October 29, 2025 • 48 mins
At the top of the hour the guys speak with Jim Wexell, and later on Max reminisces on some memories of Super Bowl 40 as the team will celebrate the victory on Sunday.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
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
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dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh, guess what day it is? Guess what day it is? Eh? Anybody, Julie, Hey,
guess what day it is? Come on, I know you
can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. What day
is it? Mike? Listlie, guess what today is? It's hump day.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh, oh, there it is, Mike the Cammel bringing in
our number two move aside optimism. Mike the Campbell's taking
it today, and we are live. Of course, when you
hear Mike Campbell, you know the only thing that follow
that would be, of course, the musings, the thoughts and
the processes they go through the mind of one Jim
(01:08):
Wexel steals to the Insider editor of course author as well,
and we are happy to be joined by Jim each
and every Wednesday here inside the locker room.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
How are you doing today, Jim doing great?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Guys? Feeling better, not feeling better about the team, but
feeling better, getting better every day.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Glad to hear that. Wex seriously very glad to hear that.
Speaker 5 (01:35):
So in regards to the team, your thoughts on this
Kyle Dugger acquisition. As the Steelers moved quickly got Dugger
and surrendered a Dugger in a seventh and surrendered a
sixth round pick to the Patriots. And Dougger is an
interesting guy, like they signed into a big contract extension.
(01:56):
He just didn't seem to fit their scheme out he goes.
Your thoughts on getting him with the absence of Deshaun
Elliott with the hyper extended hee, not sure how long
Deshaun's going to be out, but you go, you move quickly,
you pick up Kyle Dugger.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Yeah, he and Pepper's were the Patriots' starting safeties on
opening Day twenty twenty four, and now they are both
backups with the Steelers or a flop of a late
round pick. I'm not going to get too excited. I
would have been excited about this last year. Maybe right
(02:33):
now he had lost his job. He saw a out
of favor with Mike Grabel, which apparently isn't difficult to do.
We wanted to talk to Peppers today, Probably later in
the day we'll get to talk to him about what happened.
He's more likely to talk about what happened in New
England with both of them gone and here, and he'll
be able to shed some light on Dogger, who didn't
(02:56):
play much against the Steelers earlier this year. Pippers might
have been the best safety on the field, and really
we haven't seen much of them since. So I can't
make heads or tails of the mass influx and outgo
of safeties here, so I'll reserve comment.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Okay, I think that's fair enough to say. You know,
when you kind of look at just kind of where
they are in this secondary and you know, losing a
piece like a Deshaun Elliott now for a second time
this season, you know, do you see where the necessity
(03:40):
is to get more guys in here. I know, once again,
you know, we're not going to rehash the whole Minka
Fitzpatrick trade because of what we seemingly got from that one.
But you know, it is a tough situation right when
you have a team that is not as gifted at
(04:03):
that free safety position right now, and I think you're
kind of looking for some different pieces that could potentially
help you in that department. Were you surprised at the
speed with which the Steelers moved to actually find an
acquisition piece once you kind of knew the status of
Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Well, I mean no, I'm not surprised, especially when he
announced he was looking at two safeties at his press
conference yesterday, looking at Von Bell and Eddie Jackson, you know,
and it is a it is a dire necessity. You know.
(04:43):
I didn't want to revisit them Hinka trade either, but
it was one of the first notes of my column
that the Safeties were so bad last game. Deshaun Elliott,
you know, he's been the glue back there, and it
sure looked like more than a hyper extended need. But
thankfully it's not as serious. It's not an a c
(05:03):
L as most of us had feared. So they'll get
him back at some point. But you know, Douger was
on the verge of getting cut instead of Pepper's this year,
so and then they only you know, all they had
to do was flop the last round pick to get him.
(05:25):
So I'm not all that surprise. I love Trey Essex's
tweet he he apparently pays attention to the Patriots more
than I, and he's excited about Douger. So that gave
me excitement because I don't know enough about him. He
went to Lenore Ryan in North Carolina, a Division two school,
(05:47):
only played one year of high school football. He came
out as a senior, and that's what hurt his recruiting.
Only in an ai A and a Division three school,
competed with Lenora Ryan, and he became a second round pick.
Great athleticism, got a big contract before twenty twenty four,
(06:09):
and then kind of with Peppers, both fell off the
map for whatever reason. So it's difficult looking at that
safety position and getting excited about this or any moves
they're making unless it was something bigger and that would
have had to have happened off season.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
You know, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
First of all, I think the world of Deshaun Elliott
as a player. I always thought he was a good
player with the Ravens. I think he's become more than
that with the Steelers, very very good. As you look
around a roster, you know, obviously let's exclude the quarterback position,
because we know that when teams lose their quarterback, they're
in big trouble. But there are few positions on the Steelers'
(06:56):
roster in which the loss of a player would hurt
more than the loss of the Shawn Elliott. Now again,
I'm trying to put that in context of if you're
going to name the best players on the Steelers defense,
you know, you start with TJ. Watt and Cam Hayward,
and you know, but they've shored up the depth defensive line.
They've shored up the depth at outside linebacker position. If
(07:19):
there was one area on the team after the trade
of Menca in which you were concerned about your depth,
it's the position in which the Steelers have now lost
and the person in which they've now lost twice, and
that's the Shawn Elliott. And it's just you can't be
no team has, you know, fifty three all pros out there.
You're going to have positions in which an injury is
(07:42):
going to hurt you more in one place than the other.
And I think this is unfortunately one of those places
for the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Exactly. I think last week we all did the numbers,
we all ran the numbers on Steelers with Elliott. Steelers
about Elliot because he was coming back well and I
forget those No, it's lop tryed it right. Yardage and
points and all that stuff you throw on he got hurt.
What was it sixteen seven? Yeah, maybe I'm getting yeah, yeah,
(08:13):
when he got.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Hurt the sideline, right, it was it was it was yeah,
he up the sideline right.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Yeah, the play that turned the game around, well he
his was the injury that turned the game around too.
So yeah, you know, throw those numbers on the numbers
we had last week, and the difference with and without
him is is astonishing. Yep.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, And I think and I think that's why there
was such a necessity and such a I think a
need to move quickly to try and shore that up, because,
like you said, you lost a bright spot back there,
and also a great communicator and Deshaun Elliott, you know,
he's he was the one that gets everybody in position
at that second level and the one where you know,
(08:56):
communication flows freely. And when you think of some of
the UH issues early on in the season with some miscommunication,
it was because he wasn't in there, right. We think
the Seattle game, you know, and the impact of him
not being in that game.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Also you know what we saw with the Jets and
how close that Jets game was. We lose him in
the first quarter of that game, and you know, we battled,
but we also you know, we didn't feel really comfortable
about you know, how everything went when we had kind
of the trial edition, you know, and and and some
of the late communication in this game. So I think
(09:34):
there is a necessity and if Kyle Dugger has that
skill set where he can't he's really good at communicating.
And obviously you'll find out once once you talked to
Jabriel about you know, kind of the expansion of that role.
I think that'd be an interesting question, is you know,
of the two of you, who was the one that
was communicating the defense and setting everything on this on
(09:55):
the back half for the Patriots last year. That would
be I think a very pertinent question to ask and
see if that's something that also reveals about him.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
You know, it always pays to talk to an intelligent man.
Thank you, that will help You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
You're welcome. You know, you know, don't in there to
help help help you. In old polypocket notebook, you.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Know, oh many.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Let me ask you this, because you get Dougger in here,
and by the way, I think Dougger is going to
play a big role. I would be you know, again
just looking at his resume, and I don't know. I mean,
if you look at Julius Pepper's resume and they basically
brought him in to be, you know, a guy that
plays special teams, he's wound up being a replacement as
much as you can replace Miles Killerbrew who's a you know,
(10:46):
a Pro Bowl, All Pro special teamers. That's been largely
his role. We've seen him out there in defense as well.
I think Dougger is going to play regardless of who's
out there. You know this, the the defense and and
the team at large has to find a way to
make the defense better. And whether that is the offense
(11:07):
trying to run the ball more and extend drives and
keep the defense out there less or the defense simply
playing better, it is not going to be easy against
an explosive number one ranked Colts offense. So they've got
to find a way somehow, some way. You know, we
talked about this yesterday. I don't have to use adjectives
to describe the defense and they're you know, struggling or whatever.
(11:29):
You don't even have to say that. All you have
to do is look at their final scores and see
that they've given up thirty or more points four times
in seven games. To know that something's got to get fixed,
and whether it is a you know, like I said,
a bunch of different ways of fixing that, or whether
the defense in and of its own just has to
be better. I'm shocked by what I've seen thus far,
(11:54):
with all these thirty point games against this defense.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Well, let me give you three statistics here and then
maybe you could come up with a good adjective. Three
hundred and eighty six yards per game, most in Steeler's history,
twenty five points per game, most points since by the
Steelers since nineteen eighty eight, allowing two seventy three yards
passing per game, thirty second in the NFL, most in
(12:20):
Steeler's history. Do you have an adjective? Well, my I historic.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Yeah, historic, I'm shocked. I am.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
I really thought. And look, you understand that. You know,
you've got some some guys. They went out and got
guys who were closer to the end of their career
than the art the beginning and I get that, but
you know, you're you're thinking that, Okay, what's.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
That especially Julius Peppers Apparently they picked him up according
to you. I'm kidding you had a slip with the
tongue on Jabrill.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
But anyway, what did I say?
