August 1, 2022 • 47 mins
Labs and Tom kick off our training camp coverage for the first day of pads in Latrobe.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Man, we're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get started. And so now we take off. DC's the
training camp re report what Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola
on Steelers Nation Radio. The Steelers have four training camp
practices under their belts already, but today day five is
different from all the ones that came before. It labs
(00:29):
the pads come on today. I'm sure there is just
a buzz around that campus and in those dormitories. The
players have got to be thrilled. They we're gonna be
playing some actual football this afternoon. Well it goes beyond
the players too, because I just want you to know that, um,
you know, the morning that DV Morning Shows Suite is
right next door here to the training Camp reports suite. Um,
(00:52):
and I thought we were calling that the Labriola Palatial
State Okay, okay, yeah, right next to the uh I
mean located on the first floor of you know, Bennet Call.
So I just wanted to let you know that if
you know, you come out of a break or something,
or there's a lagging the conversation and you can't get me,
(01:12):
probably out in the hall doing backs on backers with
pursuit because he is um even more over caffeinated than
normal um. And so there, as you said, there's there's
a buzz around and uh, I'm gonna you can you
might hear some pads, Bob, So you will be in pads,
though you'll be wearing pads when you do your backs
(01:32):
on backers with pursuited. You brought your shoulder pads to
camp with you in your helmets there in your room
right now. Well, I'll tell you what, at this stage
of my life, I'm padded at seven three. On a
serious note. He'll never admit this, but do you think what?
You don't think I was serious? Do you think? Do
you think Tomlin and the players obviously do, but do
(01:53):
you think Tomlin? After you know, day three, day four
of non pads, it's just like, all right, enough of
this walk through, you know half the three quarter speed stuff.
I want to see some of these guys hit people,
because how can you evaluate without actual football being played.
Let me tell you this. I mean there's thirty two
teams in training camp right now, and I don't know
(02:15):
that there's one besides the Pittsburgh Steelers who'll have live
tackling drills every day. I mean, I remember when Mike
Tomlin instituted that UM and I was. I happen to
be standing down on the field with about within about
three ft of Kevin Colbert. And Tomlin didn't tell anyone
(02:37):
that he was going to do this because he didn't
want anyone to come in and try and talk him
out of it, or maybe in the case of you know,
Art Rooney or Dan Rudy, order him not to do it,
him out of it, right, because this was when there's
long enough ago when levy On Bell was here and
(02:58):
you know, not holding out or you know any of
that stuff. And I read the first play. It was
eleven on eleven. They hand the ball to levy On
Bell and he like bounces outside, and you know, he's
running towards the sideline where Kevin Colbert. And as they said,
I was standing in some other media and club officials
and stuff, and I forget who the dB was. He
(03:22):
came up, the safety came over, and I mean there
was a collision on the sideline. You know, Kevin had
like one of those w A T F looks on
his face, and they got up and nobody got yelled at,
you know, for because he was tackled to the ground.
They did it again, I mean right, and for um
(03:48):
an NFL team to do that, and for an NFL
team to give it to their first team All Pro
running back in that drill. So, um, yeah, you when
you asked, as Mike Tomlin excited up this, um, my
answer would be yes, and uh, you know I would
expect it to be. Um, you know, I don't know
that Nausey Harris is going to get a bunch of
(04:10):
carries if when they run live tackling, because I just
cannot imagine they won't do that. But um, you know,
there there's gonna there's gonna be some real football out
on the on the fields today. Well before we you know,
look ahead to day fives practice today with the pads
coming on, we got to recap a lot of stuff
that went on on Saturday's Day four practice, A very
(04:32):
fun day at St. Vincent College. Hall of Honor class
was announced and Tomlin was extremely enthused in his post
practice pressor as well you know, the seventeen thousand plus
fans on site. It was an incredible atmosphere. So let's
take a listen to what coach Tomlin had to say
to the media following day for his practice on Saturday. Man,
(04:52):
how about that crowd today, Man, we were just so
excited to be back in this environment and field the
support of our fans. I'd be remiss if I didn't
opened up with that. We had an opportunity to get
better today. We snapped the ball thankfully today as the
last day of acclamation, and so we're pushing more towards
some football. Next time you guys see us, we'll be
carrying full pads. And that's just a significant component of
(05:13):
this process. Man. We'll get an opportunity to stop speculating
and start looking at the realities of play and and
so it's a big day for guys. Um A couple
of injury updates. We talked about Claypool last time went down.
