July 30, 2025 • 42 mins
Labs and Tom talk Steelers defense to start the hour and hear from Darius Slay. Former Steeler Mike Logan joins the show.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Iheartradios Live Coverage Job Not twenty twenty five Steelers Training
Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next and
also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System,
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(00:27):
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Pro Shop, and by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It's Tom off Ferment and Bob Labriola on the Training
Camp Report. Steelers twenty twenty five Training Camp Labs. How's
the sky's looking. I know I might be jaxing us,
but I want to know we're still good. We still
have the sunshine.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Same, Yes, very few clouds, little puffy white clouds. That's it.
I mean, the clouds are not going to be a factor.
I don't think, either good or bad. And the way
they can be a good factor is provide a little
bit of shape as they move, you know, across the
path of the sun. But nah, it's gonna be hot
(01:07):
and steamy, you know, unless something rolls in over Bonaventure Hall,
which I don't doesn't look like it's gonna.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
No, and that's good news. Dealers will finally get their
first padded practice going and labs. Everybody's excited to get
the pads on. You're playing real football now. But do
you do you think the defense is a little bit
more excited than the offense as a whole, because I mean,
hitting's part of that job description.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know that one side of
the ball is, you know, more juiced for this than
the other. I think it's more it comes down to
an individual thing, like who really wants to do the hitting.
I just think there are certain guys that that is
really part of their DNA as football players and part
(01:51):
of their resume or whatever as NFL players. So you know,
one of the things I'm interested in seeing backs on backers,
for example, would be the matchup versus Caleb Johnson. You know,
the way I see it, Mike Tomlin has two choices.
(02:13):
He can go the uh try to stop a run,
runaway locomotive option, which might be pitting him against Donald
Opatrick Queen or Cole Holcombe you know somebody like that,
or does he go with can or what I might
(02:35):
say that now you see me, Now, you don't option,
which would be Nick Herbig. You know, one of the
most unbelievable going back in the way back machine installments
or reps of backs on backers, there was a I
can't remember the guy's name. He was an undrafted rookie fullback.
(02:58):
I think it was from Slippery Rock or something. And
you know, the guy came with This is the early nineties,
and the guy came with a kind of a reputation
for you know, leading up through the whole you know, blocking,
physical kind of play. So he is pitted in backs
on backers against Chad Brown, young Chad Brown. So okay,
(03:21):
the whistle blows or the balls snapped or what the
however they started, and the fullback kind of like drops
his butt a little bit, you know, and he's ready
for the contact, and Chad Brown's running right at him,
and just as he like fires up to punch, Jad
Brown did this spin move and the guy just whiffed
and fell right on his face. So, you know, those
(03:45):
are the kinds of tests you know, you can pose
in those situations. So I think Caleb Johnson is going
to be I won't say a star or a focal
point of backs on backers, but He's somebody that I
want to see in that and I'll be curious to
see how the matchups are arranged. And then you know
(04:07):
how many is there is there a you know, do
they do best out of three? Best out of five?
Does does Mike Tomlin give whoever lost that match up
the first time the chance to for a do over,
for a get back? They do? They want it because
that's that's the other thing I like to watch too,
(04:30):
how how energetic or the players might be to do
it do it again. You know, when it was uh
t J. Watt against Darnel Washington, t J. Watt wanted
to go again when he when he got stalemated the
first time. You know, you want to see that. So yeah,
(04:50):
those are the kinds of things I'll be looking for.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
And you know, when they do their their team run
as they're gonna call it, or live football as we
expect it to be. You know, you mentioned it. It
really comes down to the individual who's going to be
that guy that's really willing to start hitting early in
this training camp portion. And you know, I don't know why,
but I just think of Deshaun Elliott, right, He's such
a thumper on that defense, and I feel like he's
going to be a tone setter out there today.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Sure that you know, the filling filling the hole or
if it's a wide run, you know, coming up from
the secondary, pursuing the plate to the sideline. Those are
all the kinds of things from a defensive perspective that
you want to see. And then which way does the
pile move on contact? The offensive people want to see
(05:35):
the pile move forward. The defensive people want to see
the pile not move at all. So yeah, those are
the kinds of things you're looking for looking at because
if you're looking at it from a defensive perspective, you
want guys who are going to hit the ball carrier
and then that's it. You don't want ball carriers to
(05:56):
be hit and then either fall forward for a yard
two We're just kind of use their own momentum and
strength as they're going down the game, maybe another yard
or two. And then when you're in a division with
Derrick Henry, that's a significant thing.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
We're gonna hear from Darius slay in just a second
before we get to him though, Labs just looking at
this defense as a whole, you know, looking at it
compared to the past couple of years. It's it's been
a really good defense the past couple of years. But
I just look at it at every level now labs
and it's really hard for me to find who the
weakest link is gonna be. Of course, there's a potential
(06:37):
for that to be somewhere, but it just feels like
a defensive line, the linebackers, the secondary, it's all really
solid with stars on every level.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well, one of the things I think that was an
issue last year was, you know, the Steelers had to
play a lot of nickel in order to you know,
get people covered, and so you have to be able
to stop the run out of the nickel. And Peyton
Wilson came back this summer from you know, came back
(07:10):
this summer. He looks a lot different physically. He looks
a lot more capable of you know, standing in there
and being a factor against the run. Now, what you
want to see from Peyton Wilson is when they do
the you know, the other version of backs on backers,
(07:31):
it's backs on backers pass protect and then backs on
backers coverage. They don't usually do them the same day.
So for example, today they do backs on backers, the
drill is heavily weighted towards the defense because the offense
can't cut you, which you know that's a significant disadvantage.
(07:53):
But then tomorrow, and I'm assuming tomorrow when they do it,
when it's backs on backers coverage, it's very heavily weighted
towards the offense because you're covering a guy. As a
defensive player, you're covering a guy one on one all
over the field, and there's no pressure on the passer.
(08:15):
So I mean that's a you know, it's there's a
lot of grass out here that you're chasing a well
at one point, you know, you're chasing Levy on Bell
around and now it's going to be Kenneth Gainwell, I think,
is going to be the guy who is going to
be difficult to cover. So you want to see how
(08:35):
Peyton Wilson can handle that assignment. Maybe following today where
you might see him, you know, and I don't know
if the defense will be and it's three four or
whatever it might be, but if they're in the nickel,
you know, you want to see Peyton Wilson do well
against the run, filling the hole, taking on blockers, whatever,
(08:57):
it might be today and then tomorrow. We want to
see him be able to run with Kenneth Gainwell because
that will show you, well, let me say this, it'll
give you an early indication of how much nickel you
can play and how effective you can be against both
the run and the pass with your nickel.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Darius Slay, you have to think all the way back
to the beginning of the offseason. There's been a flurry
of moves by your Pittsburgh Steelers. He was he might
have been the first. I'm not exactly sure if DK
came before him, or if Darius Lay came right before DK.
He was the first free agency signing that the Steelers
exercised this offseason. And Labs, I know he's up there
in age and there's always that concern with somebody like
(09:39):
that at that position, but we just saw him play
on a Super Bowl winning defense last year with the Eagles,
arguably the number one defense in the NFL by the way.
And what I liked about him and that defense, Labs
is even though he was, you know, thirty three years
old getting up there, he was able to kind of
just blend into that defense because they had so many
other really great pieces in that second they had solid
(10:00):
safeties and they had two really young studs at corner
who were happened to be rookies but were great and
immediately took to the NFL. Kind of the same thing here, right, Like,
he doesn't have to come in and be the superman,
the first team All Pro that he once was. He's
got a Rams and he's got a Joey Porter junior,
and he's got it to Shaun Elliott to kind of
blend in with in that secondary.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yeah, and you know he can cover. And that's the thing.
I mean, what the Steelers did not have last year
on defense, in my opinion, was enough corners who could cover.
And when you don't have that, then you know you're
all Pro. Free safety is playing center field, and your
(10:42):
thumper inside linebacker Patrick Queen is having to play underneath
his own coverage instead of again concentrating on where's Derrick
Henry and is he getting the football? So now and
there were all also the communication issues last year, but
(11:03):
now I think there are going to be less communication
issues because if you have guys who can cover, you
can pretty much say, okay, you have him, you have him,
and you have him and everybody else is going to
play whatever, so there's less communication there. You don't have
to Patrick Queen doesn't have to worry about I don't
(11:23):
know a receiver that now might be covered man to
man all over the field. You don't have to worry
about is he coming underneath? Do I need to get
into his own coverage in order to get into the
area where you think the quarterback might be waiting him
to get in the receiver to get into and throw
them the ball. So a lot of this stuff, I
(11:46):
think it's going to be an evolving thing and if
we looking in my opinion, the significant aspect of this
defense is the ability of the corners to line up
and hover. How that can simplify things in the back
end and then also make the quarterback hold the ball
(12:08):
a little bit longer because you need you can't have
a guy getting rid of it in you know, two
to two point three seconds or whatever it is. Your
pass rush cannot get there. You need them to hold
it on a little longer so that you know your TJ.