Speaker 4 (12:58):
I thought I slided that in there. If they're getting old, yeah,
they're getting real old. Man.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Well that's a guy Jared Allen quarterback, Yeah, a while ago. Jared,
I'm blaming it on the allergies in the air. I'm
blaming it on the algy Peppers.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know what to say.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
I really thought that there was enough left for all
those guys, and you shored up your defensive line and
you yeah, you gave up Minka and yeah, you you
had to hope kind of cross your fingers that there
wouldn't be an injury, specifically to Deshaun Elliott because you
were thinner in that area. And that's happened, and that's
(13:40):
certainly hurt. But you know what other teams have injuries
to the culture down a couple of starters on their
defense from the beginning of the year. You know, every
team goes through injuries. The fact that the Steelers have
not found a way to be better. And I really
thought wex after those two or three games, what we
saw in Minnesota for most of that game, what we
(14:00):
saw against the Browns. I really thought this was a
defense that was trending in the right direction and that
was going to start living up to certainly what the
Steelers internally thought, I mean, or even you know, based
on Mike thomas comments, what he publicly thought about this defense.
I thought they were reaching that. And now after two games,
(14:23):
I'm scratching my head.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Well, I mean, there's really not much to say about it,
and we know the up and down nature of sports.
They've streamlined it a bit. They've got Ramsey playing only
the slot. They're working echos in more, which didn't help
them on the conversion, but I like echos, you know.
(14:48):
And now they got to find safeties and you know
they're going to take They're taking a beating in this
top two weeks now straight. So I expect. I expect.
I'm actually I think they're going to win. I think
they're going to beat the Colts, and that's odd. But
if here's some numbers on the Colts, they they lead
(15:09):
the NFL in yards and points. Right the last time
they led in yards and points? Who was the quarterback?
Can you guess?
Speaker 5 (15:17):
I'm gonna say Peyton. That could have been It could
be luck, but I'm gonna say Peyton.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Burt Jones. Ah, I got it, Joe Minnesota. I came
up with Burt Jones right at the at the last second.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
You know who eliminated them in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
The Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yep, and the plane crashed into the Baltimore Stadium and
it was such a big blowout. There were no fans
up up in the upper deck. Right after the game.
Nobody died. Yeah, and uh, that was the game that
franco An Rocky got hurt and then they lost. Recognized
by a lot of people as the best Steelers team
ever in nineteen seventy six, didn't win the Super Bowl
(15:58):
most points. The Colts have scored the third most points
in team history in their first eight games. Which quarterback
coached the same two first two? If that made sense.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
I don't want to say webe bank. I don't want
to go back to Colt State.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
John quarterback. I don't want to quarterback, quarterbar quarterback, quarterback, quarterback.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
I thought you said coach who coached those didn't you say?
Who coached those two guys.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Most points in the first eight games in Colts history?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Who was the quarterback?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
They had two teams? Who was the quarterback of those
two teams?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Oh? I thought you said united coach those two.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Teams united us. Very good man.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I'm trying to trap you.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Guys into Peyton Manning and Andrew luck and we got
Burt Jones and John Uniteds. Guess, but yeah, it's hard
to believe in nineteen sixty four and fifty eight that
the Colts scored more points than this Colts team directed
by Daniel Jones, the second highest passer rating in Colts history?
Who was first?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You got this one max passer rating? All right? This time?
This time I'm going with Peyton.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Mammy, you nailed all three at eight BA. That Yeah,
that's that's an intelligence. Man.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Will you hang with a historian like yourself?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And between you and Bob Labriola, I feel like I
have to keep my historical.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
References at a high level because you never.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Know where you have to throw out, you know, like
like he was at Burt Jones, Johnny Unitas you know,
and and so yeah, I had to go with the
contemporary on that one.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
So, by the way, I'm gonna clap I'm gonna clap
myself on the back here because you asked that question
with the answer, and I thought it was the coach
and I said, I said both webew Bank and Don
schull It the quarterback was United's in fifty eight and
sixty four and the coaches in fifty eight webew Bank
sixty four Don shul.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Well, you've been You've.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Come to Max, and I are like, man, We're like,
we're ready to play family feud here.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Man, We're ready to go or at least at least
one of those bar trivia nights. I mean, I feel
like we could win the free round.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
At least. We've got them all, man, We've got them all.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
See, I gotta I gotta talk to some dummies. I mean,
they would have both said Peyton Manning both the first two,
and then they would have been so sick of guess
Peyton Manning they would have gone off him for the
first quest.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Right, So man, uh, yeah, they're they're they're good.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
By the way, wex I I thought the Steelers are
going to beat the Packers, and for half of a
football game, and I do. I don't know, you know,
the I don't know what to make of that first
half and and wonder and make of the second half
because they were two such completely different halfs. You did
what you wanted to in the first half, and they
(18:52):
did what they wanted to in the second half, and
you wound up losing the game. You're even leading going
into the fourth quarter. I'm trying to remember some of
those positives and graft them onto my expectations for what
this defense can do. But you got to play more
than thirty minutes of football too.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Well. You know, the easy thing is that the field
goals in the first half should have been touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
And you know we saw the second half so agree.
You know, plays like DK metcalfs unnecessary and TJ's face
mask and yeah, it just went on and on. A
couple of bad calls by the officials. Now, I like
the play action deep bomb to start that that that direction.
I like that because I too thought the Packers going
(19:40):
to overload and bite on the run. So when when
he threw those interceptions, everybody you know who wanted them
to run. And now it looks in retrospect, it looks
like the right thing would have been to run, but
I just thought I thought it was a nice time
to strike while they were overplaying the run. I thought
it was a nice time to strike deep. But it
(20:02):
didn't work out. So I can't criticize the play call,
and other people can because they were first guessing. So
I'm not too disappointed in the offensive play calling. I
will say one thing about predicting last week's game. I
didn't feel good about it, and I felt better about
them beating the Colts. The Colts have a huge lead
(20:25):
in their division. Really, it's hard to get motivated thinking
about home to home home playoff game advantage at this
point and their numbers. The last five games against very
weak competition aren't all that overly impressive. And the Steelers
(20:46):
always historically played better in the second of back to
back home games, and I'm sure that last home game
there was a lot of embarrassment for all the Packers
fans a chance and the way they played, there's just
embarrassment to go all the way around. Well, I got
a feeling about them bouncing back this week.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
WEX. Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
Always a pleasure to talk to you, and I look
forward to seeing you on the South Side in the
next couple of days and Sunday at Akrosser Stadium.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Absolutely see you boys.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
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Speaker 1 (22:00):
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 (22:22):
Well, we're getting you ready for the Steelers and Colts.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
And we've talked a lot about the Kyle Dugger trade
and hopefully the Steelers defense bouncing back against the Colts
prolific and outstanding offense. And we're going to certainly dive
into that. But something else is happening on Sunday that
I think bears discussion because it directly results to our
friend Max Starts and Max, that is the anniversary of
(22:49):
the twentieth anniversary of that Super Bowl forty championship in.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Detroit.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
And before we get into kind of some of thisifix
of that year, what's it gonna be like seeing all
year old buddies.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Uh and uh and and.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
Being part of that uh, you know, that celebration on
Saturday night and then on Sunday out in the field.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Uh, it's gonna be pretty special. You're not gonna lie,
you know. I was. I was.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I was a very young man then second year, second
year in the league, first year starting for.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
The Steelers at right tackle.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
So that was that was a That was one of
the three years I played right tackle for the team.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
And man, just seeing all those guys.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I mean, granted, I see a majority of guys, you know,
throughout the year, and you know the years, I still
a lot of us still talk a lot to each other.
So it's it's gonna be crazy to see all of us,
I think together, But I do get to see a
(24:00):
good bit of guys outside of it, Like you know,
just think about this. When we were in Ireland, right,
I mean, you know, Ben was there, Jerome was there,
Ike was there. You know, so we had so so
I see those teammates, you know. You know when when
I have to go to Atlanta, you know, I always
see Arnold Harrison, I see Trey Essex, and you know,
(24:27):
when I'm in la I see James Ferrier, see you
know PZ. But I forgot Pez was there. Keizel was
there in Ireland as well. You know, I see Keyesel,
you know a good little bit. And you know, as
I go through like the roster, right, I mean that's
the other thing I can still I can probably I can.
I can name just about every guy on that roster,
(24:50):
and I think that's what's the pretty cool thing when
you think about it, like, you know a lot of Hey,
can you name twenty people at work? It's like no,
I could literally they. I mean I could go through
an entire starting lineup. I can go through I could
probably go yeah too deep on it on just about
every position of guys that were on that team. So
to be able to see those guys pretty special.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
You know, Aaron Smith comes up to training camp, so
you get to see him Cheaty. Cheaty works for us
in the scouting department as a West Coast scout, so.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I do get to see Cheaty. Uh.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
You know, Twoman was up a training camp, Troy comes
to training camp, Russell Stuvants came to training camp, and uh,
you know the significance about Russell Stevens Stuvie was my room,
was my roommate on the road that year. So you know,
you think about that and I am gonna miss some
of our guys who are on that team that that
(25:44):
are coaches now. I mean you look at what Antoine
Randall l Right is coaching for the Bears. You look
at Duce Daley, you know, Deuces with Deuce is gonna
be is with the Browns.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Uh, Wardy.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Wardy's out here in a z He's an a SU
wide receivers coach, you know, so you know, get to
see get to see Wardy and uh and so it's
to Shae de Shae. Shae still coaching. So I won't
get to see Deshay Townsend, who was one of our
starting corners in that Super Bowl team. You know, I
hang with Ike a lot, especially during training camp, and.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So I just I just go through all these guys
in my head.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
You know, I can't wait to see Verron Haynes, somebody
I hadn't seen it in a while who was on
that team, one of our one of our key running backs.