Wasn't able to finish practice with a shoulder that can
be characterizes day to day. Like I mentioned prior um
to the pat prior move has a hamstring that can
(05:35):
be characterized this day. Today, Marcus Allen went down with
the hamstring in practice that needs to be evaluated before
we describe the extent of that um. Like I always
mentioned this time of year, bumps and bruises occur along
the way, and it's an unfortunate component of the game,
but what it is as an opportunity for others. Man,
we're running a little short at at tight end the
(05:56):
day because the Friar move and it gave a guy
like Connor hate with an opportunity to to put his
skills on display. I thought he stepped up and made
some place today, um CAZy did yesterday obviously with Maka
missing some of the time that he's missed, and and
I just make those points because that's what team development
is about. Man. There's gonna be opportunities and windows of
opportunity for guys to ascend and work in a different
(06:18):
group or or to get additional reps. And it's important
that they ready themselves for those moments and equally as
important that they see them. And so we're working on
assignments and things of that nature, but we're also working
on things that kind of represent the game of football.
We get into the regular season and the starter gets hurt, man,
it is a tremendous opportunity for backup, and so we
get an opportunity to represent that in situations like this
(06:41):
when we work just start out, pause and talk about
that for a little bit. Now open it up for
questions to translate just highly competitive. Um. He he warmed
up to the competition and and and his skills were
on display. He didn't shrink in the face of it.
(07:03):
You'll feel it on Monday, I promise you looking forward
to it. Along those lines. J Watson's like he's having
a lot of fun out of here and really energized.
Just what's it like for you last year? And he's
obviously doing to see him out here in this guy
of environment t JS bing, t J Man. We appreciate that. Um.
He loves football, he loves the work, he loves to compete. Um.
(07:25):
It's guys like that that you really want the young
guys to pay pay close attention to. They have resumes
and things that are respectable, but to watch them day
to day. I think that's where the real learning occurs.
You see why they're able to build the resumes that
they have more energized participate in everything. I'd be lyind
if I said, yes, he's always energized. What I mean,
(07:46):
they have one of your guys now in the Hall
of Water, another guy man, it's great to see big
Heath miller Man Uh. You know, it's a cool thing
to to to be in this position long enough to
to get guys that come back and to receive the
recognition for their playing days, but equally is important just
to come back and see them share and spend time
with the current player. I smile when I watched Pat
(08:09):
talking to Heath. We had Vince Williams here today and
Max Starks and others. We had Aaron Smith yesterday. Um.
That brotherhood, that fraternity. Man, You can't you can't can't
describe it, um, but you feel it and it is appreciated.
I just love the fact that Heath worked in silence.
(08:30):
You know, Um, you talk about a man a few words, Man,
Heath was a man of no words. Um, but man,
you felt the intensity um in his demeanor and in
his play. And I just think it's a unique thing
when a when a quiet guy, um, still is able
to display intensity and you feel it in his presence
involved in seven shots today. That's something you heard or
(08:52):
just part of the protests and plans getting in reps.
Reps are gonna come not only for him but for everyone.
We had the very early stages of this. Everyone is
gonna get an opportunity to show their capabilities for sure
which one it's It's a bunch of throws. Man. I'm
not you know, hanging my hat on one particular play.
(09:16):
I'm not making any um, you know, I'm not making
any guesses about participation ideal in reality and who we
have working and what transpired today. We'll see what happens
as we move forward. Are for a year? What are
your thoughts on about? What can you tell me about it?
You know, this is his first opportunity to to be
(09:39):
on the train when it leaves the station. Oftentimes we
pick guys up and they get on a moving train
during the course of the season and so forth. Um,
it's good that he's had the totality of the off season. Uh,
the learning process, and I think being a component of
the entire process is showing in a in a positive way.
That's conch Tom and speaking with the me the following
(10:00):
day four's practice on Saturday at LABS, he always shares
the injury report and some of the big guys on
it was Claypool and Pat Friarmouth. They did not participate
in practice on Saturday, but as he noted, it's an
opportunity for guys to step up and make a name
for themselves. And in seven shots he touched on this
a little bit, but Connor Hayward really did that. He
(10:21):
really took um, you know, the opportunity that was presented
him and ran with it. Yeah, I mean it, Connor
Heyward definitely uh caught a touchdown pass and seven shots
and then I'm gonna be curious to find out because
there was another play where the ball was thrown into
the end zone and it kind of got batted around
a little bit and Connor Hayward came down with it,
(10:42):
and then you know it's a question of whether was
he downed by contact, you know, outside of the end
zone or did he across the plane of the goal line.
So you know, it's hard to see a lot of
times because there's so many bodies standing around um, and
those things are usually argued out and discussed and debated
(11:04):
during the film session, you know, in the early evening.
So um, I'm sure word will trickle out one way
or the other. Weather Colomer Heyward you know, ended up
with two touchdown passes catches in seven shots or only one.