Watts and Alex high Smiths, Nick Kurbigs, those people, Derek Carmon,
(12:31):
Cam Heyward, these guys can get at the quarterback and
then maybe make him make a quick decision, hopefully a bad, quick,
bad decision, and then maybe you get some takeaways.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Darius Slay had a nice chat with the media yesterday
even though Steelers had to move their practice into the gym.
Let's take a listen to what the Steelers cornerback had
to say.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Your early impressions of how this secondary is going to
work with you and Jalen and Joey Windard Junior.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Uh, it's been great, man.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
It's a great opportunity for uh each of everyone else
to learn from each other and uh and grow to
get better as a group as a unit. Cause that's
the main thing though. It was we all on the
same page. Everything gonna be good.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
So, so you had last year, you and the two young
guys in Philly. What did you learn about having for
the advantages of having three guys like that? I mean,
usually he's got two cornerbacks.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Yeah, there's a.
Speaker 7 (13:21):
Nickel, but you have to cut three interchangeable parts. Pick
up the scene and going on here. What are some
of the advantages of that you saw play out last year?
Speaker 6 (13:28):
Uh, the the fact that a lot of guys are versatile,
you know, the fact that.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
Uh, like Coop.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
When I was playing with Coop last year, he could
have played safety if we needed him to do that
as well, or whatever he needed to do. But uh,
you know, being out perfect air once stayed healthy. So
we know we stuck to what we did. But it's
just it's just good to always have guys out there
could just be versatile and uh and get the job done.
Speaker 8 (13:46):
It's like, how how comfortable are you being versatile moving
around them? And where do you see yourself as the
where your.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Best slot is in there? Uh, whatever they need be
to be.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
You know, I played a slot before when I was
in Detroit, you know, and uh when I was just
tropical corner weather, that guy went.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
I went, So it it doesn't matter, you know.
Speaker 6 (14:04):
Uh, I'll here to do whatever I need to do
to help the team win and uh to be successful.
So whatever I need to do to get all getting
it done.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
So Uh, Mike tom Wanna said with the additions to
the secondary, he thinks she'll be able to match up
anyone man the man.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
I'm curious what kind.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Of mindset mentality does it have to take to be
that kind of guy that thrives in a man coverage
monoy mono type of situation.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Well, yeah, that's how I earn earned a lot of
my money playing a lot of men. So uh and no,
I'm blessed and fortune though I at this age, I
can still do that, So I'm thankful for that. And
you know that way he bought us here for guys
I could get in the faces and got some elite
receivers in this conference and into vision. So we're looking
forward to the challenge and you know they're trying to
get better.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
You played much press over the years or supposed to
grun and cover? Say what again? Do y Have you
played much press man over the years or are you
mostly a run and cover guy?
Speaker 6 (14:50):
I'm everything? Uh, I was off man, press man. Whatever
I need to do to win it down.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And sweet highs are going to enshrine and can't this
swe You've had a pretty good career.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
Do you take that far ahead of a yellow jacket
and cool?
Speaker 6 (15:04):
I always think about it, you know, uh, out, I
did some great years and I has a a s
a real great career. I feel as in, uh, you know,
hopefully you know that's what I am hoping for that
and you know when we did for show getting at
Super Bowl. I kind of hope I could easy get
a a better chance of getting in there, but uh,
we'll see, man, you know, but uh, if it happened
and happening, if it don't, mand really blessed. If I
hang my claes up today. Now, I'm really great with
(15:25):
about how you know, how it panned out.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
No, you and Jalen have tweeted back and forth over
the years about the possibility of even playing together trains
before that you guys would be able to link up.
What's it like finally being able to be on the
same team and why have you always thought that that
that pairing would work out?
Speaker 6 (15:40):
Well?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Great, man, cause it like he like I said, he's
a very talented dude. Man, he's like a definitely in
this generation now, he's like the uh you know, Charles Woodson,
not to say he's is Charles woods but he's like
the version of it, the guy that could play safety,
nickel corner and be great at all of 'em. And
and the fact that you know, we get to play
with each other. Now, I wish I was a lot younger,
you know, you know, and get this, cause it'd be
(16:02):
a lot fun. You know, you know though, it's still
gonna be fun. It's right now to day, but uh
it's a blessing.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Man. We get a chance to work with each other. Man.
We've been knowing each other for a long time since
he been in the lead.
Speaker 6 (16:10):
We actually been in the group chat where before we
was even in you know, ow teams together.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
So we been have a great relationship.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
How did they're.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Coming at you guys?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And how did that come?
Speaker 9 (16:18):
And bother you you know, got close like that?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
How did you first?
Speaker 5 (16:22):
How do we do?
Speaker 6 (16:22):
I mean, we play corners, so we always you know,
give natural respect. We watch each other films.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
You know.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
I hit him up before and asked him like, hey, man,
how do you feel about this receiver? He gave me
tips on that he he do the same with me
as well. So uh, yeah, man, we come, you know,
we do. Real good friends, real good friends.
Speaker 8 (16:35):
Who else gets to be in the all pro corner group.
Speaker 6 (16:37):
That's a lot of us, man, It's me him, you know,
my homeboy, Quandre Diggs, Zebie Howard, It's a lot of us.
You know, we just being that chatting up man. You know, Uh,
it's always bigger than football, so we always trying to
keep a bond outside of the football.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
What's Joey Porter Junior got to do that or that?
Oh he's gill getting there. We go get him in
the go get him in there for shows like you
guys have a lot of new players, prominent new players.
How do you go about bringing them all together? And
is that maybe a good thing or exciting for all
of you guys to be sort of you know, coming
together during the uh.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
One thing I can say, well, uh, just looking over
the you know, the guys we brought in, you know,
Mike t brought some guys that's kind of like, you know,
not to say it's not a championship organization, It's is
a championship organization, but guys that just like you know,
been to that championships aspect before and you know, to
bring that culture around to around guys that's younger. You know,
they got a young group that's coming in. You know,
I got some very young talent and I got some
(17:26):
guys that's still trying to you know, get them a
super Bowl.
Speaker 10 (17:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
So uh uh, I think that's what he did. He's
just trying to bring the more the atmosphere around it.
And you know, uh so Uh, and that's what we
go bring, you know, we go try to bring that,
you know, that championship attitude from you know what we
had from other organizations, so over here to be a
part of this great organization.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Told us Swooty gud Here that he was gonna ask again.
Speaker 9 (17:46):
T J.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
Watt told us Whooty gut here he was gonna ask
anybody he could to twitter super Bowl. How do you
do it?
Speaker 6 (17:52):
Yeah, as he got to you get we all talked
about it a little bit in the locker room, man,
and you know, I just gave my point, man, And
the main thing is it's the connection. You know, a
lot of connection, a lot of hanging with each other,
a lot of trust in each other. And you know,
and putting the team first, that nobody's bigger than the team.
And you know, when guys that's expected to have bigger
roles can be appreciative of taking a little role for
(18:15):
somebody else to be a bigger role, that's how you
become a champion.
Speaker 8 (18:18):
Now that you've had time to get acclimated to Gerald
Alexander and how he coaches you guys as a unit,
what what do you think of how he approaches how
does how he approaches you guys to correct things, make
sure you're being on the same page because you guys
are moving on a lot.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Out there in front.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Yes, well, he does a great job and meetings first,
you know, from the meetings, so he takes we do
a great job from taking the meetings to the field.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Man.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
Then especially with guys like me and Jail and being
there being vetterans is. Uh, it's pretty it's pretty kind
of easy. Deshaun too.
Speaker 9 (18:44):
Man.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
He's a smart, talented dude too, us man. Man, he
helped me with the defense faster than than anything you know,
and uh, with with everybody knowing what everybody's doing, we
all help each other.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
He slay with Ramsey. He's a different personality. How would
you describe his personality around the team?
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Contrast that with your personality and how's it meshing all together?
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Oh, it's great, man. It's a for sure different type
of version of two players. You know, definitely me, you know,
Jadian's a more of an aggressive player than I am,
but not like you know, vocally, you know, you know,
we all play the game the same way, in the
right way. You know, I'll play it hard. He played hard,
but just in different ways. I'll laugh and giggle a lot.
You know, I'll play a lot, you know, you know
Jay kind of Moore series at all times, trying to
(19:25):
get in everybody bad mind. But I'm more like, hey,
I'm just like playing football, trying to win it down.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
The Steelers defensive back Darius Slagh yesterday after practice, Pats
come on today for the Steelers. When we come back,
Labs and I are going to talk about the running
back tandem Jalen Horn and Caleb Johnson. Labs already said
he's looking forward to seeing Caleb Johnson in Backs on Backers.
We'll talk about them and the impact they can have
on the running game this season for the Steelers. And
(19:52):
we still have Mike Logan to come later on in
the show. It's the Training Camp Report on Fox Sports
Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Iheartradios. Live coverage of about twenty twenty five Steelers training
camp is presented by FedEx where Now meets Next and
also brought to you by CGR Wholesale Roofing and Siding
Supply Center, by Tom's Appliances, by Always Safe Flagging and
traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank by Schneider Downs,
(20:28):
by Has's Steak and Seahouse, by your Neighborhood, Ford Store,
by Castle Rock, by Clearview Federal Credit Union.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
And by us Steel, Tom Offerman and Bob Lavriola on
the training camp report and labs. You had mentioned already
today and I think yesterday too, about you're anticipating Caleb
Johnson and how he looks and backs and backs on backers,
and how he'll be tested by Mike Tomlin. All that true,
and it's exciting to see that happen in probably about
(20:58):
an hour or so from now. The impact that he
and Jalen Warren are going to have on the actual
running game this year, I think is going to be big.