You know, it'll be good to see Jeff, you know Jeff.
Jeff usually comes up to training camp Jeft. Jeff didn't
come this past year, so you know it'd be good
to see Jeff. Be good to see Red Alan Fanica,
you know when he comes up for that. And you
(26:44):
know Marvel. I see Marvel in La as well. In fact,
I probably probably will probably end up seeing Marvel at
the Chargers game because he usually comes to that one.
That's one of the games he comes to him and
him and James are out there and their neighbors that
hang out. So you know, as I kind of just
look at all those guys you know that that that
are gonna be here. I mean I'm excited, you know,
to see like a Clint Kreewall, like Buddy Lee we
(27:07):
used to call him.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah, I would love to see if Sean Moory comes
back one of one of our just Special teams, captains
Chris Gardaki, Papa Doc. You know, Chris Gardaki was our
punter on the team back then. You know, Jeff Reid.
I'm sure we'll see Jeff Reid. There's just so many guys,
you know, Matt Cushing, and I'm probably naming the names
(27:29):
from the Steeler faces, like who are these guys? And
some people are like, oh my god, you remember that name.
I mean, it's that brotherhood and we did something that
was really special, and the fact that we could celebrate
that twenty years later and come together, it's gonna be
really cool.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
You know.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
I would love to see, you know where my brother
Chris Kimo Yatu uh. You know, we used to call
them big Juice, you know, juicy. If he'll be able
to make it. You know, he lives in Hawaii, and
he was that was his rookie year five, you know,
because that O five class, Heath Miller, right, Brian McFadden,
Trey Essex, Arnold Harrison, Chris Kiyatu. No, it was a
(28:10):
special group of guys that played Andre Frasier that came
in and really was a catalyst for our five team
because our O four team went fifteen and one.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
We lost the sc championship game and then.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Too you know, and then we take the the quote
unquote the band, the band of brothers. That O five
class was really a glue, a glue group, and you
know a lot of them contributed in big ways and
our success, especially during the playoffs. So you know, there's
a lot of love for those guys. I was just
a young guy on that like, oh, Kendall Simmons won't
be there either, because Kendall's coaching at Middle Tennessee State.
(28:43):
I forgot about that one as I was going through
the offensive line in my mind, you know, and Kendall
Kendall and I, you know, through the double team block
at the line of scrimmage that led up to the
last block on Lofa Ttupu and the Super Bowl with
Red kicking out the end on Bryce Fisher. You know,
there's just like so many vivid memories from that time. Yeah,
(29:04):
Els Willie's run, Yeah that was counting thirty four Pike yep.
And so it's just like when you just go through,
like it's a flood of memories. But it's so special.
It's so awesome to know that you'll get to see
those guys. Hope I get to see thunder Dan Krider.
You know, thunder Dan was my boy man, the last
of the full backs really in earnest here for the
(29:26):
Steelers back when we were an I formation team. You know,
Dan Danny was a big part of that. So yeah,
just just a lot of joy, a lot of a
lot of thankfulness, a lot of gratitude for for that
time and you know, that team we did something that
was really special. We were the first sixth seed to
ever win a Super Bowl. Right to go from the
(29:47):
lowest seed in there, go out take the take the
show on the road for three straight games, and then
go go go send the bus back home. You know,
have the have the bus retire where everything started. So
it was a truly special occasion to really really finally
get one for the thumb and.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
I'm just gonna be so excited. It will be a
lot of emotions.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I'm sure on game day on the broadcast as it
kind of relive it. But I'm really looking forward to
getting to see everybody. And you know, and like I said,
you know, have a little bit of revelry, you know,
not too much, you know, a little rebel, not a
lot of rousing. We get around each other. But I
promise I will show up on time at work on
(30:30):
Sunday morning. I promise I'll be there and ready to
rock and roll. And I will not be wearing the
shades in there in the booth. I will be a
responsible adult because we are twenty years older. The young us,
you know, took it to Vegas afterwards and we had
a blast there.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Time was had. But now you know, now it's like,
all right, guys, Okay, what time are we getting there
for breakfast? Any need?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Has everybody gotten their fiber today? Anybody need oatmeal?
Speaker 4 (30:56):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Everybody feeling good? Okay, that's good? All right.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
So I'm gonna make a statement that I don't know,
maybe I can't speak for others, but I think there's
something special and unique about football that you know, it's
a large group of guys and you know you are
you know, the practices are not looks. Basketball practice cannot
(31:22):
be fun sometimes too, you're running up and down the floor,
but you're playing basketball.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
You know.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
Other sports you play baseball, you get to take rounders. Yeah,
you're jogging around the field a few times. But something
about football and what you have to endure physically, how
difficult it is. Double sessions in August. No matter where
you are in the country, that's hot. It's gruesome. I
think you go through a lot, whether you played in
high school or college or the pros. I think there's
(31:51):
something special about the sport as far as bringing people together.
And I don't know if I've caught the reasons as
to why. I think some of it is just plain endurance.
You know, just what everybody has to go through brings
you together. But it's just and I know you don't
have the context of not being on a Super Bowl
champion team in your career. You have been, but I
(32:14):
just think it's got to be a little bit special
having been through all that extra special. I'm sure there
are guys that played for the Lions back in the
day that still that never won a championship that still
remember their teammates and all that, but there's just got
to be something different, a different level of that camaraderie
(32:35):
that comes when you win a championship.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Well yeah, I mean those names, just like they're etched
on the side of that Super Bowl trophy, that Lombardi
Trophy that sits up in the uh in the library
at the Steelers facility, I mean, they're they're esched in
your mind as well, right, and the journey that it
was and you know, doing something very difficult and achieving it, right,
(33:04):
you know, when you climb to the top of the
quote unquote everest of your sport, and that's winning a
world championship, you know, you don't forget that.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
But I think, you know, the most important thing.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
As much as we like to remember the game and
the victory and everything else, you know, there's something about
the struggle.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
You know, it's in the midst of.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
The losing streak that we had in the middle of
that season, you know, to the expectations that we had
that we felt were slipping away, and to the opportunity
to still persist. And that's why I always that's why
I always say, you know, when we're talking about this
and we get into those playoff.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
You know, at times, Rob like all you.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Need is a golden ticket, you know, you need that
playoff ticket that anything can happen after that. And the
reason why I can say it because we were the
living embodiment of that. We just need that. There were
twelve teams in that playoff guarantee, we were probably ranked
twelve because we or the sixth seed in the AFC
and there were five other teams that should have been
(34:05):
there that weren't. And we went through the hardest road
because when you are the lowest seed, you get the
best talent. So we take on the three seed in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Then we then the.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Follow week because we won, we go take on, you know,
the number one seed in Indianapolis, and then of course
we go through the number two seed in Denver that
year to get to the game where you get to
play against the Seattle Seahawks, who was a top team,
one of the top rushing teams in the league that
year until they saw us.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
But I mean, that was you know, that was but
that was that was what it was.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
It was a challenge that was in front and so
that's why I never get too down about where we
are as a team, because I was like, I've been there,
I've been in those shoes, right, and I can have
that grace and understand because literally I remember being a
part of a team that did that, that defied those odds.
(34:59):
I remember, and I remember our Super Bowl forty three
team that even though we were the two seed, I
remember being considered the worst offensive line in the playoffs.
I remember those days.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
So even when you.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Tell me that, it's like, no, I've seen I've seen
the other side of it. I've seen what the human
spirit can do. I've seen what, you know, fifty three
guys with one mission on their mind can accomplish. When
you all get on the same page, it doesn't matter
what everybody else thinks. It matters what you and your
teammates think. Now, if you can look your teammate in
the eyes after every game, in between every snap and
(35:32):
say I'm giving it my all, come on, you know,
let let's let's let let let's go, let's go to
the edge here. I believe that because I've seen it,
I've experienced it, We've overcame it. And so that's why
I urge people not to jump to those conclusions too soon,
because it is something that's special.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Like you said, I can go back and I could
name I.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
You know, another guy was thinking about while we were talking,
while I was taught, Willie Williams. I think about Willie
Willy was what he was on the Super Bowl thirty
team as.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Well, veterans and that lost in the veteran veteran.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
And then he made and then he survived and made
it all the way ten years later super Bowl forty,
I finally got that victory. So there's there's just so
many unique stories, and I think a lot of those
stories don't get told when you don't make it to
that point, and maybe you do to a degree, but
when you do it, just it reveals so much more
(36:28):
character about a team and about the people you're with,
and you're bonded for life. You're bonded for life in
a brotherhood, and you have something that's very special that
you know, this year we're going for the sixtieth one.
And to know that you had a hand in that
over this illustrious, you know league that has been around
for over one hundred years, and you have something that
(36:50):
that puts you in football immortality.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
That's a special thing. It's a special moment. Well.
Speaker 5 (36:57):
I also like the way because you are professional that
you brought it back to the current state of the Steelers,
which we will get to when we continue and wrap
up this edition. I can't wait to see out in
the field, Maxim, I'm.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Road for you.