But then through the rest of the practice, I mean
he was much more visible in a lot of the
passing periods. Uh, caught a bunch of passes. Uh, you
(11:27):
could kind of describe them as you know, underneath routes, checkdowns,
those kind of things. But I mean, he did get
a lot more targets and he didn't drop anything, so
you know, I would characterize it as a good day
for him. Yeah, that's all you can ask. When an
opportunity comes, uh, you know, knocking at your door, you've
got to be able to deliver. And so far, so
good for him. Hopefully though, Friarmouth and Claypool for that matter,
(11:50):
can get back onto the practice field soon. Don't don't
expect those injuries to you know, be really lingering that much.
It's really just you know, a day to day thing,
as as one in you noted in your your practice
report from Saturday. Well yeah, and also, um, as part
of that pressor you heard, Mike Tomlin asked about Anthony Miller,
(12:11):
the veteran wide receiver spent some time in the practice squad,
was added to that practice squad. Um. I can't remember
exactly when, but it was sometime during the process or,
as Mike Tomlin says, he got on a moving train UM.
Now he and Miles Boykin, both another veteran. Boykin was
(12:31):
released by the Ravens. You know, these are two guys who, UM,
they've shown some things in training camp and you know
when you look at the depth chart there and wide receiver,
you know you have you know, if you want to
play the numbers game right now, you have UM, you know,
George Pickens, Chase Claypool, Deante Johnson. And then then you're
(12:54):
starting to look at, you know, some of the other
guys who you know might have an opportunity or um
you know, uh contribute or compete for a roster spot.
That was what I was looking for, compete and you know, UM,
Anthony Miller and Boyken are on that list. You know
that how are they gonna keep five? Are they gonna
keep six? Is Gunna Roschewsky considered, UM, you know as
(13:18):
strictly a special teams guy or you know, does he
make the team at UM wide receiver and then return
kicks as well. You've got rookie Calvin Austin the third,
who is uh if you're looking at something that he
brings that no one else does for me, it's his burst,
his you know, raw speed. So UM you know, the
Steelers lost some veteran receivers over the offseason, jud Smith, Schuster,
(13:43):
James Washington, Ray, Ray McLeod uh. And there was some
thought slash fear that this was gonna be an inexperienced
green group. But you know, as again and this to
me has been uh the case for the last few summer.
The wide receiver group is a tough group to cut. Um.
(14:04):
It's not an easy you know where you're You're looking
at the depth chart and watching practice and say, okay,
here's the line right here. You know, these guys on
this side of the line make it. These guys on
this side of the line are long shots and or
have hopes only if there are you know, some injuries.
But the Steelers have seven guys maybe uh And again
(14:24):
as I mentioned, how do they categorize al Chefski who
are going to be in this mix? And so yeah,
there there are some opportunities for guys. As an example
in Chase Claypool uh has a little bit of his
shoulder injury. Well. Another development from Saturday's Seven Shots was
the debut of Kenny Pickett in the drill and it
went relatively well for him. You notity threw a fade
(14:45):
pass into the back of the ends and that was
grabbed by Tyler Vaughan. So Kenny pick It finally getting
his feet wet in seven shots. And you heard tom
and his pressers say, you know, more opportunity is going
to come to guys as we work our way through
this training camp. It was it's just a very early
on in the process. Yeah, And I think Mike Tomlin's
playing with Kenny Pickt in terms of you know, public
(15:06):
proclamations is going to be to be as neutral as possible.
I don't think he's gonna go over go overboard praising
him or ripping him. Um, you know, it's gonna be
uh show me kind of situation with Kenny Pickt, something
he's gonna have to show, you know, over time too.
It's not gonna be uh, you know, uh any kind
of anointing after a drill or burying him after a
(15:28):
drill h period in a particular practice. So, um, you know,
Mike Tomlin is often slow to uh you know, as
they used to say about Chuck Noll, he throws around
compliments like manhole covers, um, and you know Tomlin is
kind of like that, especially with young people with rookies
with new additions to the roster. So, um, you know,
(15:52):
the Kenny pick At thing, it's a it's a process.