And you know, we kind of have before on this show,
kind of looked at them through the lens of a
little bit of a competition. You know, who's going to
be that quote unquote league dog in that room. But
it really truly is going to be a tandem, and man,
(21:18):
that's such an advantage to be able to have two
starting caliber running backs that you can play.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah, and it's gonna be interesting to see how those
the roles unfold unfold in terms of that tandem. You know,
one of the things about Caleb Johnson is where he
played his college football, Iowa. You know, there are stats
and stuff that show that this guy ran against the
stack box maybe more than any other running back in
(21:47):
college football. How successful he was against those stack boxes.
Because all due respect to the Iowahawk guys, they were
not good at throwing the football and they I don't
know that they even try to do it that often
because they weren't very good at it. So, you know,
one of the things that I think the Steelers are
(22:09):
looking for from their running game is not that you're
gonna be breaking breaking fifty sixty seventy yard runs or anything,
because that's such a rarity in the NFL today, But
offenses and or running backs who can break off, you know,
(22:29):
fifteen to twenty five yard runs anything in that area
that's incredibly valuable. Those are called chunk plays. In the
running game. You need some of those, not only for
what it immediately provides the offense. Most likely it'll be
a first down. Sometimes it might get you into scoring
(22:54):
territory or across midfield on the edge of scoring territory.
Excuse me on the scoring territory, but you also force
the defense into, you know, certain things that are advantageous
for the offense and not so advantageous for the defense.
And you know, Caleb Johnson is that kind of guy.
(23:15):
He has that ability to break those kinds of runs. Now,
Jalen Warren also showed some ability to do that in
his first couple of years here, but there's there still
is a little bit of a question about can he
handle because of his physical stature, can he handle a
(23:39):
primary load running the football in the NFL? And you know,
Jalen Warren can become an unrestricted free agent after this season,
so you know this is a money year for him.
So again, I mean a lot of things I think
are coming together for these two guys. They should be
really excited about the opportunities. And the Steelers have some
(24:03):
chances to take advantage of those guys' individual skills to
maybe really choose this offense.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And you've got an offensive coordinator that's gonna lean heavily
on the running game when it's successful, and he has
the pieces that he likes, and when you have a
forty two year old quarterback labs, it's just smart for
him to lean on a running game that's working, because
that's going to extend his life.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Absolutely, absolutely, And I think that Aaron Rodgers is happy
about being part of an offense where he doesn't have
to throw the ball sixty times a game.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I think that's in his best interest at this point
in his career. Missy Matthews had a nice camp conversation
with Jalen Warren, who's heading into a contract year this year.
Let's hear what the conversation sounded like.
Speaker 10 (24:50):
Mother nature has not been kind. Usually that's a good
thing for coach Tomlin. But first day and Pad's not
able to go.
Speaker 11 (24:56):
What was his message to the team, you know, just
you know, keeping him professional. There's other ways, you know,
with the delay and all that, there's other ways to
get our get stuff done, and so making sure we
stay focused in that segment.
Speaker 10 (25:10):
This is a day that a lot of guys look
forward to. You made a name on this day your
rookie season. What was the mood like as you guys
were in pads down on the field and found out
you had to come inside.
Speaker 11 (25:21):
I liked it because everybody, you know, we were excited,
we knew what was coming. We were excited to get
to it, but you know, I guess we it's not
gonna do it.
Speaker 10 (25:32):
In terms of waiting one more day, what do you
tell a guy like Caleb Johnson who this will be
his first go around in a backs on backers or
a coach Tonelin type practice, just.
Speaker 11 (25:42):
That you know, even though it didn't happen, today is
going to happen, and just to you know, keep preparing,
keep working on the fundamentals.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Today.
Speaker 11 (25:50):
Would probably use it as a mental day, another GiB
at a day, and so I know he's gonna shine
when it comes.
Speaker 10 (25:56):
What has it been like through the acclamation period for
you personally being the veteran guy in that room who
has been through this process before in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
I guess just.
Speaker 11 (26:05):
Sharing my knowledge, you know, at the positions and I
am today, I am in today. I'm still learning, you know,
as well as others and passing the knowledge I've learned
throughout my four years down to k Logan. You know,
however he takes it, he takes it, but he's been
making sure he, you know, get gets it done well.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Steelers running back Jalen Warren having a camp conversation with
Missy Matthews. It's available on Steelers dot Com. Missy will
be doing those throughout training camp. Great stuff always from her.
When we come back, we're gonna step aside and we're
gonna welcome Mike Logan to the show. Always like closing
down the show with a former Steeler that's hanging around
camp that day, and today that man will be Mike Logan,
(26:46):
Bob Labriella, Tom Opframan. It's the Training Camp Report on
Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Network, Iheartradios Live Coverage Job Dot twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next
(27:12):
and also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System,
by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente Pizza
and Drafthouse by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto, Laurel, Highlands Visitors, Bureau, Remax,
Select Realty, the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Shop, and by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Tom Opferman and Bob Labriola On the Training Camp Report.
Mike Logan en route to the booth right now, so
we will be joined by him in just a little bit.
But Labs Whilewie White wait for Mike to show up
and join us. Why don't we just if anybody missed
it earlier, go over what the plan is today for
the Steelers in their first padded practice. What the script's
(27:54):
gonna look like.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah, and the players have started trickling out onto the
field and they are in pads. So Mike just joining
us here, give us a second and we'll get right
on with the with the interview. Here, Hi, Mike, check
tick there you go. Oh, thank you for doing this.
(28:16):
Glad you could join us. This is a little warm
out here today.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
What do you think it's a little nippy out there.
Speaker 9 (28:24):
It's a little nippy.
Speaker 10 (28:25):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (28:26):
Now, this is training camp weather. This is what it's
all about right here. This is where you find out
who the real dogs are. And today's a dog day.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yeah, first day in pads down by the food trucks,
part of the you know, carnival atmosphere that is now
enveloped Saint Vincent College for Steelers training camp. There's an
exhibit that is celebrating the Pittsburgh Steelers and Western Pennsylvania
football in the run up for the twenty twenty six
(28:55):
NFL Draft that will be in Pittsburgh. You're a Western Pennsylvania.
Speaker 9 (28:59):
Guy.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Part of that exhibit has to do with high school football,
the importance of high school football in this area. McKee Sport,
which is one of the story programs in the WP.
I a l back when you were in high school.
How important was football to that community when you were
growing up? And maybe you could talk a little bit
about George Smith, your coach.
Speaker 9 (29:19):
Well, you see my eyes light up, you said, George Smith.
He was so instrumental in my development, not only as
a football player, but as a young man. And I
think in Western Pennsylvania, I think that's one of the
things that comes with playing high school football. With all
the well respected coaches that have been in all of
these programs around the area, they want you to be
(29:39):
quality young men as well, because they want you to
go out on the field and learn the lessons and
learn the game of football. But they're also going to
be learning and dealing with the things of life. And
then m Keysport, you're really dealing with some things in
life that happens in society around there. So without high
school football and something to keep me occupied, the sport
to keep me occupied. Coach Smith keeping me interested in
(30:01):
the game. It kept me out of a lot of trouble.
And I think that's football is saving grace for a
lot of young men out there in western Pennsylvania, especially
in Mckeysport. There's not a lot to do. There's not
a lot of positive things to do around there, you know,
And we didn't create them for us to have it,
but football gave us that outlet to be able to
(30:23):
go out and just have some fun and do something
that we loved.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know, after your college career West Virginia, you were
a second round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in nineteen
ninety seven. Wasn't a whole lot of love but loss
between the Steelers and the Jaguars, especially in that era,
back in those days, how did the Jaguars approach games
because they're in the same division, home and home two
(30:46):
games a year. How did the Jaguars approach those games
against the Steelers?
Speaker 9 (30:50):
We were setting the bar as a franchise, as expansion team,
you know, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, we were like, they
are what we want to become. Every week that we
got prepared for them, it was it was It was
so interesting for me being from Pittsburgh because you know,
I had been a Steeler fan my whole life, so
getting ready to go up and compete against them, it
(31:13):
was kind of difficult for me because all of my
family was still chilling cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So
there were almost some family feuds going on between my
dad and a couple of his brothers. But uh, you know,
down down in Jacksonville's the expansion team. We said, if
we can go up and compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers,
identify with their style of play, we'll have success in
(31:34):
the National Football League. And we did have some good
success against Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
So when your time with the Jaguars ended, then you
signed with the Steelers. Besides coming home, was there a
reason why you picked that?
Speaker 9 (31:45):
There were a lot of a lot of different reasons. One,
you know, mainly was a dream of a six year
old boy who stood on the Cobden Whitaker projects and
said that he wanted to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So it was, you know, a dream coming to Fruition.