Speaker 5 (37:14):
Actually see it Friday night, I think our Saturday night,
I think West and I are doing a radio show
from the from uh.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Oh doing doing the Steelers. Yeah, a reunion dinner.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
I believe it's called doing the Reunion Dinner. Doing a
little radio there. But anyway, we will we will continue
with this twenty twenty five Steelers group taking on the
high powered Colts when we continue in the Locker Room
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the Steer's Pro
Shop on Steers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingyon 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. Get it direct from the
team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop dot Steelers
dot com.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
All right, we are in the final segment of the show,
and of course you know it's time for the bellap. Oh,
that's right, early lunch moarning system, engage their kinger. You
know how we do each and every time we hear
that beautiful thing. We know is the final segment of
(38:29):
today's show. But we encourage everybody ten minutes ten minutes
till noon o'clock, and of course that is the foraging
hour for us Land mammals.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
So please make sure you eat responsibly. And by responsible,
I mean go find something good to eat. You deserve it.
You deserve it.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
Whoever is listening out there stealing naging, you deserve to
have a good lunch.
Speaker 5 (38:51):
Now, will you be moving rapidly to your kitchen to
get breakfast or you have you already had breakfast.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I have not had breakfast.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
And like I said, this morning was a little bit
of a different, you know occasion.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Obviously, wake it up early and wake it up. My
daughter and on her birthday.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Her birthday, surprising her son, you know I And what
was crazy is you know, she wanted something special for lunch, right,
she wanted these special shells.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Mac and cheese.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
And we went to the store last night and you
know I was ready because I always make lunch for
the girls before they go to school.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
And I forgot the milk.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
Oh, no, forgot I forgot the milk, so I couldn't
couldn't make the cheese sauce to go with the shells
and cheese. And she likes and so yeah, so so
so bad dad, bad dad, No so no, So for lunch,
I'm actually gonna take take her. So she loves this
company called Plia Balls. I don't know, I don't know
if you've heard of that one, but they do like
the s I E bowls and all kind of stuff,
(39:50):
shakes and all the first stuff.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
So now you could go get the milk, prepare and
drop it off, you know, I could. I could, but
my dad meters is low on that one.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Okay to show up with that, and I already gave
her an option, viable option that she's.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Looking forward to now.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
So all right, I'm like, you know what, We'll just
go with the playbook and I'll make it tomorrow for
for lunch.
Speaker 5 (40:14):
Having been on the occasional ooh, I forgot lunch drop
off duty.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Oh my gosh, talk about it. You got to you
gotta wrapped up in the paper bag. And you write
their name on it, you got the sack. You're just like,
could you deliver this too much? Exactly? Yeah, excuse me.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
I've been there, unfortunately several times on the Dado meter. So, Max,
we were talking about your two thousand and five team,
and for people that don't know, the team had to
win out at the regular season just to make the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Six seed you go through.
Speaker 5 (40:49):
And this was coming after a fifteen to one season
in which the expectations had been heaped upon that squad
and it didn't look like you're going to fulfill those expectations,
and you wound up doing just that.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
You did fulfill those expectations.
Speaker 5 (41:06):
So we are now as because you dropped this notion
last segment, We're going to come back to what does
it take beyond physical skill? Because I certainly believe this,
You others have the physical skill. I thought they were
going to beat the Packers after thirty minutes. I was
(41:27):
even more sure that they were going to beat the
Packers on Sunday night. That didn't happen. They're now reeling
after two consecutive losses. You guys were reeling. You guys
heard it from the media. You guys were able to
turn it around and win the Super Bowl. Just before
we start talking about winning super Bowls or anything like that,
what is the mentality it takes from a team perspective
(41:50):
to turn around what has happened over the last couple
of games, turn around what happened to you back at five,
and get yourself back on track.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
I think the biggest thing it's it's a it's a
mental commitment because obviously we already know what the physical is.
Like the physical got you there, and we know that,
like you said, you have everybody has a skill set
that set them apart, that allowed them to be a
member of this team. But it's that mental capacity, that
(42:21):
that dogged determination that really sets championship caliber teams away
from really good teams. And having that, I feel is
probably one of the biggest things. So it's the mental
skills that are necessary, the ability to shut the outside
world out right but kind of going to going to
(42:41):
silo or put on the blinders, so to speak, however
you want to categorize. You know, whatever the analogy is,
it's it's it's your mental makeup. It's the DNA and
and I just I just remember us sitting there and
you know, we had called one of those players only
meetings back before they became the fashionable thing to do
(43:02):
anytime your team was doing bad, you know. But but
for us, it wasn't trying to figure out what the
PC word is for this. It wasn't a sporting session,
right where guys just get out and just talk and
everybody wants to hear themselves, you know, speak and you know,
pontificate about things that are meaningless. It was a real deal,
(43:25):
just kind of kind of brother to brothers. You like
a family meeting, I think is what I categorize it
more than a players only talk.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
It was a family meeting, you know.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
And you know, if you come from like a large family,
rob that I come from a really really big family.
You know, when you have those family meetings, you know,
at the family reunion and like the seriousness of the
business union, listen to the elders, you know, they got
to speak. And no, every once in a while you
hear a younger person speaking. By younger, I mean, you're
talking about somebody that's like in their thirties talking when
(43:57):
your elders are in their seventies and eighties.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
But yeah, if you're if you're if you're like a.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
Teenageer or anything, you just sit there and close your mouth,
just just shut up and just.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
You know, it's like like you could talk with your ears. Uh,
that's what my uncle used to say, just talk with
your ears. Son. It's like exactly shut up and talking
with your mouth again.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
But you know, it's it's it's something about that mental
that that denial when you look a man in their
face and you commit that, hey, I'm going to do
everything possible in my power to make sure that I
do my job so that you can do your job.
And then by you doing your job allows the next
(44:39):
man to do his job, and then we do our
jobs and then it leads to good things.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
That's really what it is.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
And that's a mental concept because I mean, we've heard
it over the last couple of weeks. We've heard about
no guys trying to do too much right. That's been
that's been kind of one of the buzzwords is when
flying around the media around Pittsburgh, guys just say, oh,
guys would just do it too much. Not trusted their sign,
not trusting you know, their teammates, that trust, that implicit
trust that you have to have with the guy next
(45:07):
to you and really buy into that and make sure
that also that guy that's given that's being given the trust,
that he understands what that means. And if there is
more to do, if there's more to give, that's what's required.
All it requires is everything, And you know I mean that,
(45:28):
that's really what it is, because the job is the job,
and that's what it's going to require. It didn't say, hey,
at this job, you could if you give seventy percent,
we're good with your performance.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Right.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
We're in a performance evaluation in any type of industry.
No outside of giving your all is a good review. Right,
You're you're going for the best. And when you if
you want the best, guess what you have to give
the best effort. You have to give the best concentrate.
(46:00):
You have to give the best version of yourself at
all times when it comes to those quote unquote board
meetings on Sundays or game days however you want to categorize,
because obviously we play a lot of different days out
of the week.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
But when it.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
Comes game day, the requirement is everything, and that's what
it is. And if you're not prepared to do that
step aside, because there's somebody else that's going to be
willing to do that. They might not have the most skill,
but if I'm giving one hundred percent, that's better than
(46:35):
the guy who's highly skilled giving seventy percent. Right, And
if you know what to do and now you can
now you can react.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
And that's what I talked about.
Speaker 3 (46:45):
You know, we talked about this was yesterday, the day before.
But it's one thing to learn something. It's another thing
to commit it to memory and your being right. It's
another thing to when a play is called you react.
Only that's the higher level. Well, that's the nu once,
that's the next level.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Of what you have to do. And so that's what
it is.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
It's the mental difference that really separated us and not
having the egos involved.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
You know, we said egos.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
Aside before we had that family meeting as a group,
and when we came out of it, we had clarity.
We knew what we needed to do and we were
able to commit to that. And that's what allowed us
to push through all the tough times, all the awkwardness
of a game, right, the good, the bad, the ugly,
the ebbs, the flows, the ups, the downs, the touchdowns
(47:35):
four and the touchdowns against Right. You know, that's what
allowed us because we mentally we were saying we're not
going to be stopped. We're not going to be denied.
And you could tell each other that and believe it.
And then as you win a game, oh okay, we
can do this. Okay, we went another one, Oh shoot,
we really can do this, and you allow that to
be infectious because I always say this. I was like,
(47:57):
the most viral and most poisonous thing in this world
is a thought. Right, It can infect everything around you.
A thought is what does that? More so than any
anything out there. We could think of the worst diseases,
everything else, but a thought. Once it gets it in
(48:17):
your head. Who it's tough to get that out, man,
It's tough to get that out. There's nothing you can take.
There's no pill you can take, there's no injection you
could take to get rid of that. Right, And so
that's what you have to have. You have to have that,
but in the positive way, to plant that.
Speaker 5 (48:33):
Seed, positive thoughts. Clarity being sought for the Steelers this week.
As Max Starks just said, Max, thank you, my friend.