I won't call him a project because that implies something,
but I don't think it's the case. So, you know,
are just gonna have to see how things unfold. Despite
Kenny Pickett having a relatively successful debut in seven shots
and Haywards positive contributions, the defense was still able to
walk away with the wind. That's two wins for the
(16:13):
defense in three tries with seven shots. But things become
a lot different when they do seven shots today than
the previous three days. Yeah, I mean I and I
don't know that there's live tackling in that drill or anything,
but I would imagine that at some point there's still
got to be some more hanging right, some more bumping around. Well,
(16:34):
you know, if for no other reason, there's gonna be
uh uh. The offensive line, now, I think, is going
to have a little bit more of an opportunity to
do its job. I was talking to Craig Wolfley about this,
and he was explaining to me how it's difficult to
do your job as an offensive lineman without paths when
you're not hitting, because so much of doing your job
(16:55):
as an offensive lineman is about, you know, getting your
hands on people, being physical with him, you know, as
Rush Grim always said, moving someone from point A to
point B against his will. So, um, maybe that had
something to do with the number of times we've seen
defensive players have free runs into the backfield. But that
stops now, I mean, that's not an excuse anymore. As
(17:17):
an offensive lineman. You know, you're allowed to get a
hat on a hat, as they say, So, um, that's
gonna be part of seven shots. And I would also
imagine at some point, since the ball is on the
two yard line, you know, nausea, Harris might come into
play here too, and not as a receiver. You know,
it's it's not a rule in seven Shots that it
(17:38):
has to be a pass every time. I understand that
this is the early part of camp and you're wanting
to work both offensively and defensively on you know, the
quarterback reading the coverage, delivering the ball to the right spot,
receivers running the correct routes, making plays um in traffic,
and sub uh. Subsequently on defense too, you want your
(18:00):
defensive backs to be able to you know, pick up
the coverage, get through the rub rowts and the crossing
patterns and all that you know, trash and traffic that's
going on down there, and and do their job as well.
Now though, um, you know, play action might actually mean something,
you know, because they might give him the ball and
then h right, yeah, so uh yeah. I think seven
(18:23):
Shots is going to take on a whole new dimension
starting today. Can't wait to come back tomorrow and talk
about a padded seven shots with you when we come
back on this training camp report, though, we're gonna get
into t J. Watt, B and t J Watt, like
Mike Tomlin said in that presser and you you did
touch a little bit on the wide receiver group, but
there was one wide receiver in particular that I wanted
to kick around with you as well. That's all on
(18:44):
the way next here on the Steelers Training Camp Report
right here on Steelers Nation Radio d's No Training Camper
Report with Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola on Steelers nay
In Radio. A lot of guys through four days of
practice have turned some heads, but no one has been
(19:07):
as eye popping as the defensive Player of the Year
t J. Watt, who's just simply doing defensive Player of
the Year things in the early going of training camp. Now,
the pads don't come on until practice today that kicks
off around one this afternoon. But as far as how
t JS looked without the pads on, I think explosive
is a really good adjective that you could apply to
(19:29):
his play. And you know, just the savv nous from
being that veteran presence and being that defensive Player of
the Year is just you see that so much now
in his camp. And remember this is something we didn't
get to see last year from t J didn't really
participate in training camp because of the contract negotiations. Well,
the thing about t J Watter is, I mean, this
guy came to the Steelers, he came into the NFL
(19:54):
um and I say this with all due respect as
as in complimentary an old man. You know, he wasn't
a young guy, no, but I mean he comes with
a seriousness and a professionalism and a business like approach
that is not really normal for someone, uh the age
that he was as a rookie. So um he when
(20:17):
he showed up the camp this year, the fact that
he won Defensive Player of the year last year. I
don't know that that meant anything to him in terms
of you know, normal human behavior is something you achieve
something like that and you just go, you know, I
did it. So but if anything, I mean, I think
(20:39):
he's more determined and juiced to you know, either show
that he deserved that or that he wants another one. Um.
You know, I don't know specifically what is in his head,
but there doesn't seem to be any satisfaction uh around
surrounding him at all. And so there's that. And then
(20:59):
the other thing is, as you mentioned, his um his
explosiveness has really been um on on on show so far.
And uh, you know, as I mentioned in the previous segment,
it's a little bit difficult for the offensive players to
try and deal with a guy like t J Watt.
(21:20):
If you can't, you know, you certainly don't want to
um cut him or anything like that. You know, it's
not that you don't hit him, but you know, let's
be smart and professional about this. This guy's a hugely
significant part of this team, so you know, you're trying
to direct them and a little bit or those the
things that you can kind of do as an offensive
(21:40):
A lineman or uh pass blocker under these rules and
pathless practices, and it's really you know, it's it's impossible.
You can't. Um, you can't control the guy that way.
You just can't. And as you mentioned, he's so savvy,
he has such a good understanding, he knows Steelers playbook,
and I mean he's just everywhere you don't want him
(22:02):
to be. Uh. He's been very disruptive. Uh. And one
of the things that I would just suggest with my
very untrained and unprofessional football I is, here's an idea,
let's not run that quick sideline screen to t J.
Watt's side anymore because it's not it is not going
(22:23):
to work. Um. So uh. And I don't know if
any um, any Stealers opponents are listening to this show,
probably the Ravens for sure, because they have such respect
from my inside and knowledge. Um, but you know that
that that stuff doesn't work. You know, you you run
it at him a couple of times, and he's gonna
do kind of the kinds of things that he did yesterday,
(22:46):
you know, bat them in the air intercept one. Uh.