But it was also a lot of you know, personal
things that were going on in my life at the
time that I felt like if I was home in Pittsburgh,
(32:07):
it would help me you know, develop off the field
and get my life started. And some of those things
were able to you know, come to fruition by being
in Pittsburgh. But I also got to accomplish my lifelong
dream of being a super Bowl champion and being a
part of a team that I knew, knew the history
and the tradition of it, and uh, you know, I
thought that gave me the best opportunity to win the
(32:28):
super Bowl, and uh, luckily I was right.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
So you already mentioned George Smith, your high school coach,
and his impact on your life during your NFL career,
though you played for a couple of very intense guys,
Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville and Bill Kawer in Pittsburgh. Were
they similar different their coaching styles, their approach.
Speaker 9 (32:48):
They they had similar demeanors. I would say one style
was a dictatorship where, uh, what Tom Coughlin said goes
and he didn't want to hear anything else. And I
would say for Bill Cower, it was more of my
doors open, come in and tell me what you think
and I'll let you know if that works for me.
(33:11):
So he gave us a lot more leeway. And I
would say this, I couldn't stand Tom Coughlin as a
coach when I played for him, But after I retired,
I had the utmost respect for him. Going into coaching
in high school football and understanding the athlete and having
a different perspective. He was probably, you know, one of
(33:34):
my I took the most from from Tom Coughlin in
a coaching aspect when I turned into coaching after I retired.
But when I played for him, it was rough. It
was really rough playing for him, but he gave me
the discipline. And if I had not had him as
a coach when I got in the league, I probably
wouldn't have played for over a decade.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
So you were a safety safety in Pittsburgh with the
Steelers two thousand and five. Read the Steelers make a
move trade up in the draft or some kid from
USC was his name again?
Speaker 9 (34:05):
Oh yeah, oh yeah forty three?
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah, mall yeah, yeah. What were some of your early
impressions of him?
Speaker 9 (34:12):
You know, the first day he got on campus, I
think he had held out for a couple of days,
some contract stuff. He didn't even want to do that,
you know, he wanted to get here, you know, getting
to the team and understand and getting to the playbook
and learn everything. But I think they lost his luggage
when he was coming into Pittsburgh and he didn't have
(34:35):
any things. He came to my room and asked me
for a shirt, and I'm like, the audacity. This guy's
coming in to take my job, he's coming in to
take my claim, and he's coming in to take my
clothes now. But he was so polite and you can
just feel his spirit when he when he walked in
the room. I knew that he was going to be
something special right from then, and then just getting a
(34:57):
chance to know him before we even got on the field.
You know, Troy would go and walk through the trails
of Saint Vincent, places that I had never even thought
about going on campus, and he would just be alone
with his thoughts. And one day I would just tap
into him and say, you know, what are you doing,
and he's like, you know, I'm walking and meditating. I'm
just thinking about life. And I started adapting some of
those things. So while everybody thought that I was out
(35:19):
here mentoring him, and I was just from being a
professional and coming from the collegiate level, but he was
also you know, giving me some gems about life and
how he went about life and carried himself, and we
we were, you know, interchangeable and teaching each other different
things about life. And just look at look at who
(35:40):
that guy is. I mean, you think about everything he's
done on the field and all these accomplished but when
you meet him, even to this day, the humility just
bleeds off of him and it's infectious and it feeds
into your spirit and you just want to do better
just by coming and cross crossing paths with him.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
So I know you have some things to do while
you're here today, But Troy's oh, he's working still with
some work with the scouting department a little bit. He
and Ike are both here. So can you guys can
maybe get together and have a little secondary reunion. Yea,
if you have some time today to this seat. This
year is the twentieth anniversary you mentioned winning the Super
(36:19):
Bowl Championship, the twentieth versary, twentieth anniversary of the two
thousand and five Steelers which won that the team that
won Super Bowl forty. We've had some people up here,
players up here so far during this camp from that team.
Jeff Hardings was won and they all talked about the
(36:41):
closeness of that team. I think Bill Kauer said that
that was the closest team he ever coached. Did you
agree with that and could you talk about that a
little bit.
Speaker 9 (36:53):
I definitely agree with that. That team was I felt
like it was destined for us to win the Super Bowl,
that all the things that we had to overcome, and
just the belief in each other. I think everyone on
that team believed in you know, the superstar down to
the practice squad player, and all of those guys were instrumental.
And I know that sounds cliche, and you always talk
(37:14):
about that, but if you would see a group of
the so called quote superstars out, you would see some
of the practice squad guys included in that, whether it
was sitting at a table in the in the training
hall or in the in the in the training room.
And you know, we were always included in everything as
(37:35):
a team. You know, I always say say this. When
they introduced that team, it was you know, we could
be playing against the Patriots and it would say Tom
Brady and the New England Patriots are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And I think that embodied who we were as a team.
Everybody was included you think about even the Super Bowl,
(37:57):
we all went to eat at your own Bettic's how
the whole team and his family invited that team over
there and we went and broke bread together like it
was just a regular you know, Sunday afternoon, and it
was just that's what it meant to be a part
of that team.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
You know.
Speaker 9 (38:14):
The things on the field took care of themselves, but
off the field, we took care of each other.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
You know. Jerome getting Jerome back to Detroit, I think
for sure was the rally and cry for that two
thousand and five Steelers team. But Joey Porter, in my opinion,
was the emotional leader of that group. And Joey Porter
was elected to the Steelers Hall of Honor. That was
announced the first Saturday here of training camp. Joey spoke
(38:40):
to the crowd a little bit before practice that day,
and he also spoke at the Rogers Center, you know
about that honor. Do you agree with me when I
say Joey was the emotional leader of that team?
Speaker 9 (38:52):
Most definitely. He was our mouthpiece and like I said
about Bill Coward leaving the door open, we would talk
about things amongst ours as a team, and we would say, Joey,
take this to coach, you know, because coach he was
really when they say he was the player coach and
all those things. He really wanted us to just count
on each other. He really didn't want us to have
(39:14):
to bring everything to him. He's like, you know, you guys,
work that thing out. And we would say something like, oh, Coach,
we want to do something this way, and he says,
all right, you know, I'm going to give you the
Lee way to do it, and Joey would present it
to him. We would all say, Joey, this is what
we want to do. Take it to coach and see
if he approves of it or not. And the coach
would say, all right, you guys, go out and do
it your way. But if it goes wrong, then we're
(39:35):
doing it my way and I don't want to hear
anything else about it. So we were able to have
Joey be that vehicle that was able to go back
and forth between the players and the coaches and let
him know that we wanted to do and how we
wanted to approach different things. And I definitely agree with
the accolade for Joey. He was not only our emotional
(39:56):
leader off the field. But he was on the field,
you know, and his enthusiasm was infectious. I mean he
would be in a huddle, we would make a call
and he's like, this is it. We're gonna go out
and make a play. And I think you can look
at all of those, you know, tapes from over the years,
and yeah, I would say that was right before Joey
had an emotional outburst.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Okay, we'll get you out of here on this, Mike.
The two thousand and five Divisional round game in Indianapolis
against the Colts. Okay, the fumble. Where were you on
the bench when that happened? Would you think what was
your viewpoint? Take me through that a little bit.
Speaker 9 (40:31):
I know this is going to sound really crazy to
a lot of people, and they probably won't believe it.
Even after we fumbled, when Jerome fumbled, I didn't think
we were going to lose that game. And it was
wild because everyone, you know, it's like, well, stay away
from Jerome, you know, let him be alone in the stots.
And he's sitting there with his head down and he's
kind of like looking down at the ground, and I
(40:53):
forget who it was. I think there was a couple
of us that just went over by him and kind
of just messing with him, like, you know, especially after
Ben made the tackle, we were all kind of like
coming back to the sideline and we're like, is this
going to be your legacy?
Speaker 5 (41:07):
Is this going to be your legacy?
Speaker 9 (41:08):
But I don't think he took offense to that because
the closeness and the camaraderie of that team and you know,
luckily we were able to come out with the victory
in that game and we were able to really show
him what his legacy was. But without that fumble, does
that Super Bowl mean as much? You know? So that
was a part of our story and that's a part
(41:29):
of Jerome's you know, journey, and I think that just
summed it up, you know, us still having a confidence
and believing in him. Nobody pointed a finger at him
and said, man, you know, this will be the reason
that we would if we would have lost that game,
said that we would have lost it, we would have
just been like, listen, that's a part of who you
are and a part of the journey, and we're going
(41:49):
to have your back no matter what.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Mike, this was great. Thanks so much for sitting down
with us for the past fifteen minutes and enjoy your
time of practice today.
Speaker 9 (41:56):
All right, and let's go Mountaineers. All these pit fans
coming up to me right now while I'm in the
tent right now, so I gotta shout out my Mountaineers.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Mike Logan. Always great when we have a former Steelers
stop buy to wrap up the show. And that's gonna
do it for us today here on the Training Camp Report,
Steelers padded practice, the first one of training camp twenty
twenty five is about to get underway, whether permitting. Of course,
I have to throw that caveat in there, but it
looks like it's all systems go for Bob Labriola. I'm
Tom Opferman. Thanks has always for giving us a listen.