I thanks to Justin Miller as well. In our controls
at the iHeart Studio and of course our thanks to
you for listening in the Locker Room presented by our neighborhood,
Ford Shore in this Steer's Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio,
(48:53):
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 (00:25):
Oh, guess what day it is? Guess what day it is? Eh? Anybody, Julie, Hey,
guess what day it is? Come on, I know you
can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. What day
is it? Mike? Listlie, guess what today is? It's hump day.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh, oh, there it is, Mike the Cammel bringing in
our number two move aside optimism. Mike the Campbell's taking
it today, and we are live. Of course, when you
hear Mike Campbell, you know the only thing that follow
that would be, of course, the musings, the thoughts and
the processes they go through the mind of one Jim
(01:08):
Wexel steals to the Insider editor of course author as well,
and we are happy to be joined by Jim each
and every Wednesday here inside the locker room.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
How are you doing today, Jim doing great?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Guys? Feeling better, not feeling better about the team, but
feeling better, getting better every day.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Glad to hear that. Wex seriously very glad to hear that.
Speaker 5 (01:35):
So in regards to the team, your thoughts on this
Kyle Dugger acquisition. As the Steelers moved quickly got Dugger
and surrendered a Dugger in a seventh and surrendered a
sixth round pick to the Patriots. And Dougger is an
interesting guy, like they signed into a big contract extension.
(01:56):
He just didn't seem to fit their scheme out he goes.
Your thoughts on getting him with the absence of Deshaun
Elliott with the hyper extended hee, not sure how long
Deshaun's going to be out, but you go, you move quickly,
you pick up Kyle Dugger.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Yeah, he and Pepper's were the Patriots' starting safeties on
opening Day twenty twenty four, and now they are both
backups with the Steelers or a flop of a late
round pick. I'm not going to get too excited. I
would have been excited about this last year. Maybe right
(02:33):
now he had lost his job. He saw a out
of favor with Mike Grabel, which apparently isn't difficult to do.
We wanted to talk to Peppers today, Probably later in
the day we'll get to talk to him about what happened.
He's more likely to talk about what happened in New
England with both of them gone and here, and he'll
be able to shed some light on Dogger, who didn't
(02:56):
play much against the Steelers earlier this year. Pippers might
have been the best safety on the field, and really
we haven't seen much of them since. So I can't
make heads or tails of the mass influx and outgo
of safeties here, so I'll reserve comment.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Okay, I think that's fair enough to say. You know,
when you kind of look at just kind of where
they are in this secondary and you know, losing a
piece like a Deshaun Elliott now for a second time
this season, you know, do you see where the necessity
(03:40):
is to get more guys in here. I know, once again,
you know, we're not going to rehash the whole Minka
Fitzpatrick trade because of what we seemingly got from that one.
But you know, it is a tough situation right when
you have a team that is not as gifted at
(04:03):
that free safety position right now, and I think you're
kind of looking for some different pieces that could potentially
help you in that department. Were you surprised at the
speed with which the Steelers moved to actually find an
acquisition piece once you kind of knew the status of
Deshaun Elliott.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Well, I mean no, I'm not surprised, especially when he
announced he was looking at two safeties at his press
conference yesterday, looking at Von Bell and Eddie Jackson, you know,
and it is a it is a dire necessity. You know.
(04:43):
I didn't want to revisit them Hinka trade either, but
it was one of the first notes of my column
that the Safeties were so bad last game. Deshaun Elliott,
you know, he's been the glue back there, and it
sure looked like more than a hyper extended need. But
thankfully it's not as serious. It's not an a c
(05:03):
L as most of us had feared. So they'll get
him back at some point. But you know, Douger was
on the verge of getting cut instead of Pepper's this year,
so and then they only you know, all they had
to do was flop the last round pick to get him.
(05:25):
So I'm not all that surprise. I love Trey Essex's
tweet he he apparently pays attention to the Patriots more
than I, and he's excited about Douger. So that gave
me excitement because I don't know enough about him. He
went to Lenore Ryan in North Carolina, a Division two school,
(05:47):
only played one year of high school football. He came
out as a senior, and that's what hurt his recruiting.
Only in an ai A and a Division three school,
competed with Lenora Ryan, and he became a second round pick.
Great athleticism, got a big contract before twenty twenty four,
(06:09):
and then kind of with Peppers, both fell off the
map for whatever reason. So it's difficult looking at that
safety position and getting excited about this or any moves
they're making unless it was something bigger and that would
have had to have happened off season.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
You know, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
First of all, I think the world of Deshaun Elliott
as a player. I always thought he was a good
player with the Ravens. I think he's become more than
that with the Steelers, very very good. As you look
around a roster, you know, obviously let's exclude the quarterback position,
because we know that when teams lose their quarterback, they're
in big trouble. But there are few positions on the Steelers'
(06:56):
roster in which the loss of a player would hurt
more than the loss of the Shawn Elliott. Now again,
I'm trying to put that in context of if you're
going to name the best players on the Steelers defense,
you know, you start with TJ. Watt and Cam Hayward,
and you know, but they've shored up the depth defensive line.
They've shored up the depth at outside linebacker position. If
(07:19):
there was one area on the team after the trade
of Menca in which you were concerned about your depth,
it's the position in which the Steelers have now lost
and the person in which they've now lost twice, and
that's the Shawn Elliott. And it's just you can't be
no team has, you know, fifty three all pros out there.
You're going to have positions in which an injury is
(07:42):
going to hurt you more in one place than the other.
And I think this is unfortunately one of those places
for the Steelers.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Exactly. I think last week we all did the numbers,
we all ran the numbers on Steelers with Elliott. Steelers
about Elliot because he was coming back well and I
forget those No, it's lop tryed it right. Yardage and
points and all that stuff you throw on he got hurt.
What was it sixteen seven? Yeah, maybe I'm getting yeah, yeah,
(08:13):
when he got.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Hurt the sideline, right, it was it was it was yeah,
he up the sideline right.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Yeah, the play that turned the game around, well he
his was the injury that turned the game around too.
So yeah, you know, throw those numbers on the numbers
we had last week, and the difference with and without
him is is astonishing. Yep.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, And I think and I think that's why there
was such a necessity and such a I think a
need to move quickly to try and shore that up, because,
like you said, you lost a bright spot back there,
and also a great communicator and Deshaun Elliott, you know,
he's he was the one that gets everybody in position
at that second level and the one where you know,
(08:56):
communication flows freely. And when you think of some of
the UH issues early on in the season with some miscommunication,
it was because he wasn't in there, right. We think
the Seattle game, you know, and the impact of him
not being in that game.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
And I think.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Also you know what we saw with the Jets and
how close that Jets game was. We lose him in
the first quarter of that game, and you know, we battled,
but we also you know, we didn't feel really comfortable
about you know, how everything went when we had kind
of the trial edition, you know, and and and some
of the late communication in this game. So I think
(09:34):
there is a necessity and if Kyle Dugger has that
skill set where he can't he's really good at communicating.
And obviously you'll find out once once you talked to
Jabriel about you know, kind of the expansion of that role.
I think that'd be an interesting question, is you know,
of the two of you, who was the one that
was communicating the defense and setting everything on this on
(09:55):
the back half for the Patriots last year. That would
be I think a very pertinent question to ask and
see if that's something that also reveals about him.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
You know, it always pays to talk to an intelligent man.
Thank you, that will help You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
You're welcome. You know, you know, don't in there to
help help help you. In old polypocket notebook, you.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Know, oh many.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Let me ask you this, because you get Dougger in here,
and by the way, I think Dougger is going to
play a big role. I would be you know, again
just looking at his resume, and I don't know. I mean,
if you look at Julius Pepper's resume and they basically
brought him in to be, you know, a guy that
plays special teams, he's wound up being a replacement as
much as you can replace Miles Killerbrew who's a you know,
(10:46):
a Pro Bowl, All Pro special teamers. That's been largely
his role. We've seen him out there in defense as well.
I think Dougger is going to play regardless of who's
out there. You know this, the the defense and and
the team at large has to find a way to
make the defense better. And whether that is the offense
(11:07):
trying to run the ball more and extend drives and
keep the defense out there less or the defense simply
playing better, it is not going to be easy against
an explosive number one ranked Colts offense. So they've got
to find a way somehow, some way. You know, we
talked about this yesterday. I don't have to use adjectives
to describe the defense and they're you know, struggling or whatever.
(11:29):
You don't even have to say that. All you have
to do is look at their final scores and see
that they've given up thirty or more points four times
in seven games. To know that something's got to get fixed,
and whether it is a you know, like I said,
a bunch of different ways of fixing that, or whether
the defense in and of its own just has to
be better. I'm shocked by what I've seen thus far,
(11:54):
with all these thirty point games against this defense.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Well, let me give you three statistics here and then
maybe you could come up with a good adjective. Three
hundred and eighty six yards per game, most in Steeler's history,
twenty five points per game, most points since by the
Steelers since nineteen eighty eight, allowing two seventy three yards
passing per game, thirty second in the NFL, most in
(12:20):
Steeler's history. Do you have an adjective? Well, my I historic.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Yeah, historic, I'm shocked. I am.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
I really thought. And look, you understand that. You know,
you've got some some guys. They went out and got
guys who were closer to the end of their career
than the art the beginning and I get that, but
you know, you're you're thinking that, Okay, what's.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
That especially Julius Peppers Apparently they picked him up according
to you. I'm kidding you had a slip with the
tongue on Jabrill.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
But anyway, what did I say?
Speaker 4 (12:58):
I thought I slided that in there. If they're getting old, yeah,
they're getting real old. Man.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Well that's a guy Jared Allen quarterback, Yeah, a while ago. Jared,
I'm blaming it on the allergies in the air. I'm
blaming it on the algy Peppers.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know what to say.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
I really thought that there was enough left for all
those guys, and you shored up your defensive line and
you yeah, you gave up Minka and yeah, you you
had to hope kind of cross your fingers that there
wouldn't be an injury, specifically to Deshaun Elliott because you
were thinner in that area. And that's happened, and that's
(13:40):
certainly hurt. But you know what other teams have injuries
to the culture down a couple of starters on their
defense from the beginning of the year. You know, every
team goes through injuries. The fact that the Steelers have
not found a way to be better. And I really
thought wex after those two or three games, what we
saw in Minnesota for most of that game, what we
(14:00):
saw against the Browns. I really thought this was a
defense that was trending in the right direction and that
was going to start living up to certainly what the
Steelers internally thought, I mean, or even you know, based
on Mike thomas comments, what he publicly thought about this defense.
I thought they were reaching that. And now after two games,
(14:23):
I'm scratching my head.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Well, I mean, there's really not much to say about it,
and we know the up and down nature of sports.
They've streamlined it a bit. They've got Ramsey playing only
the slot. They're working echos in more, which didn't help
them on the conversion, but I like echos, you know.
(14:48):
And now they got to find safeties and you know
they're going to take They're taking a beating in this
top two weeks now straight. So I expect. I expect.
I'm actually I think they're going to win. I think
they're going to beat the Colts, and that's odd. But
if here's some numbers on the Colts, they they lead
(15:09):
the NFL in yards and points. Right the last time
they led in yards and points? Who was the quarterback?
Can you guess?
Speaker 5 (15:17):
I'm gonna say Peyton. That could have been It could
be luck, but I'm gonna say Peyton.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Burt Jones. Ah, I got it, Joe Minnesota. I came
up with Burt Jones right at the at the last second.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
You know who eliminated them in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
The Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yep, and the plane crashed into the Baltimore Stadium and
it was such a big blowout. There were no fans
up up in the upper deck. Right after the game.
Nobody died. Yeah, and uh, that was the game that
franco An Rocky got hurt and then they lost. Recognized
by a lot of people as the best Steelers team
ever in nineteen seventy six, didn't win the Super Bowl
(15:58):
most points. The Colts have scored the third most points
in team history in their first eight games. Which quarterback
coached the same two first two? If that made sense.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
I don't want to say webe bank. I don't want
to go back to Colt State.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
John quarterback. I don't want to quarterback, quarterbar quarterback, quarterback, quarterback.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
I thought you said coach who coached those didn't you say?
Who coached those two guys.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Most points in the first eight games in Colts history?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Who was the quarterback?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
They had two teams? Who was the quarterback of those
two teams?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Oh? I thought you said united coach those two.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Teams united us. Very good man.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I'm trying to trap you.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Guys into Peyton Manning and Andrew luck and we got
Burt Jones and John Uniteds. Guess, but yeah, it's hard
to believe in nineteen sixty four and fifty eight that
the Colts scored more points than this Colts team directed
by Daniel Jones, the second highest passer rating in Colts history?
Who was first?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You got this one max passer rating? All right? This time?
This time I'm going with Peyton.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Mammy, you nailed all three at eight BA. That Yeah,
that's that's an intelligence. Man.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Will you hang with a historian like yourself?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And between you and Bob Labriola, I feel like I
have to keep my historical.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
References at a high level because you never.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Know where you have to throw out, you know, like
like he was at Burt Jones, Johnny Unitas you know,
and and so yeah, I had to go with the
contemporary on that one.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
So, by the way, I'm gonna clap I'm gonna clap
myself on the back here because you asked that question
with the answer, and I thought it was the coach
and I said, I said both webew Bank and Don
schull It the quarterback was United's in fifty eight and
sixty four and the coaches in fifty eight webew Bank
sixty four Don shul.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Well, you've been You've.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Come to Max, and I are like, man, We're like,
we're ready to play family feud here.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Man, We're ready to go or at least at least
one of those bar trivia nights. I mean, I feel
like we could win the free round.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
At least. We've got them all, man, We've got them all.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
See, I gotta I gotta talk to some dummies. I mean,
they would have both said Peyton Manning both the first two,
and then they would have been so sick of guess
Peyton Manning they would have gone off him for the
first quest.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Right, So man, uh, yeah, they're they're they're good.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
By the way, wex I I thought the Steelers are
going to beat the Packers, and for half of a
football game, and I do. I don't know, you know,
the I don't know what to make of that first
half and and wonder and make of the second half
because they were two such completely different halfs. You did
what you wanted to in the first half, and they
(18:52):
did what they wanted to in the second half, and
you wound up losing the game. You're even leading going
into the fourth quarter. I'm trying to remember some of
those positives and graft them onto my expectations for what
this defense can do. But you got to play more
than thirty minutes of football too.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Well. You know, the easy thing is that the field
goals in the first half should have been touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
And you know we saw the second half so agree.
You know, plays like DK metcalfs unnecessary and TJ's face
mask and yeah, it just went on and on. A
couple of bad calls by the officials. Now, I like
the play action deep bomb to start that that that direction.
I like that because I too thought the Packers going
(19:40):
to overload and bite on the run. So when when
he threw those interceptions, everybody you know who wanted them
to run. And now it looks in retrospect, it looks
like the right thing would have been to run, but
I just thought I thought it was a nice time
to strike while they were overplaying the run. I thought
it was a nice time to strike deep. But it
(20:02):
didn't work out. So I can't criticize the play call,
and other people can because they were first guessing. So
I'm not too disappointed in the offensive play calling. I
will say one thing about predicting last week's game. I
didn't feel good about it, and I felt better about
them beating the Colts. The Colts have a huge lead
(20:25):
in their division. Really, it's hard to get motivated thinking
about home to home home playoff game advantage at this
point and their numbers. The last five games against very
weak competition aren't all that overly impressive. And the Steelers
(20:46):
always historically played better in the second of back to
back home games, and I'm sure that last home game
there was a lot of embarrassment for all the Packers
fans a chance and the way they played, there's just
embarrassment to go all the way around. Well, I got
a feeling about them bouncing back this week.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
WEX. Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
Always a pleasure to talk to you, and I look
forward to seeing you on the South Side in the
next couple of days and Sunday at Akrosser Stadium.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Absolutely see you boys.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Humpday headlines with Wexheil, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
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Speaker 2 (21:37):
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Speaker 5 (21:38):
Pro shops located at Akroscher Stadium, Grove City, Premium, Mount
Let's or Tang Route Let's or gear up online at
shop dot Steelers dot com. Get it direct from the
team at the Studers Pro Shop at Shop dot Steelers
dot com. Back and more in the Locker Room presented
by your neighborhood Ford Store and the Studers Pro Shop.
On Steelers Nation Radio apart of the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
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
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dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well, we're getting you ready for the Steelers and Colts.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
And we've talked a lot about the Kyle Dugger trade
and hopefully the Steelers defense bouncing back against the Colts
prolific and outstanding offense. And we're going to certainly dive
into that. But something else is happening on Sunday that
I think bears discussion because it directly results to our
friend Max Starts and Max, that is the anniversary of
(22:49):
the twentieth anniversary of that Super Bowl forty championship in.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Detroit.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
And before we get into kind of some of thisifix
of that year, what's it gonna be like seeing all
year old buddies.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Uh and uh and and.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
Being part of that uh, you know, that celebration on
Saturday night and then on Sunday out in the field.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Uh, it's gonna be pretty special. You're not gonna lie,
you know. I was. I was.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I was a very young man then second year, second
year in the league, first year starting for.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
The Steelers at right tackle.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
So that was that was a That was one of
the three years I played right tackle for the team.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
And man, just seeing all those guys.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I mean, granted, I see a majority of guys, you know,
throughout the year, and you know the years, I still
a lot of us still talk a lot to each other.
So it's it's gonna be crazy to see all of us,
I think together, But I do get to see a
(24:00):
good bit of guys outside of it, Like you know,
just think about this. When we were in Ireland, right,
I mean, you know, Ben was there, Jerome was there,
Ike was there. You know, so we had so so
I see those teammates, you know. You know when when
I have to go to Atlanta, you know, I always
see Arnold Harrison, I see Trey Essex, and you know,
(24:27):
when I'm in la I see James Ferrier, see you
know PZ. But I forgot Pez was there. Keizel was
there in Ireland as well. You know, I see Keyesel,
you know a good little bit. And you know, as
I go through like the roster, right, I mean that's
the other thing I can still I can probably I can.
I can name just about every guy on that roster,
(24:50):
and I think that's what's the pretty cool thing when
you think about it, like, you know a lot of Hey,
can you name twenty people at work? It's like no,
I could literally they. I mean I could go through
an entire starting lineup. I can go through I could
probably go yeah too deep on it on just about
every position of guys that were on that team. So
to be able to see those guys pretty special.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
You know, Aaron Smith comes up to training camp, so
you get to see him Cheaty. Cheaty works for us
in the scouting department as a West Coast scout, so.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I do get to see Cheaty. Uh.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
You know, Twoman was up a training camp, Troy comes
to training camp, Russell Stuvants came to training camp, and uh,
you know the significance about Russell Stevens Stuvie was my room,
was my roommate on the road that year. So you know,
you think about that and I am gonna miss some
of our guys who are on that team that that
(25:44):
are coaches now. I mean you look at what Antoine
Randall l Right is coaching for the Bears. You look
at Duce Daley, you know, Deuces with Deuce is gonna
be is with the Browns.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Uh, Wardy.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Wardy's out here in a z He's an a SU
wide receivers coach, you know, so you know, get to
see get to see Wardy and uh and so it's
to Shae de Shae. Shae still coaching. So I won't
get to see Deshay Townsend, who was one of our
starting corners in that Super Bowl team. You know, I
hang with Ike a lot, especially during training camp, and.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So I just I just go through all these guys
in my head.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
You know, I can't wait to see Verron Haynes, somebody
I hadn't seen it in a while who was on
that team, one of our one of our key running backs.