You know, he's always in the way of what you're
trying to do. On offense, which is bad for that unit,
but exactly what you want to see from the defense.
I love how you said, you know, you might be
able to get away with it once, but once he
sees it a couple of times. I mean, if you
keep throwing those quick wide receiver screens, you're you're almost
(23:08):
tempting fate for a pick six at that juncture. I mean,
it's just he's gonna get his hands on the ball.
It's just a matter if he comes away with the
interception or if he just bats it down into the turf.
Um we've signed, We've seen that from him the when
you were talking about, you know, him batting down the
ball and those wide receiver screens. My my mind just
played that video of Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Monday
(23:28):
Night game late last year where watch just swatted the
ball right out of the air when he tried to
pass it and gave him the the old Hakimala jo
decimbe Matumbo. Excuse me, no, not today. I mean, the
guy is, without question, the best player on the field
when he steps on the field, and you know you
talked about how you don't see any satisfaction with him.
(23:49):
I wonder if the fact that he tied straight hand
for the sack record instead of officially breaking it and
having that record all to himself. I wonder if that
has been some motivation in this offseas and like that's great.
I you know, I matched the Hall of Famer straighthan
and I reached a number that only he has reached
before in that category. But I need to break and
I need T. J. Watt's name to be the only
(24:10):
name next to that record. Yeah, I mean. T J. Watt,
I think is one of those guys who will maybe
go out of his way, uh to find things to
motivate himself. You know, manufacture some slights or you know
how he was robbed or you know whatever might be
um the case in terms of you know that gets
(24:31):
his juices flowing. Like for example, the Madden rating this
year he was less than miles. That's something he could use.
And you know that's what makes um those guys, excuse me,
those those guys who have that ability to do that,
you know, extra special, extra dangerous for the opponents. So,
(24:52):
you know, whatever t J. Watt has used over the
off season to come to this camp motivated, it's working.
Like can just tell you that I don't know exactly
what it is, um, but whatever it is is working,
and I'm I'm sure that over the course of you know,
this camp, preseason process and then into the regular season.
Who knows, um the fact that you know, if the
(25:14):
Steelers are picked to finish below five hundred for the
first time in you know, Mike Tomlins career, or you know,
the defense is criticized for having so many highly paid players,
and you know where they finished last year in NFL
rankings in terms of yards, a loud and points. Alob,
he'll figure it out. He'll find something, and I'm sure
he'll make it work for him too. Now, like I mentioned,
(25:36):
he did not participate in the training camp last year
for the most part. He did individual stuff, of course,
as he was working on a contract. Obviously, you can't
predict injury. There's no way we could sit here and
look and do a crystal ball and say he's gonna
play every single game this year. He's only gonna miss
one week. There's just no way to tell. But I feel,
and I'm interested if you feel the same way that
(25:56):
at least having this full training camp schedule under his
bell this year will be more advantageous to staying healthy
throughout the regular season than last year, where he wasn't injured.
I wouldn't say he was injury prone last year, but
a couple of games where he had to uh either
check himself out early in the game or just misscompletely
due to injury. I wonder if a full schedule of
ramping his body up might be able to make him
(26:18):
a little bit more durable this year. Yeah, I mean,
I really think that you can look at that issue
that you just posed either way. I mean, there's there's
something to be said, certainly for getting your body into
what I'll call hitting shape. Um. But then there's also
uh a case that can be made for you know, um,
(26:39):
you throw a glass uh a glass bottle on the ground,
uh enough times and it's gonna break. It just is
so you know, it's a fine line you gotta walk there. Uh.
As an example today, I wouldn't expect to see too
much t J. Watt in backs on backers. Um. I
just you know, it's not do we really need to
(27:00):
see t J. Watt's pass rush moans? Um. And you
know the other thing is, you know, Mike Tomlin, may
you know and I'm i was. I've been thinking about this,
you know, throughout the morning, because you know that there's
nothing to do here besides listen to pursuit it um
through the wall uh and wondering how Mike Tomlin might
handle it. You know, he might go one of two ways,
(27:23):
not use them hardly at all, or he may put
him out there first just to set it to him
for the defense, because I remember a couple of years,
a couple of summers, um he would put James Harrison
out and you know, the way the drill is is
structured is there's two defenders and only one of them attacks,
(27:46):
you know, the backfield and the blocker whoever it is,
has to like read the situation and first of all
do that and then get himself into position to deal
with which one of the two guys is coming. But
when Mike Tomlin would put Harrison out there, you know
they all called Harrison Debo um and Tomlin would you
know that Harrison would go out, you know for his
(28:09):
rep and Tomlin would just start yelling Debo's coming. You know,
you know there's no there's not gonna be any attempt
at trickery or camouflage, you know, or disguise or any
of that. You know he's coming, he's gonna run you over.
Deal with it. You know, how can you deal with this?
So that that that could that could be a method too.
(28:32):
So you know, a lot of these little subplots also,
like backs on backers interesting and that's one of the
ones I'll be watching. Gonna be a lot of exciting
things to take a look at today. When the pads
come on. Uh, wide receiver play gets a little different
when the pads come on as well. You know, it's
not just you know, getting off the line easy as
possible and getting into your route. You're gonna have to
(28:52):
fight off some defensive backs. Looking at the wide receiver room.
You know, we we just talked about t J Watt
Defensive Player of the Year. He's been shining at training camp.
Everybody expected him to shine. Though. Another guy that I
think is being mentioned just as much as t J
is having a great impact early on has been the
second round pick, George Pickens out of Georgia. The guy
has just been a darling in everybody's eyes so far
(29:15):
this camp period. Really interested to see how he does
now with pads on and those dbs jamming him at
the line of scrimmage. See how his getoff is. Yeah,
I mean, you know, with with wide receivers in the
NFL today, it's not like it used to be decades ago,
where there were two starters and then other guys filled
different roles. You know, offenses now have multiple personnel packages,
(29:37):
and so you know, to say a wide receiver only
started three games out of a seventeen game season might
not mean anything. I mean, he might have been on
the field more in terms of percentage of snaps than
the two guys listed as quote unquote starters. So let
me just say this, George Pickens is a starting caliber
wide receiver in the NFL already. Now you know how
(30:00):
how that all plays out in terms of you know,
opening play personnel packages will see. But I mean, this
guy has it all. He's he's fast, he's big, he's
physical when he needs to be as good hands. I
have not seen any fear in him at all, regardless
of where the where he's running routes, where the ball,
(30:23):
you know, how the ball arrives is high, does he
have to jump for it? Does you have to reach
behind him? You know, some of those physical positions that
the arrival of the football puts a receiver in that
are somewhat more dangerous than others. Um, you know, he
just I mean he he doesn't look like a rookie
at all. Ever. And another thing I'm in terested to
(30:45):
scene about George Pickens is this, uh, you know, backs
on Bankers is famous for, you know, the the matching,
the pinning of you know, tight ends and running backs
against the outside linebackers, you know, and that kind of
pass block well down the road a little bit at camp,
you know, and it's not as publicized and it's you know,
(31:05):
doesn't have as much fanfare. They have what they call
a little man backs on backers, which is wide receivers
blocking safeties and corners. So George Pickens, I mean I've
seen some um clips of him when he was at Georgia.
He's not afraid to get in a defensive backs face
(31:28):
and blocked for running place. That physicality extends beyond just
you know, making combat catches. He likes to hit somebody. Yeah,
and you know, when you look at the success of
a running game, you know, the ability for you know,
a four or five yard game to become a twelve, fifteen,
twenty yard game. Is often blocking on the perimeter and
that's probably where George Pickens is gonna, you know, spend
(31:50):
a lot of his time. And so I've seen him
do some of those kinds of things in college to
help spring you know, Georgia running backs and so you know,
I know that Alabama and Georgia are rivals on the
football field in college, but I mean, um, this Georgia
wide receiver could become the Alabama running backs best friend
(32:14):
when in terms of helping spring him on some of
those runs that you know we're all looking for him
to have. You mentioned how he doesn't look like a
rookie at all. You talk about a ton of positive
attributes he has to his game. Is there one thing
so far? And it's super early, so you know, I'm
not gonna hold you to it if you don't really
have one yet, But is there one thing that you've
noticed that he does in his game that is just
(32:36):
so much better than the rest where maybe high pointing
a ball, the combat catch, the route running, any anything
early that's shown that he's just over and above everybody
else at he doesn't drop it. I love to hear that.
I mean, there's never there's never any um, lack of
concentration or um, you know, turning up field too quick,
(32:59):
or you know, any of the uh simple, uh stupid mistakes.
You know, the human beings make, you know, And it's
it's not just young guys, it's it's everyone. He doesn't
he hasn't. Let me say, I won't say he doesn't.
He hasn't done that at all. And um, you know,
it just seems to me that you know, he'll catch
(33:20):
the ball away from his body. He he will, you know,
he reaches for it. He Uh. The other thing that
I notice about receivers is the sound that the ball
makes when it hits their hands. You know, if it
sounds like, you know, kind of like slapping a pillow,
that's what you're looking for. If it sounds like clapping
your hands, that's not what you're looking for. And when
(33:42):
the ball hits George Pickens hands, it doesn't make very
much of a sound. And so you know, that usually
means he's catching it with his fingers, his hands. That's
what they teach them to do. That's the best way
to do it. And the other thing I have not
seen from him yet is when he gets his hand
is on the ball, it's a completion, it's not you know,
he secures the catch. To use the coaching phrase, so um. Again,
(34:08):
it's really not a singular physical attribute that this guy
has that to me is outstanding. It's that he already
plays like a pro and he's not. And he didn't
even play much last year. Don't forget because of that, Yes,
because of that injury. Uh and he um. The Steelers
really like the fact that he hustled back from that
(34:30):
injury to join his teammates, you know, down the stretch
and play in the College Football Playoff when he could
have you know, the significance of the injury that he sustained,
that could have been one where you just you know,
the doctor says, yeah, that's a that's an eight month injury.
You know, this guy's done. But he hustled himself back
(34:51):
to the rehab, got on the field, and he made
a play deep down the field against Alabama. Um that
you know, it was early in the game, but it
was a tone center. You know, if you're a Georgia
Bulldogs fan or player or coach or anything, you know
you're playing Alabama, you know there's a little I won't
say that there's a doubt, but there's that little bit
(35:11):
of whatever it is in the back of your mind
that you're going against the heavyweight champion and you need
to get out to a good start with George Pickens
made that catched down the field early, and that not
only had to energize his teammates, but it had to
make Alabama their coaching staff sideline that defense think, uh,
you know, what are we gonna have to deal with
with this guy? So um. Statistically it wasn't a significant contribution,
(35:35):
but psychologically I I think it was well. The Steelers
are certainly hoping that Pickens can set the tone for
them often in games during his rookie campaign. When we
come back, we're gonna wrap up today's training camp report,
We're gonna preview today's padded practice a little bit more,
and we're gonna get labs of thoughts on the Hall
of Honor class that was inducted this past Saturday up
at St. Vincent College. So all that is on the
(35:57):
way next right here on the Training Camp Report on
your's Nation Radio. PC's the Training Camp Report with Tom
Opperman that Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio. Saturday's practice
at St. Vincent was really such a surreal scene. I
(36:17):
don't have to tell you that, Labs. You were right
in the heart of it. Uh. You sent me a
Twitter video before we went on the air this morning
from Peter King. Uh. He was at Latrobe on Saturday
for the practice and he was filming for about a
minute straight the cars that were lined up waiting to
get into the fan entrance at Chuck Nollfield St. Vincent's campus.
(36:39):
And at the very end of about a minute of
filming these cars, the camera turned to Pete and he said,
it's ten thirty in the morning right now, and the
practice doesn't start for another three to four hours. I mean,
Steelers Nation on Saturday was just it was something I
think surreal. Like I said, is the best word that
you can use to describe it. Yeah, I mean for
(37:01):
this particular training camp, you know, the post pandemic version.
I guess of going away, you know, to a small
college campus. Um, what the Steelers have gone to now?
It's still free. Parking is free, admissions free, you have
three you have to reserve a free ticket. Well, there
were seventeen thousand tickets reserved yesterday's practice, I mean Saturday's practice.
(37:24):
So um, you know, there were a lot of people there.
Whether everybody showed up or not, I don't know, but
there were a lot of people there. I I would
imagine that maybe somewhere, you know, disappointed or whatever, and
then turned around and left. I saw that line because
as you mentioned that there and riding in a car,
(37:46):
you know, past the cars that are lined up. So
I mean it's it's there's a lot of cars. I mean,
it's not like he's walking where you see so many.
Um so, yeah, there were uh it was in no pads.
I mean, it's not like they were there for the
first day in pats either. Um. Because I'm gonna be honest,
(38:09):
I had enough of paddless practice. I mean I had
to go and because that's my job and you know,
write a practice report about it. But I was not
enthusiastic about watching more of that. Again, just you're just
not You watch it in O t A. You're watching
a mini camp. Okay, you know, let's let's play. Let's
at least practice football now. So um yeah, the dedication,
(38:30):
the interest level, neither, there's no bend. You know a
lot of these things that you can point to that
in some national media have that would point to the
Steelers as being in a quote unquote rebuilding phase or
you know, heading toward a mediocre seas and I'm just
using some of the popular adjectives. Um was not in
evidence on Saturday. I mean, the people were here and
(38:53):
when Mike Tomlin he spoke to the crowd before practice
started as part of that UM initiative, you know, bring
back football or whatever it was that the NFL had
league wide on the first Saturday of training camp. So
Mike Tomlins talking, you know, the fans and thanking them
and you know, I won't say he was firing them up,
but he was fired up. And he brought Heath Miller,
(39:16):
who was in attendance with his wife and family, um
because he was part of the Hall of Honor announcement,
and he brought him out to the middle of the
field and the people went crazy and you know what
they were chanting or or you know, it's not a chance,
but what they you know, um so um, yeah, they
were into it too. So it was a beautiful day
(39:38):
and UM bording practice. But people turned out and they
waited in line and they stayed and uh. And a
lot of the businesses in the area were very happy
that those people then patronized a lot of them on
their way home. I'm very sure they were before we
get into you know, the padded practice to day, and
like we mentioned all day or the Training Camp report,
(40:00):
the first padded practices today at one. So if you
want a little bit more excitement in your practice, make
sure you head up to campus today. But Hall of
Honor class was announced on Saturday. If you haven't heard
it yet, just to recap real quick, Sam Davis, the
guard from nineteen sixty seven and nineteen seventy nine made it.