(42:26):
We'll be back again tomorrow at noon. Wes Seuler and
Matt Williamson have got the drive up next on Fox
Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio Network
Iheartradios Live Coverage Job Not twenty twenty five Steelers Training
Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next and
also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System,
by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente Pizza
and Draft House by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto, Laurel,
(00:27):
Highlands Visitors Bureau, we Max, Select Realty, the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pro Shop, and by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It's Tom off Ferment and Bob Labriola on the Training
Camp Report. Steelers twenty twenty five Training Camp Labs. How's
the sky's looking. I know I might be jaxing us,
but I want to know we're still good. We still
have the sunshine.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Same, Yes, very few clouds, little puffy white clouds. That's it.
I mean, the clouds are not going to be a factor.
I don't think, either good or bad. And the way
they can be a good factor is provide a little
bit of shape as they move, you know, across the
path of the sun. But nah, it's gonna be hot
(01:07):
and steamy, you know, unless something rolls in over Bonaventure Hall,
which I don't doesn't look like it's gonna.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
No, and that's good news. Dealers will finally get their
first padded practice going and labs. Everybody's excited to get
the pads on. You're playing real football now. But do
you do you think the defense is a little bit
more excited than the offense as a whole, because I mean,
hitting's part of that job description.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know that one side of
the ball is, you know, more juiced for this than
the other. I think it's more it comes down to
an individual thing, like who really wants to do the hitting.
I just think there are certain guys that that is
really part of their DNA as football players and part
(01:51):
of their resume or whatever as NFL players. So you know,
one of the things I'm interested in seeing backs on backers,
for example, would be the matchup versus Caleb Johnson. You know,
the way I see it, Mike Tomlin has two choices.
(02:13):
He can go the uh try to stop a run,
runaway locomotive option, which might be pitting him against Donald
Opatrick Queen or Cole Holcombe you know somebody like that,
or does he go with can or what I might
(02:35):
say that now you see me, Now, you don't option,
which would be Nick Herbig. You know, one of the
most unbelievable going back in the way back machine installments
or reps of backs on backers, there was a I
can't remember the guy's name. He was an undrafted rookie fullback.
(02:58):
I think it was from Slippery Rock or something. And
you know, the guy came with This is the early nineties,
and the guy came with a kind of a reputation
for you know, leading up through the whole you know, blocking,
physical kind of play. So he is pitted in backs
on backers against Chad Brown, young Chad Brown. So okay,
(03:21):
the whistle blows or the balls snapped or what the
however they started, and the fullback kind of like drops
his butt a little bit, you know, and he's ready
for the contact, and Chad Brown's running right at him,
and just as he like fires up to punch, Jad
Brown did this spin move and the guy just whiffed
and fell right on his face. So, you know, those
(03:45):
are the kinds of tests you know, you can pose
in those situations. So I think Caleb Johnson is going
to be I won't say a star or a focal
point of backs on backers, but He's somebody that I
want to see in that and I'll be curious to
see how the matchups are arranged. And then you know
(04:07):
how many is there is there a you know, do
they do best out of three? Best out of five?
Does does Mike Tomlin give whoever lost that match up
the first time the chance to for a do over,
for a get back? They do? They want it because
that's that's the other thing I like to watch too,
(04:30):
how how energetic or the players might be to do
it do it again. You know, when it was uh
t J. Watt against Darnel Washington, t J. Watt wanted
to go again when he when he got stalemated the
first time. You know, you want to see that. So yeah,
(04:50):
those are the kinds of things I'll be looking for.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
And you know, when they do their their team run
as they're gonna call it, or live football as we
expect it to be. You know, you mentioned it. It
really comes down to the individual who's going to be
that guy that's really willing to start hitting early in
this training camp portion. And you know, I don't know why,
but I just think of Deshaun Elliott, right, He's such
a thumper on that defense, and I feel like he's
going to be a tone setter out there today.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Sure that you know, the filling filling the hole or
if it's a wide run, you know, coming up from
the secondary, pursuing the plate to the sideline. Those are
all the kinds of things from a defensive perspective that
you want to see. And then which way does the
pile move on contact? The offensive people want to see
(05:35):
the pile move forward. The defensive people want to see
the pile not move at all. So yeah, those are
the kinds of things you're looking for looking at because
if you're looking at it from a defensive perspective, you
want guys who are going to hit the ball carrier
and then that's it. You don't want ball carriers to
(05:56):
be hit and then either fall forward for a yard
two We're just kind of use their own momentum and
strength as they're going down the game, maybe another yard
or two. And then when you're in a division with
Derrick Henry, that's a significant thing.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
We're gonna hear from Darius slay in just a second
before we get to him though, Labs just looking at
this defense as a whole, you know, looking at it
compared to the past couple of years. It's it's been
a really good defense the past couple of years. But
I just look at it at every level now labs
and it's really hard for me to find who the
weakest link is gonna be. Of course, there's a potential
(06:37):
for that to be somewhere, but it just feels like
a defensive line, the linebackers, the secondary, it's all really
solid with stars on every level.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well, one of the things I think that was an
issue last year was, you know, the Steelers had to
play a lot of nickel in order to you know,
get people covered, and so you have to be able
to stop the run out of the nickel. And Peyton
Wilson came back this summer from you know, came back
(07:10):
this summer. He looks a lot different physically. He looks
a lot more capable of you know, standing in there
and being a factor against the run. Now, what you
want to see from Peyton Wilson is when they do
the you know, the other version of backs on backers,
(07:31):
it's backs on backers pass protect and then backs on
backers coverage. They don't usually do them the same day.
So for example, today they do backs on backers, the
drill is heavily weighted towards the defense because the offense
can't cut you, which you know that's a significant disadvantage.
(07:53):
But then tomorrow, and I'm assuming tomorrow when they do it,
when it's backs on backers coverage, it's very heavily weighted
towards the offense because you're covering a guy. As a
defensive player, you're covering a guy one on one all
over the field, and there's no pressure on the passer.
(08:15):
So I mean that's a you know, it's there's a
lot of grass out here that you're chasing a well
at one point, you know, you're chasing Levy on Bell
around and now it's going to be Kenneth Gainwell, I think,
is going to be the guy who is going to
be difficult to cover. So you want to see how
(08:35):
Peyton Wilson can handle that assignment. Maybe following today where
you might see him, you know, and I don't know
if the defense will be and it's three four or
whatever it might be, but if they're in the nickel,
you know, you want to see Peyton Wilson do well
against the run, filling the hole, taking on blockers, whatever,
(08:57):
it might be today and then tomorrow. We want to
see him be able to run with Kenneth Gainwell because
that will show you, well, let me say this, it'll
give you an early indication of how much nickel you
can play and how effective you can be against both
the run and the pass with your nickel.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Darius Slay, you have to think all the way back
to the beginning of the offseason. There's been a flurry
of moves by your Pittsburgh Steelers. He was he might
have been the first. I'm not exactly sure if DK
came before him, or if Darius Lay came right before DK.
He was the first free agency signing that the Steelers
exercised this offseason. And Labs, I know he's up there
in age and there's always that concern with somebody like
(09:39):
that at that position, but we just saw him play
on a Super Bowl winning defense last year with the Eagles,
arguably the number one defense in the NFL by the way.
And what I liked about him and that defense, Labs
is even though he was, you know, thirty three years
old getting up there, he was able to kind of
just blend into that defense because they had so many
other really great pieces in that second they had solid
(10:00):
safeties and they had two really young studs at corner
who were happened to be rookies but were great and
immediately took to the NFL. Kind of the same thing here, right, Like,
he doesn't have to come in and be the superman,
the first team All Pro that he once was. He's
got a Rams and he's got a Joey Porter junior,
and he's got it to Shaun Elliott to kind of
blend in with in that secondary.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yeah, and you know he can cover. And that's the thing.
I mean, what the Steelers did not have last year
on defense, in my opinion, was enough corners who could cover.
And when you don't have that, then you know you're
all Pro. Free safety is playing center field, and your
(10:42):
thumper inside linebacker Patrick Queen is having to play underneath
his own coverage instead of again concentrating on where's Derrick
Henry and is he getting the football? So now and
there were all also the communication issues last year, but
(11:03):
now I think there are going to be less communication
issues because if you have guys who can cover, you
can pretty much say, okay, you have him, you have him,
and you have him and everybody else is going to
play whatever, so there's less communication there. You don't have
to Patrick Queen doesn't have to worry about I don't
(11:23):
know a receiver that now might be covered man to
man all over the field. You don't have to worry
about is he coming underneath? Do I need to get
into his own coverage in order to get into the
area where you think the quarterback might be waiting him
to get in the receiver to get into and throw
them the ball. So a lot of this stuff, I
(11:46):
think it's going to be an evolving thing and if
we looking in my opinion, the significant aspect of this
defense is the ability of the corners to line up
and hover. How that can simplify things in the back
end and then also make the quarterback hold the ball
(12:08):
a little bit longer because you need you can't have
a guy getting rid of it in you know, two
to two point three seconds or whatever it is. Your
pass rush cannot get there. You need them to hold
it on a little longer so that you know your TJ.
Watts and Alex high Smiths, Nick Kurbigs, those people, Derek Carmon,
(12:31):
Cam Heyward, these guys can get at the quarterback and
then maybe make him make a quick decision, hopefully a bad, quick,
bad decision, and then maybe you get some takeaways.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Darius Slay had a nice chat with the media yesterday
even though Steelers had to move their practice into the gym.
Let's take a listen to what the Steelers cornerback had
to say.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Your early impressions of how this secondary is going to
work with you and Jalen and Joey Windard Junior.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Uh, it's been great, man.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
It's a great opportunity for uh each of everyone else
to learn from each other and uh and grow to
get better as a group as a unit. Cause that's
the main thing though. It was we all on the
same page. Everything gonna be good.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
So, so you had last year, you and the two young
guys in Philly. What did you learn about having for
the advantages of having three guys like that? I mean,
usually he's got two cornerbacks.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Yeah, there's a.
Speaker 7 (13:21):
Nickel, but you have to cut three interchangeable parts. Pick
up the scene and going on here. What are some
of the advantages of that you saw play out last year?
Speaker 6 (13:28):
Uh, the the fact that a lot of guys are versatile,
you know, the fact that.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
Uh, like Coop.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
When I was playing with Coop last year, he could
have played safety if we needed him to do that
as well, or whatever he needed to do. But uh,
you know, being out perfect air once stayed healthy. So
we know we stuck to what we did. But it's
just it's just good to always have guys out there
could just be versatile and uh and get the job done.
Speaker 8 (13:46):
It's like, how how comfortable are you being versatile moving
around them? And where do you see yourself as the
where your.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Best slot is in there? Uh, whatever they need be
to be.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
You know, I played a slot before when I was
in Detroit, you know, and uh when I was just
tropical corner weather, that guy went.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
I went, So it it doesn't matter, you know.
Speaker 6 (14:04):
Uh, I'll here to do whatever I need to do
to help the team win and uh to be successful.
So whatever I need to do to get all getting
it done.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
So Uh, Mike tom Wanna said with the additions to
the secondary, he thinks she'll be able to match up
anyone man the man.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
I'm curious what kind.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Of mindset mentality does it have to take to be
that kind of guy that thrives in a man coverage
monoy mono type of situation.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Well, yeah, that's how I earn earned a lot of
my money playing a lot of men. So uh and no,
I'm blessed and fortune though I at this age, I
can still do that, So I'm thankful for that. And
you know that way he bought us here for guys
I could get in the faces and got some elite
receivers in this conference and into vision. So we're looking
forward to the challenge and you know they're trying to
get better.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
You played much press over the years or supposed to
grun and cover? Say what again? Do y Have you
played much press man over the years or are you
mostly a run and cover guy?
Speaker 6 (14:50):
I'm everything? Uh, I was off man, press man. Whatever
I need to do to win it down.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And sweet highs are going to enshrine and can't this
swe You've had a pretty good career.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
Do you take that far ahead of a yellow jacket
and cool?
Speaker 6 (15:04):
I always think about it, you know, uh, out, I
did some great years and I has a a s
a real great career. I feel as in, uh, you know,
hopefully you know that's what I am hoping for that
and you know when we did for show getting at
Super Bowl. I kind of hope I could easy get
a a better chance of getting in there, but uh,
we'll see, man, you know, but uh, if it happened
and happening, if it don't, mand really blessed. If I
hang my claes up today. Now, I'm really great with
(15:25):
about how you know, how it panned out.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
No, you and Jalen have tweeted back and forth over
the years about the possibility of even playing together trains
before that you guys would be able to link up.
What's it like finally being able to be on the
same team and why have you always thought that that
that pairing would work out?
Speaker 6 (15:40):
Well?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Great, man, cause it like he like I said, he's
a very talented dude. Man, he's like a definitely in
this generation now, he's like the uh you know, Charles Woodson,
not to say he's is Charles woods but he's like
the version of it, the guy that could play safety,
nickel corner and be great at all of 'em. And
and the fact that you know, we get to play
with each other. Now, I wish I was a lot younger,
you know, you know, and get this, cause it'd be
(16:02):
a lot fun. You know, you know though, it's still
gonna be fun. It's right now to day, but uh
it's a blessing.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Man. We get a chance to work with each other. Man.
We've been knowing each other for a long time since
he been in the lead.
Speaker 6 (16:10):
We actually been in the group chat where before we
was even in you know, ow teams together.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
So we been have a great relationship.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
How did they're.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Coming at you guys?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And how did that come?
Speaker 9 (16:18):
And bother you you know, got close like that?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
How did you first?
Speaker 5 (16:22):
How do we do?
Speaker 6 (16:22):
I mean, we play corners, so we always you know,
give natural respect. We watch each other films.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
You know.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
I hit him up before and asked him like, hey, man,
how do you feel about this receiver? He gave me
tips on that he he do the same with me
as well. So uh, yeah, man, we come, you know,
we do. Real good friends, real good friends.
Speaker 8 (16:35):
Who else gets to be in the all pro corner group.
Speaker 6 (16:37):
That's a lot of us, man, It's me him, you know,
my homeboy, Quandre Diggs, Zebie Howard, It's a lot of us.
You know, we just being that chatting up man. You know, Uh,
it's always bigger than football, so we always trying to
keep a bond outside of the football.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
What's Joey Porter Junior got to do that or that?
Oh he's gill getting there. We go get him in
the go get him in there for shows like you
guys have a lot of new players, prominent new players.
How do you go about bringing them all together? And
is that maybe a good thing or exciting for all
of you guys to be sort of you know, coming
together during the uh.
Speaker 6 (17:05):
One thing I can say, well, uh, just looking over
the you know, the guys we brought in, you know,
Mike t brought some guys that's kind of like, you know,
not to say it's not a championship organization, It's is
a championship organization, but guys that just like you know,
been to that championships aspect before and you know, to
bring that culture around to around guys that's younger. You know,
they got a young group that's coming in. You know,
I got some very young talent and I got some
(17:26):
guys that's still trying to you know, get them a
super Bowl.
Speaker 10 (17:28):
You know.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
So uh uh, I think that's what he did. He's
just trying to bring the more the atmosphere around it.
And you know, uh so Uh, and that's what we
go bring, you know, we go try to bring that,
you know, that championship attitude from you know what we
had from other organizations, so over here to be a
part of this great organization.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Told us Swooty gud Here that he was gonna ask again.
Speaker 9 (17:46):
T J.
Speaker 5 (17:47):
Watt told us Whooty gut here he was gonna ask
anybody he could to twitter super Bowl. How do you
do it?
Speaker 6 (17:52):
Yeah, as he got to you get we all talked
about it a little bit in the locker room, man,
and you know, I just gave my point, man, And
the main thing is it's the connection. You know, a
lot of connection, a lot of hanging with each other,
a lot of trust in each other. And you know,
and putting the team first, that nobody's bigger than the team.
And you know, when guys that's expected to have bigger
roles can be appreciative of taking a little role for
(18:15):
somebody else to be a bigger role, that's how you
become a champion.
Speaker 8 (18:18):
Now that you've had time to get acclimated to Gerald
Alexander and how he coaches you guys as a unit,
what what do you think of how he approaches how
does how he approaches you guys to correct things, make
sure you're being on the same page because you guys
are moving on a lot.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Out there in front.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Yes, well, he does a great job and meetings first,
you know, from the meetings, so he takes we do
a great job from taking the meetings to the field.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Man.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
Then especially with guys like me and Jail and being
there being vetterans is. Uh, it's pretty it's pretty kind
of easy. Deshaun too.
Speaker 9 (18:44):
Man.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
He's a smart, talented dude too, us man. Man, he
helped me with the defense faster than than anything you know,
and uh, with with everybody knowing what everybody's doing, we
all help each other.
Speaker 5 (18:53):
He slay with Ramsey. He's a different personality. How would
you describe his personality around the team?
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Contrast that with your personality and how's it meshing all together?
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Oh, it's great, man. It's a for sure different type
of version of two players. You know, definitely me, you know,
Jadian's a more of an aggressive player than I am,
but not like you know, vocally, you know, you know,
we all play the game the same way, in the
right way. You know, I'll play it hard. He played hard,
but just in different ways. I'll laugh and giggle a lot.
You know, I'll play a lot, you know, you know
Jay kind of Moore series at all times, trying to
(19:25):
get in everybody bad mind. But I'm more like, hey,
I'm just like playing football, trying to win it down.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
The Steelers defensive back Darius Slagh yesterday after practice, Pats
come on today for the Steelers. When we come back,
Labs and I are going to talk about the running
back tandem Jalen Horn and Caleb Johnson. Labs already said
he's looking forward to seeing Caleb Johnson in Backs on Backers.
We'll talk about them and the impact they can have
on the running game this season for the Steelers. And
(19:52):
we still have Mike Logan to come later on in
the show. It's the Training Camp Report on Fox Sports
Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Iheartradios. Live coverage of about twenty twenty five Steelers training
camp is presented by FedEx where Now meets Next and
also brought to you by CGR Wholesale Roofing and Siding
Supply Center, by Tom's Appliances, by Always Safe Flagging and
traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank by Schneider Downs,
(20:28):
by Has's Steak and Seahouse, by your Neighborhood, Ford Store,
by Castle Rock, by Clearview Federal Credit Union.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
And by us Steel, Tom Offerman and Bob Lavriola on
the training camp report and labs. You had mentioned already
today and I think yesterday too, about you're anticipating Caleb
Johnson and how he looks and backs and backs on backers,
and how he'll be tested by Mike Tomlin. All that true,
and it's exciting to see that happen in probably about
(20:58):
an hour or so from now. The impact that he
and Jalen Warren are going to have on the actual
running game this year, I think is going to be big.
And you know, we kind of have before on this show,
kind of looked at them through the lens of a
little bit of a competition. You know, who's going to
be that quote unquote league dog in that room. But
it really truly is going to be a tandem, and man,
(21:18):
that's such an advantage to be able to have two
starting caliber running backs that you can play.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah, and it's gonna be interesting to see how those
the roles unfold unfold in terms of that tandem. You know,
one of the things about Caleb Johnson is where he
played his college football, Iowa. You know, there are stats
and stuff that show that this guy ran against the
stack box maybe more than any other running back in
(21:47):
college football. How successful he was against those stack boxes.
Because all due respect to the Iowahawk guys, they were
not good at throwing the football and they I don't
know that they even try to do it that often
because they weren't very good at it. So, you know,
one of the things that I think the Steelers are
(22:09):
looking for from their running game is not that you're
gonna be breaking breaking fifty sixty seventy yard runs or anything,
because that's such a rarity in the NFL today, But
offenses and or running backs who can break off, you know,
(22:29):
fifteen to twenty five yard runs anything in that area
that's incredibly valuable. Those are called chunk plays. In the
running game. You need some of those, not only for
what it immediately provides the offense. Most likely it'll be
a first down. Sometimes it might get you into scoring
(22:54):
territory or across midfield on the edge of scoring territory.
Excuse me on the scoring territory, but you also force
the defense into, you know, certain things that are advantageous
for the offense and not so advantageous for the defense.
And you know, Caleb Johnson is that kind of guy.
(23:15):
He has that ability to break those kinds of runs. Now,
Jalen Warren also showed some ability to do that in
his first couple of years here, but there's there still
is a little bit of a question about can he
handle because of his physical stature, can he handle a
(23:39):
primary load running the football in the NFL? And you know,
Jalen Warren can become an unrestricted free agent after this season,
so you know this is a money year for him.
So again, I mean a lot of things I think
are coming together for these two guys. They should be
really excited about the opportunities. And the Steelers have some
(24:03):
chances to take advantage of those guys' individual skills to
maybe really choose this offense.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And you've got an offensive coordinator that's gonna lean heavily
on the running game when it's successful, and he has
the pieces that he likes, and when you have a
forty two year old quarterback labs, it's just smart for
him to lean on a running game that's working, because
that's going to extend his life.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Absolutely, absolutely, And I think that Aaron Rodgers is happy
about being part of an offense where he doesn't have
to throw the ball sixty times a game.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I think that's in his best interest at this point
in his career. Missy Matthews had a nice camp conversation
with Jalen Warren, who's heading into a contract year this year.
Let's hear what the conversation sounded like.
Speaker 10 (24:50):
Mother nature has not been kind. Usually that's a good
thing for coach Tomlin. But first day and Pad's not
able to go.
Speaker 11 (24:56):
What was his message to the team, you know, just
you know, keeping him professional. There's other ways, you know,
with the delay and all that, there's other ways to
get our get stuff done, and so making sure we
stay focused in that segment.
Speaker 10 (25:10):
This is a day that a lot of guys look
forward to. You made a name on this day your
rookie season. What was the mood like as you guys
were in pads down on the field and found out
you had to come inside.
Speaker 11 (25:21):
I liked it because everybody, you know, we were excited,
we knew what was coming. We were excited to get
to it, but you know, I guess we it's not
gonna do it.
Speaker 10 (25:32):
In terms of waiting one more day, what do you
tell a guy like Caleb Johnson who this will be
his first go around in a backs on backers or
a coach Tonelin type practice, just.
Speaker 11 (25:42):
That you know, even though it didn't happen, today is
going to happen, and just to you know, keep preparing,
keep working on the fundamentals.
Speaker 5 (25:50):
Today.
Speaker 11 (25:50):
Would probably use it as a mental day, another GiB
at a day, and so I know he's gonna shine
when it comes.
Speaker 10 (25:56):
What has it been like through the acclamation period for
you personally being the veteran guy in that room who
has been through this process before in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
I guess just.
Speaker 11 (26:05):
Sharing my knowledge, you know, at the positions and I
am today, I am in today. I'm still learning, you know,
as well as others and passing the knowledge I've learned
throughout my four years down to k Logan. You know,
however he takes it, he takes it, but he's been
making sure he, you know, get gets it done well.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Steelers running back Jalen Warren having a camp conversation with
Missy Matthews. It's available on Steelers dot Com. Missy will
be doing those throughout training camp. Great stuff always from her.
When we come back, we're gonna step aside and we're
gonna welcome Mike Logan to the show. Always like closing
down the show with a former Steeler that's hanging around
camp that day, and today that man will be Mike Logan,
(26:46):
Bob Labriella, Tom Opframan. It's the Training Camp Report on
Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Network, Iheartradios Live Coverage Job Dot twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next
(27:12):
and also brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System,
by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente Pizza
and Drafthouse by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto, Laurel, Highlands Visitors, Bureau, Remax,
Select Realty, the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Shop, and by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Tom Opferman and Bob Labriola On the Training Camp Report.
Mike Logan en route to the booth right now, so
we will be joined by him in just a little bit.
But Labs Whilewie White wait for Mike to show up
and join us. Why don't we just if anybody missed
it earlier, go over what the plan is today for
the Steelers in their first padded practice. What the script's
(27:54):
gonna look like.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah, and the players have started trickling out onto the
field and they are in pads. So Mike just joining
us here, give us a second and we'll get right
on with the with the interview. Here, Hi, Mike, check
tick there you go. Oh, thank you for doing this.
(28:16):
Glad you could join us. This is a little warm
out here today.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
What do you think it's a little nippy out there.
Speaker 9 (28:24):
It's a little nippy.
Speaker 10 (28:25):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (28:26):
Now, this is training camp weather. This is what it's
all about right here. This is where you find out
who the real dogs are. And today's a dog day.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yeah, first day in pads down by the food trucks,
part of the you know, carnival atmosphere that is now
enveloped Saint Vincent College for Steelers training camp. There's an
exhibit that is celebrating the Pittsburgh Steelers and Western Pennsylvania
football in the run up for the twenty twenty six
(28:55):
NFL Draft that will be in Pittsburgh. You're a Western Pennsylvania.
Speaker 9 (28:59):
Guy.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Part of that exhibit has to do with high school football,
the importance of high school football in this area. McKee Sport,
which is one of the story programs in the WP.
I a l back when you were in high school.
How important was football to that community when you were
growing up? And maybe you could talk a little bit
about George Smith, your coach.
Speaker 9 (29:19):
Well, you see my eyes light up, you said, George Smith.
He was so instrumental in my development, not only as
a football player, but as a young man. And I
think in Western Pennsylvania, I think that's one of the
things that comes with playing high school football. With all
the well respected coaches that have been in all of
these programs around the area, they want you to be
(29:39):
quality young men as well, because they want you to
go out on the field and learn the lessons and
learn the game of football. But they're also going to
be learning and dealing with the things of life. And
then m Keysport, you're really dealing with some things in
life that happens in society around there. So without high
school football and something to keep me occupied, the sport
to keep me occupied. Coach Smith keeping me interested in
(30:01):
the game. It kept me out of a lot of trouble.
And I think that's football is saving grace for a
lot of young men out there in western Pennsylvania, especially
in Mckeysport. There's not a lot to do. There's not
a lot of positive things to do around there, you know,
And we didn't create them for us to have it,
but football gave us that outlet to be able to
(30:23):
go out and just have some fun and do something
that we loved.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
You know, after your college career West Virginia, you were
a second round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in nineteen
ninety seven. Wasn't a whole lot of love but loss
between the Steelers and the Jaguars, especially in that era,
back in those days, how did the Jaguars approach games
because they're in the same division, home and home two
(30:46):
games a year. How did the Jaguars approach those games
against the Steelers?
Speaker 9 (30:50):
We were setting the bar as a franchise, as expansion team,
you know, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, we were like, they
are what we want to become. Every week that we
got prepared for them, it was it was It was
so interesting for me being from Pittsburgh because you know,
I had been a Steeler fan my whole life, so
getting ready to go up and compete against them, it
(31:13):
was kind of difficult for me because all of my
family was still chilling cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So
there were almost some family feuds going on between my
dad and a couple of his brothers. But uh, you know,
down down in Jacksonville's the expansion team. We said, if
we can go up and compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers,
identify with their style of play, we'll have success in
(31:34):
the National Football League. And we did have some good
success against Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
So when your time with the Jaguars ended, then you
signed with the Steelers. Besides coming home, was there a
reason why you picked that?
Speaker 9 (31:45):
There were a lot of a lot of different reasons. One,
you know, mainly was a dream of a six year
old boy who stood on the Cobden Whitaker projects and
said that he wanted to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So it was, you know, a dream coming to Fruition.
But it was also a lot of you know, personal
things that were going on in my life at the
time that I felt like if I was home in Pittsburgh,
(32:07):
it would help me you know, develop off the field
and get my life started. And some of those things
were able to you know, come to fruition by being
in Pittsburgh. But I also got to accomplish my lifelong
dream of being a super Bowl champion and being a
part of a team that I knew, knew the history
and the tradition of it, and uh, you know, I
thought that gave me the best opportunity to win the
(32:28):
super Bowl, and uh, luckily I was right.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
So you already mentioned George Smith, your high school coach,
and his impact on your life during your NFL career,
though you played for a couple of very intense guys,
Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville and Bill Kawer in Pittsburgh. Were
they similar different their coaching styles, their approach.
Speaker 9 (32:48):
They they had similar demeanors. I would say one style
was a dictatorship where, uh, what Tom Coughlin said goes
and he didn't want to hear anything else. And I
would say for Bill Cower, it was more of my
doors open, come in and tell me what you think
and I'll let you know if that works for me.
(33:11):
So he gave us a lot more leeway. And I
would say this, I couldn't stand Tom Coughlin as a
coach when I played for him, But after I retired,
I had the utmost respect for him. Going into coaching
in high school football and understanding the athlete and having
a different perspective. He was probably, you know, one of
(33:34):
my I took the most from from Tom Coughlin in
a coaching aspect when I turned into coaching after I retired.
But when I played for him, it was rough. It
was really rough playing for him, but he gave me
the discipline. And if I had not had him as
a coach when I got in the league, I probably
wouldn't have played for over a decade.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
So you were a safety safety in Pittsburgh with the
Steelers two thousand and five. Read the Steelers make a
move trade up in the draft or some kid from
USC was his name again?
Speaker 9 (34:05):
Oh yeah, oh yeah forty three?
Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah, mall yeah, yeah. What were some of your early
impressions of him?
Speaker 9 (34:12):
You know, the first day he got on campus, I
think he had held out for a couple of days,
some contract stuff. He didn't even want to do that,
you know, he wanted to get here, you know, getting
to the team and understand and getting to the playbook
and learn everything. But I think they lost his luggage
when he was coming into Pittsburgh and he didn't have
(34:35):
any things. He came to my room and asked me
for a shirt, and I'm like, the audacity. This guy's
coming in to take my job, he's coming in to
take my claim, and he's coming in to take my
clothes now. But he was so polite and you can
just feel his spirit when he when he walked in
the room. I knew that he was going to be
something special right from then, and then just getting a
(34:57):
chance to know him before we even got on the field.
You know, Troy would go and walk through the trails
of Saint Vincent, places that I had never even thought
about going on campus, and he would just be alone
with his thoughts. And one day I would just tap
into him and say, you know, what are you doing,
and he's like, you know, I'm walking and meditating. I'm
just thinking about life. And I started adapting some of
those things. So while everybody thought that I was out
(35:19):
here mentoring him, and I was just from being a
professional and coming from the collegiate level, but he was
also you know, giving me some gems about life and
how he went about life and carried himself, and we
we were, you know, interchangeable and teaching each other different
things about life. And just look at look at who
(35:40):
that guy is. I mean, you think about everything he's
done on the field and all these accomplished but when
you meet him, even to this day, the humility just
bleeds off of him and it's infectious and it feeds
into your spirit and you just want to do better
just by coming and cross crossing paths with him.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
So I know you have some things to do while
you're here today, But Troy's oh, he's working still with
some work with the scouting department a little bit. He
and Ike are both here. So can you guys can
maybe get together and have a little secondary reunion. Yea,
if you have some time today to this seat. This
year is the twentieth anniversary you mentioned winning the Super
(36:19):
Bowl Championship, the twentieth versary, twentieth anniversary of the two
thousand and five Steelers which won that the team that
won Super Bowl forty. We've had some people up here,
players up here so far during this camp from that team.
Jeff Hardings was won and they all talked about the
(36:41):
closeness of that team. I think Bill Kauer said that
that was the closest team he ever coached. Did you
agree with that and could you talk about that a
little bit.
Speaker 9 (36:53):
I definitely agree with that. That team was I felt
like it was destined for us to win the Super Bowl,
that all the things that we had to overcome, and
just the belief in each other. I think everyone on
that team believed in you know, the superstar down to
the practice squad player, and all of those guys were instrumental.
And I know that sounds cliche, and you always talk
(37:14):
about that, but if you would see a group of
the so called quote superstars out, you would see some
of the practice squad guys included in that, whether it
was sitting at a table in the in the training
hall or in the in the in the training room.
And you know, we were always included in everything as
(37:35):
a team. You know, I always say say this. When
they introduced that team, it was you know, we could
be playing against the Patriots and it would say Tom
Brady and the New England Patriots are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And I think that embodied who we were as a team.
Everybody was included you think about even the Super Bowl,
(37:57):
we all went to eat at your own Bettic's how
the whole team and his family invited that team over
there and we went and broke bread together like it
was just a regular you know, Sunday afternoon, and it
was just that's what it meant to be a part
of that team.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
You know.
Speaker 9 (38:14):
The things on the field took care of themselves, but
off the field, we took care of each other.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
You know. Jerome getting Jerome back to Detroit, I think
for sure was the rally and cry for that two
thousand and five Steelers team. But Joey Porter, in my opinion,
was the emotional leader of that group. And Joey Porter
was elected to the Steelers Hall of Honor. That was
announced the first Saturday here of training camp. Joey spoke
(38:40):
to the crowd a little bit before practice that day,
and he also spoke at the Rogers Center, you know
about that honor. Do you agree with me when I
say Joey was the emotional leader of that team?
Speaker 9 (38:52):
Most definitely. He was our mouthpiece and like I said
about Bill Coward leaving the door open, we would talk
about things amongst ours as a team, and we would say, Joey,
take this to coach, you know, because coach he was
really when they say he was the player coach and
all those things. He really wanted us to just count
on each other. He really didn't want us to have
(39:14):
to bring everything to him. He's like, you know, you guys,
work that thing out. And we would say something like, oh, Coach,
we want to do something this way, and he says,
all right, you know, I'm going to give you the
Lee way to do it, and Joey would present it
to him. We would all say, Joey, this is what
we want to do. Take it to coach and see
if he approves of it or not. And the coach
would say, all right, you guys, go out and do
it your way. But if it goes wrong, then we're
(39:35):
doing it my way and I don't want to hear
anything else about it. So we were able to have
Joey be that vehicle that was able to go back
and forth between the players and the coaches and let
him know that we wanted to do and how we
wanted to approach different things. And I definitely agree with
the accolade for Joey. He was not only our emotional
(39:56):
leader off the field. But he was on the field,
you know, and his enthusiasm was infectious. I mean he
would be in a huddle, we would make a call
and he's like, this is it. We're gonna go out
and make a play. And I think you can look
at all of those, you know, tapes from over the years,
and yeah, I would say that was right before Joey
had an emotional outburst.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Okay, we'll get you out of here on this, Mike.
The two thousand and five Divisional round game in Indianapolis
against the Colts. Okay, the fumble. Where were you on
the bench when that happened? Would you think what was
your viewpoint? Take me through that a little bit.
Speaker 9 (40:31):
I know this is going to sound really crazy to
a lot of people, and they probably won't believe it.
Even after we fumbled, when Jerome fumbled, I didn't think
we were going to lose that game. And it was
wild because everyone, you know, it's like, well, stay away
from Jerome, you know, let him be alone in the stots.
And he's sitting there with his head down and he's
kind of like looking down at the ground, and I
(40:53):
forget who it was. I think there was a couple
of us that just went over by him and kind
of just messing with him, like, you know, especially after
Ben made the tackle, we were all kind of like
coming back to the sideline and we're like, is this
going to be your legacy?
Speaker 5 (41:07):
Is this going to be your legacy?
Speaker 9 (41:08):
But I don't think he took offense to that because
the closeness and the camaraderie of that team and you know,
luckily we were able to come out with the victory
in that game and we were able to really show
him what his legacy was. But without that fumble, does
that Super Bowl mean as much? You know? So that
was a part of our story and that's a part
(41:29):
of Jerome's you know, journey, and I think that just
summed it up, you know, us still having a confidence
and believing in him. Nobody pointed a finger at him
and said, man, you know, this will be the reason
that we would if we would have lost that game,
said that we would have lost it, we would have
just been like, listen, that's a part of who you
are and a part of the journey, and we're going
(41:49):
to have your back no matter what.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Mike, this was great. Thanks so much for sitting down
with us for the past fifteen minutes and enjoy your
time of practice today.
Speaker 9 (41:56):
All right, and let's go Mountaineers. All these pit fans
coming up to me right now while I'm in the
tent right now, so I gotta shout out my Mountaineers.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Mike Logan. Always great when we have a former Steelers
stop buy to wrap up the show. And that's gonna
do it for us today here on the Training Camp Report,
Steelers padded practice, the first one of training camp twenty
twenty five is about to get underway, whether permitting. Of course,
I have to throw that caveat in there, but it
looks like it's all systems go for Bob Labriola. I'm
Tom Opferman. Thanks has always for giving us a listen.
(42:26):
We'll be back again tomorrow at noon. Wes Seuler and
Matt Williamson have got the drive up next on Fox
Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio Network
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