You know, it'll be good to see Jeff, you know Jeff.
Jeff usually comes up to training camp Jeft. Jeff didn't
come this past year, so you know it'd be good
to see Jeff. Be good to see Red Alan Fanica,
you know when he comes up for that. And you
(26:44):
know Marvel. I see Marvel in La as well. In fact,
I probably probably will probably end up seeing Marvel at
the Chargers game because he usually comes to that one.
That's one of the games he comes to him and
him and James are out there and their neighbors that
hang out. So you know, as I kind of just
look at all those guys you know that that that
are gonna be here. I mean I'm excited, you know,
to see like a Clint Kreewall, like Buddy Lee we
(27:07):
used to call him.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah, I would love to see if Sean Moory comes
back one of one of our just Special teams, captains
Chris Gardaki, Papa Doc. You know, Chris Gardaki was our
punter on the team back then. You know, Jeff Reid.
I'm sure we'll see Jeff Reid. There's just so many guys,
you know, Matt Cushing, and I'm probably naming the names
(27:29):
from the Steeler faces, like who are these guys? And
some people are like, oh my god, you remember that name.
I mean, it's that brotherhood and we did something that
was really special, and the fact that we could celebrate
that twenty years later and come together, it's gonna be
really cool.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
You know.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
I would love to see, you know where my brother
Chris Kimo Yatu uh. You know, we used to call
them big Juice, you know, juicy. If he'll be able
to make it. You know, he lives in Hawaii, and
he was that was his rookie year five, you know,
because that O five class, Heath Miller, right, Brian McFadden,
Trey Essex, Arnold Harrison, Chris Kiyatu. No, it was a
(28:10):
special group of guys that played Andre Frasier that came
in and really was a catalyst for our five team
because our O four team went fifteen and one.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
We lost the sc championship game and then.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Too you know, and then we take the the quote
unquote the band, the band of brothers. That O five
class was really a glue, a glue group, and you
know a lot of them contributed in big ways and
our success, especially during the playoffs. So you know, there's
a lot of love for those guys. I was just
a young guy on that like, oh, Kendall Simmons won't
be there either, because Kendall's coaching at Middle Tennessee State.
(28:43):
I forgot about that one as I was going through
the offensive line in my mind, you know, and Kendall
Kendall and I, you know, through the double team block
at the line of scrimmage that led up to the
last block on Lofa Ttupu and the Super Bowl with
Red kicking out the end on Bryce Fisher. You know,
there's just like so many vivid memories from that time. Yeah,
(29:04):
Els Willie's run, Yeah that was counting thirty four Pike yep.
And so it's just like when you just go through,
like it's a flood of memories. But it's so special.
It's so awesome to know that you'll get to see
those guys. Hope I get to see thunder Dan Krider.
You know, thunder Dan was my boy man, the last
of the full backs really in earnest here for the
(29:26):
Steelers back when we were an I formation team. You know,
Dan Danny was a big part of that. So yeah,
just just a lot of joy, a lot of a
lot of thankfulness, a lot of gratitude for for that
time and you know, that team we did something that
was really special. We were the first sixth seed to
ever win a Super Bowl. Right to go from the
(29:47):
lowest seed in there, go out take the take the
show on the road for three straight games, and then
go go go send the bus back home. You know,
have the have the bus retire where everything started. So
it was a truly special occasion to really really finally
get one for the thumb and.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
I'm just gonna be so excited. It will be a
lot of emotions.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I'm sure on game day on the broadcast as it
kind of relive it. But I'm really looking forward to
getting to see everybody. And you know, and like I said,
you know, have a little bit of revelry, you know,
not too much, you know, a little rebel, not a
lot of rousing. We get around each other. But I
promise I will show up on time at work on
(30:30):
Sunday morning. I promise I'll be there and ready to
rock and roll. And I will not be wearing the
shades in there in the booth. I will be a
responsible adult because we are twenty years older. The young us,
you know, took it to Vegas afterwards and we had
a blast there.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Time was had. But now you know, now it's like,
all right, guys, Okay, what time are we getting there
for breakfast? Any need?
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Has everybody gotten their fiber today? Anybody need oatmeal?
Speaker 4 (30:56):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Everybody feeling good? Okay, that's good? All right.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
So I'm gonna make a statement that I don't know,
maybe I can't speak for others, but I think there's
something special and unique about football that you know, it's
a large group of guys and you know you are
you know, the practices are not looks. Basketball practice cannot
(31:22):
be fun sometimes too, you're running up and down the floor,
but you're playing basketball.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
You know.
Speaker 5 (31:27):
Other sports you play baseball, you get to take rounders. Yeah,
you're jogging around the field a few times. But something
about football and what you have to endure physically, how
difficult it is. Double sessions in August. No matter where
you are in the country, that's hot. It's gruesome. I
think you go through a lot, whether you played in
high school or college or the pros. I think there's
(31:51):
something special about the sport as far as bringing people together.
And I don't know if I've caught the reasons as
to why. I think some of it is just plain endurance.
You know, just what everybody has to go through brings
you together. But it's just and I know you don't
have the context of not being on a Super Bowl
champion team in your career. You have been, but I
(32:14):
just think it's got to be a little bit special
having been through all that extra special. I'm sure there
are guys that played for the Lions back in the
day that still that never won a championship that still
remember their teammates and all that, but there's just got
to be something different, a different level of that camaraderie
(32:35):
that comes when you win a championship.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
Well yeah, I mean those names, just like they're etched
on the side of that Super Bowl trophy, that Lombardi
Trophy that sits up in the uh in the library
at the Steelers facility, I mean, they're they're esched in
your mind as well, right, and the journey that it
was and you know, doing something very difficult and achieving it, right,
(33:04):
you know, when you climb to the top of the
quote unquote everest of your sport, and that's winning a
world championship, you know, you don't forget that.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
But I think, you know, the most important thing.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
As much as we like to remember the game and
the victory and everything else, you know, there's something about
the struggle.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
You know, it's in the midst of.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
The losing streak that we had in the middle of
that season, you know, to the expectations that we had
that we felt were slipping away, and to the opportunity
to still persist. And that's why I always that's why
I always say, you know, when we're talking about this
and we get into those playoff.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
You know, at times, Rob like all you.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Need is a golden ticket, you know, you need that
playoff ticket that anything can happen after that. And the
reason why I can say it because we were the
living embodiment of that. We just need that. There were
twelve teams in that playoff guarantee, we were probably ranked
twelve because we or the sixth seed in the AFC
and there were five other teams that should have been
(34:05):
there that weren't. And we went through the hardest road
because when you are the lowest seed, you get the
best talent. So we take on the three seed in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Then we then the.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Follow week because we won, we go take on, you know,
the number one seed in Indianapolis, and then of course
we go through the number two seed in Denver that
year to get to the game where you get to
play against the Seattle Seahawks, who was a top team,
one of the top rushing teams in the league that
year until they saw us.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
But I mean, that was you know, that was but
that was that was what it was.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
It was a challenge that was in front and so
that's why I never get too down about where we
are as a team, because I was like, I've been there,
I've been in those shoes, right, and I can have
that grace and understand because literally I remember being a
part of a team that did that, that defied those odds.
(34:59):
I remember, and I remember our Super Bowl forty three
team that even though we were the two seed, I
remember being considered the worst offensive line in the playoffs.
I remember those days.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
So even when you.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Tell me that, it's like, no, I've seen I've seen
the other side of it. I've seen what the human
spirit can do. I've seen what, you know, fifty three
guys with one mission on their mind can accomplish. When
you all get on the same page, it doesn't matter
what everybody else thinks. It matters what you and your
teammates think. Now, if you can look your teammate in
the eyes after every game, in between every snap and
(35:32):
say I'm giving it my all, come on, you know,
let let's let's let let let's go, let's go to
the edge here. I believe that because I've seen it,
I've experienced it, We've overcame it. And so that's why
I urge people not to jump to those conclusions too soon,
because it is something that's special.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Like you said, I can go back and I could
name I.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
You know, another guy was thinking about while we were talking,
while I was taught, Willie Williams. I think about Willie
Willy was what he was on the Super Bowl thirty
team as.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Well, veterans and that lost in the veteran veteran.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
And then he made and then he survived and made
it all the way ten years later super Bowl forty,
I finally got that victory. So there's there's just so
many unique stories, and I think a lot of those
stories don't get told when you don't make it to
that point, and maybe you do to a degree, but
when you do it, just it reveals so much more
(36:28):
character about a team and about the people you're with,
and you're bonded for life. You're bonded for life in
a brotherhood, and you have something that's very special that
you know, this year we're going for the sixtieth one.
And to know that you had a hand in that
over this illustrious, you know league that has been around
for over one hundred years, and you have something that
(36:50):
that puts you in football immortality.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
That's a special thing. It's a special moment. Well.
Speaker 5 (36:57):
I also like the way because you are professional that
you brought it back to the current state of the Steelers,
which we will get to when we continue and wrap
up this edition. I can't wait to see out in
the field, Maxim, I'm.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Road for you.
