1-on-1: Michael Pittman Jr. - March 16, 2026

Michael Pittman Jr. talks to Missi Matthews about how he found out he was traded to the Steelers, the offense, and more

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
How did you find out about the trade? Where were
you and what do you remember most about it?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, so I was actually in Uganda a couple of
days ago before the trade happened. And yeah, so it
wasn't much of like a surprise because obviously, like I
knew that it was a possibility and knew that it
was gonna happen. And then I got on the phone
with coach Mike and just the way that he was

(00:40):
talking and just his like enthusiasticness and his passion, Like
I just really saw a vision like for me to
come in here and play and hopefully help this team
win lots of games.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
What will it be like do you think playing with
DK Metcalf another physical receiver?

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Absolutely, I mean it's gonna be fun. Like I actually
texted him and just let him know that it's gonna
be a lot of physical ball, and I think that
we're gonna have lots of fun.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
What else do you know about the Steelers offense?

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, I know that we got a group of younger
guys too. I know that Mike likes to throw the
ball a lot, you know, and with Rico now you know,
like he's been playing playing great. So just know that
this offense can be explosive. You know, you got Darnell Washington,
you got Pat too, So like I feel like there's
a lot of really skilled guys here.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Does it matter that there's not necessarily a quote unquote
number one quarterback that you know of right now?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh? No, I mean that doesn't bother me. I mean, like,
if you look at my history, I've had a different
quarterback every single year I've been in the NFL, and
even back to college. I think in college I had
Sam Darnold for one and a half years, So like
that's the longest stretch I've had the same quarterback. So
I'm no stranger to like turn over and change and

(01:59):
whoever out there, Like, I'm gonna do my best to
help him out and just do whatever I can to
make their job easier.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
You had over one hundred receiving yards when you were
here in Pittsburgh last season. And the physicality do you
feel like you give off hinz Ward vibes? Almost?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, So I've actually got that a lot, especially early
in my career, talking about like the like blocking aspect,
because that's something that I take pride in is going
out there and blocking and just that like physicality. So
I mean that's like the ultimate compliment, I think, because
he was a great player and everything that he's done here.

(02:35):
So I hope to continue to do that, and I
hope that Steelers fans can see that same intensity that
he had in the way.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
That I play now. In terms of off the field,
I had read that you and your brother started an
aviation school and you're working towards your pilot's license. How
did this happen?

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, so I actually have my pilot's license now, okay.
And all started with him. So he played football and
he had to medically retired due to a neck injury.
He didn't really know like what he was gonna do,
and then he got into flying planes and he asked
me to buy a plane that he could teach people in.
So a month later he calls me, he's like, hey,

(03:14):
we need two planes. We need another instructor. And then
like another month went by he's like, all right, we
need three more planes. We need a front desk person,
we need a hangar, we need this and that, and
then it just blossomed into a full scale company and
now I think we have over thirty five students right now.
We have seven planes, Like it's just crazy, like where

(03:35):
it went, Like I didn't see this happening, and it's
all because of him and his passion like that he
has towards a flying very cool. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Is there anything else that you want Stealers Nation to
know about? You?

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Just know that I'm gonna come in every single day
and just bring that fire and passion and that I'm
excited to get to work.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Perfect. Thank you very much, thank you.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah,