just said you talked about You've talked
about We've been talking about this since camp and how
(45:02):
nice is it to have a Chuck Clark who can
come in and play for you and Peppers yeah, and
Gibrill Peppers as well. So you know, these are the
things that I know they didn't start camp with us
and didn't start you know, and Jibril didn't start the
season with us. But being able to go get those
guys and find them, and you know, kudos to the
front office guys for going and scouring and finding those guys.
(45:25):
But uh, you know, as much as I talked about
the health and the welfare of t J. Watt and
of course caring about the man over the player in
these moments, uh, when it comes to the Miami Dolphins,
uh and their injury report, I don't care. I really
don't want them playing well. You know what you should
(45:45):
You should care about your you know, you should care
about your ribs. I was like, because we're not, I'm
hoping every defensive player knows to go for the ribs
come game day.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
Yes about yeah, and so there hester yeah, they don't
have as many of the d nps. And just if
you can for fans, you know, dealing with concussions, I mean,
you have to go through some testing out there on
the field, so you have to be out in the
(46:17):
field to begin the testing. But again, these are not
necessarily linear in recoveries from these concussions. Somebody could have
you know, symptoms could flare back up in a couple
of days. So I would say that I'm encouraged that
Malie Harrison and Darnel Washington were limited participants in practice.
(46:37):
Obviously Andrews Pete wasn't even able to take the field
with his concussion issue. But I think, Max, we just
have to caution it. We just don't know at this point.
We don't we don't know whether they're going to be
available or not. Yeah, no, we we don't know if
they will be.
Speaker 3 (46:53):
But like I said, it's trending in the right direction.
So that's all we can ask for. And you know, Pittsburgh,
I should say, Pittsburgh sports fans. I think that I
think that's the best way to say this. Should should
should all know you know very well, you know about
the concussion process and how it's unique to each person
(47:15):
because I remember when remember when Sidney Crosby had had
his concussion in hockey and how long he was out
for that, so you know, he he I want to say,
he was out for well over a month, and so
that just goes to show you that not all concussions
are the same, and not every person deals with a
(47:36):
concussion the same way. I mean, I remember that here
was the funny part. I guess.
Speaker 2 (47:42):
I guess it's funny to me.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
I could laugh, So I guess I'm giving everybody else
permission to laugh at me on this one. Uh So
I've got you know, I got taken out one time
for a concussion in a game, and I went back
and you know, you do the testing, you know, you
do the visual testing on the sidelines, and then they
take you back into the locker room and there's additional
(48:06):
testing and and there's there was there there was I
don't I can't remember if they still do this or not.
I think I think I think it's gotten more sophisticated there.
But they have something called an impact test. And the
impact test is a test you have to take to
see where you are. And so you take you take
the baseline test at the beginning of the season or
(48:28):
at some point, you know, early on preseason, postseason, and
they want to get a baseline for where kind of
you know, your mind is already. So it's a it's
like it's a psychological test, but it's a visual test.
So you test that and then if you test below
the line, obviously that that gives an indication that, hey,
(48:50):
there's something mentally going on with this person, you know,
because you know your faculties aren't there, if your slower
reaction time, if you miss some thing easily confused like
all those there's a lot of different markers. So I
go back and I took my impact test and I
scored better after getting hit that I did before.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
I got hit.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Oh god, okay uh and the doctor goes. The doctor
was like, oh, they knocked cents back into you, n
can get out of you.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
It's funny.
Speaker 3 (49:29):
So I was able to return to play because of that.
But it was just funny that I tested higher after
getting hit than I did before I got hit. So yeah,
glad I got.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
That is that is very funny. Mind the old WKRP scene.
But but I just want to say real quick, Crawfee
was ten months. Ten months, there we go. That's about say.
I knew it was fun. It was a long amount
of time, and there was you know, now the rumors
start coming his careers in Jeopardy and his agents say no, no, no,
and then you know, you come back to camp and
in August. Hey, you still feeling the affection.
Speaker 3 (50:00):
Whoa man? This is?
Speaker 2 (50:01):
This is you just never know. We're just saying you
just never know. With a concussion. We want you, We
want to remind you. You can gear up with the latest
game day necessities. Get the official Students Pro shops. Get
the latest sideline appair of jerseys, terrible towels, authentic memorabilia
and custom exclusives you can only find directly from the team.
Visit one of the official Students Pro shops located at
(50:22):
Akroscher Stadium, Grove City Premium Outlets or Tanger Outlets. Or
gear up online at shop dot Steelers dot com. Get
it direct from the team at the Steers Pro Shop
at shop dot Steelers dot com. We will be back
with Missy Matthews in the Locker Room presented by you Neighborhood,
Ford Store and the Stewish Pro Shop on Steard's Nation Radio,
a part of the Steelers Audio Network
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.