Speaker 5 (37:14):
Actually see it Friday night, I think our Saturday night,
I think West and I are doing a radio show
from the from uh.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Oh doing doing the Steelers. Yeah, a reunion dinner.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
I believe it's called doing the Reunion Dinner. Doing a
little radio there. But anyway, we will we will continue
with this twenty twenty five Steelers group taking on the
high powered Colts when we continue in the Locker Room
presented by your neighborhood Ford Store and the Steer's Pro
Shop on Steers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingyon 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. Get it direct from the
team at the Steelers Pro Shop at Shop dot Steelers
dot com.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
All right, we are in the final segment of the show,
and of course you know it's time for the bellap. Oh,
that's right, early lunch moarning system, engage their kinger. You
know how we do each and every time we hear
that beautiful thing. We know is the final segment of
(38:29):
today's show. But we encourage everybody ten minutes ten minutes
till noon o'clock, and of course that is the foraging
hour for us Land mammals.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
So please make sure you eat responsibly. And by responsible,
I mean go find something good to eat. You deserve it.
You deserve it.
Speaker 3 (38:46):
Whoever is listening out there stealing naging, you deserve to
have a good lunch.
Speaker 5 (38:51):
Now, will you be moving rapidly to your kitchen to
get breakfast or you have you already had breakfast.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I have not had breakfast.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
And like I said, this morning was a little bit
of a different, you know occasion.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Obviously, wake it up early and wake it up. My
daughter and on her birthday.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Her birthday, surprising her son, you know I And what
was crazy is you know, she wanted something special for lunch, right,
she wanted these special shells.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Mac and cheese.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
And we went to the store last night and you
know I was ready because I always make lunch for
the girls before they go to school.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
And I forgot the milk.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
Oh, no, forgot I forgot the milk, so I couldn't
couldn't make the cheese sauce to go with the shells
and cheese. And she likes and so yeah, so so
so bad dad, bad dad, No so no, So for lunch,
I'm actually gonna take take her. So she loves this
company called Plia Balls. I don't know, I don't know
if you've heard of that one, but they do like
the s I E bowls and all kind of stuff,
(39:50):
shakes and all the first stuff.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
So now you could go get the milk, prepare and
drop it off, you know, I could. I could, but
my dad meters is low on that one.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
Okay to show up with that, and I already gave
her an option, viable option that she's.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Looking forward to now.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
So all right, I'm like, you know what, We'll just
go with the playbook and I'll make it tomorrow for
for lunch.
Speaker 5 (40:14):
Having been on the occasional ooh, I forgot lunch drop
off duty.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Oh my gosh, talk about it. You got to you
gotta wrapped up in the paper bag. And you write
their name on it, you got the sack. You're just like,
could you deliver this too much? Exactly? Yeah, excuse me.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
I've been there, unfortunately several times on the Dado meter. So, Max,
we were talking about your two thousand and five team,
and for people that don't know, the team had to
win out at the regular season just to make the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Six seed you go through.
Speaker 5 (40:49):
And this was coming after a fifteen to one season
in which the expectations had been heaped upon that squad
and it didn't look like you're going to fulfill those expectations,
and you wound up doing just that.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
You did fulfill those expectations.
Speaker 5 (41:06):
So we are now as because you dropped this notion
last segment, We're going to come back to what does
it take beyond physical skill? Because I certainly believe this,
You others have the physical skill. I thought they were
going to beat the Packers after thirty minutes. I was
(41:27):
even more sure that they were going to beat the
Packers on Sunday night. That didn't happen. They're now reeling
after two consecutive losses. You guys were reeling. You guys
heard it from the media. You guys were able to
turn it around and win the Super Bowl. Just before
we start talking about winning super Bowls or anything like that,
what is the mentality it takes from a team perspective
(41:50):
to turn around what has happened over the last couple
of games, turn around what happened to you back at five,
and get yourself back on track.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
I think the biggest thing it's it's a it's a
mental commitment because obviously we already know what the physical is.
Like the physical got you there, and we know that,
like you said, you have everybody has a skill set
that set them apart, that allowed them to be a
member of this team. But it's that mental capacity, that
(42:21):
that dogged determination that really sets championship caliber teams away
from really good teams. And having that, I feel is
probably one of the biggest things. So it's the mental
skills that are necessary, the ability to shut the outside
world out right but kind of going to going to
(42:41):
silo or put on the blinders, so to speak, however
you want to categorize. You know, whatever the analogy is,
it's it's it's your mental makeup. It's the DNA and
and I just I just remember us sitting there and
you know, we had called one of those players only
meetings back before they became the fashionable thing to do
(43:02):
anytime your team was doing bad, you know. But but
for us, it wasn't trying to figure out what the
PC word is for this. It wasn't a sporting session,
right where guys just get out and just talk and
everybody wants to hear themselves, you know, speak and you know,
pontificate about things that are meaningless. It was a real deal,
(43:25):
just kind of kind of brother to brothers. You like
a family meeting, I think is what I categorize it
more than a players only talk.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
It was a family meeting, you know.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
And you know, if you come from like a large family,
rob that I come from a really really big family.
You know, when you have those family meetings, you know,
at the family reunion and like the seriousness of the
business union, listen to the elders, you know, they got
to speak. And no, every once in a while you
hear a younger person speaking. By younger, I mean, you're
talking about somebody that's like in their thirties talking when
(43:57):
your elders are in their seventies and eighties.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
But yeah, if you're if you're if you're like a.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
Teenageer or anything, you just sit there and close your mouth,
just just shut up and just.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
You know, it's like like you could talk with your ears. Uh,
that's what my uncle used to say, just talk with
your ears. Son. It's like exactly shut up and talking
with your mouth again.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
But you know, it's it's it's something about that mental
that that denial when you look a man in their
face and you commit that, hey, I'm going to do
everything possible in my power to make sure that I
do my job so that you can do your job.
And then by you doing your job allows the next
(44:39):
man to do his job, and then we do our
jobs and then it leads to good things.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
That's really what it is.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
And that's a mental concept because I mean, we've heard
it over the last couple of weeks. We've heard about
no guys trying to do too much right. That's been
that's been kind of one of the buzzwords is when
flying around the media around Pittsburgh, guys just say, oh,
guys would just do it too much. Not trusted their sign,
not trusting you know, their teammates, that trust, that implicit
trust that you have to have with the guy next
(45:07):
to you and really buy into that and make sure
that also that guy that's given that's being given the trust,
that he understands what that means. And if there is
more to do, if there's more to give, that's what's required.
All it requires is everything, And you know I mean that,
(45:28):
that's really what it is, because the job is the job,
and that's what it's going to require. It didn't say, hey,
at this job, you could if you give seventy percent,
we're good with your performance.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
Right.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
We're in a performance evaluation in any type of industry.
No outside of giving your all is a good review. Right,
You're you're going for the best. And when you if
you want the best, guess what you have to give
the best effort. You have to give the best concentrate.
(46:00):
You have to give the best version of yourself at
all times when it comes to those quote unquote board
meetings on Sundays or game days however you want to categorize,
because obviously we play a lot of different days out
of the week.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
But when it.
Speaker 3 (46:14):
Comes game day, the requirement is everything, and that's what
it is. And if you're not prepared to do that
step aside, because there's somebody else that's going to be
willing to do that. They might not have the most skill,
but if I'm giving one hundred percent, that's better than
(46:35):
the guy who's highly skilled giving seventy percent. Right, And
if you know what to do and now you can
now you can react.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
And that's what I talked about.
Speaker 3 (46:45):
You know, we talked about this was yesterday, the day before.
But it's one thing to learn something. It's another thing
to commit it to memory and your being right. It's
another thing to when a play is called you react.
Only that's the higher level. Well, that's the nu once,
that's the next level.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Of what you have to do. And so that's what
it is.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
It's the mental difference that really separated us and not
having the egos involved.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
You know, we said egos.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
Aside before we had that family meeting as a group,
and when we came out of it, we had clarity.
We knew what we needed to do and we were
able to commit to that. And that's what allowed us
to push through all the tough times, all the awkwardness
of a game, right, the good, the bad, the ugly,
the ebbs, the flows, the ups, the downs, the touchdowns
(47:35):
four and the touchdowns against Right. You know, that's what
allowed us because we mentally we were saying we're not
going to be stopped. We're not going to be denied.
And you could tell each other that and believe it.
And then as you win a game, oh okay, we
can do this. Okay, we went another one, Oh shoot,
we really can do this, and you allow that to
be infectious because I always say this. I was like,
(47:57):
the most viral and most poisonous thing in this world
is a thought. Right, It can infect everything around you.
A thought is what does that? More so than any
anything out there. We could think of the worst diseases,
everything else, but a thought. Once it gets it in
(48:17):
your head. Who it's tough to get that out, man,
It's tough to get that out. There's nothing you can take.
There's no pill you can take, there's no injection you
could take to get rid of that. Right, And so
that's what you have to have. You have to have that,
but in the positive way, to plant that.
Speaker 5 (48:33):
Seed, positive thoughts. Clarity being sought for the Steelers this week.
As Max Starks just said, Max, thank you, my friend.
I thanks to Justin Miller as well. In our controls
at the iHeart Studio and of course our thanks to
you for listening in the Locker Room presented by our neighborhood,
Ford Shore in this Steer's Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio,
(48:53):
a part of the Steelers Audio Network
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