Ray Matthews halfbackslash right end from nineteen fifty nine made it.
(40:21):
As we just mentioned, Heath Miller two thousand five or
two thousand fifteen tight End is in the class, and
Myron Cope, the legendary broadcaster and creator of the Terrible Tow,
is in this year's Hall of Honor class. Labs, great work.
You and the committee did a phenomenal job as always,
And the one thing you said on the Training Camp
Report on Saturday before it was announced that you like
(40:41):
to do is have someone from each era and Steelers
history represented. I think mission accomplished as far as this
class is concerned. Yeah, and you know, thanks for the compliment.
Great job. But I mean, I I don't know that
I've ever had an easier job than this. It's it's well, no,
but because there's so many worthy people, you know, and
it's not so many times. I mean every time the
(41:03):
committee has gotten together, I've gone into the session thinking, um,
you know, with everyone we've talked about, discussed, debated, it's
it's more of a question of when not if. You know,
I can't remember a name that's been brought up since
we started this in tween where um, you think, well,
(41:24):
that guy doesn't deserve it. You know, it's yeah, he does.
But these guys I think deserve it more right now
or you know, whatever it is, and so um, yeah,
this is this was a class thing. I also mentioned
in terms of me personally. I like to see is
you mentioned, you know, the different eras being represented, and
(41:46):
I like that. Always try for that. And the other
thing you want is you want the fans to be
excited about some of these guys, some of these people
and certainly you know Ray Matthews being from the fifties,
uh saying Davis even though he has four Super Bowl rings. Um,
you know, he's an interior offensive lineman. You know, a
lot of fans, especially younger fans, might not have a
(42:09):
real understanding about the contributions these guys made to this franchise.
But Heith Miller and Myron Cope everybody knows, uh, And
so I think that the those are a couple of
the people that the fans could really rally around. They
certainly did when Heath Miller made a personal appearance on
the field, and you know, watch practice for a while,
(42:30):
and you know, um, if you want to know Myron
Cops impact, you know, just turn around and look up
at the stands of Chuck bull Field here and all
the people on the hillside, and they're either twirling terrible
tials or they're using them to you know, mop the
perspiration uh from their faces from the sun or shield
themselves from the sun so their next don't get overly burned.
(42:53):
I mean, terrible tials are multipurpose um items, and everybody
has one and at least one, and everybody knows how
to use it. You mentioned how you know this is
one of the easiest jobs you've ever had. I'm sure
you already have a pretty decent list of guys that
didn't make the cut this year that you you know,
have written down for when you know this process begins again.
(43:15):
Fore you're gonna pick right back up there. I'm sure,
like you said, there's no shortage of people that you
have in mind moving forward. No, really, and and there's not.
I mean you could there there have been times where, um,
you could go with a single position, you know, just
putting nobody but defensive line, or nobody but running backs,
(43:36):
or nobody but receivers. Um. And you know, so many
categories are not are not even touched yet. Assistant coaches,
how about that group? Um, you know, so there's there's
a lot of um, deserving people, eligible people, and um,
(43:57):
that's why I think it's you know, it's a lot
of fun um for the fans. Two I won't say
necessarily participate, even though they do have a small roll
in with there. There are fan nominations that are you know, accepted, requested,
but you know, in terms of actual picking, you know
(44:20):
it's not a fan vote. So but um, you know,
the fans have a stake in this art. Rooney wanted
the fans to have a stake in this and so
this is that's why the procedure was kind of devised
this way. Um, but there's I think that you know,
fans get behind this, they get somewhat excited about it.
And you know, I think that you know, when the
class is announced and uh there there's when the players
(44:44):
are still alive uh and available, you know too, participate
in the actual ceremony as Heith Miller was. You know,
I think that that's fun for them as well. The
pads come on today for day five at St. Vincent
Steelers training camp. Practice today starts at one fifty five.
(45:04):
Some more stuff to look forward to though, if you
are headed up today. The legend for this uh today's
photo op is Mike Logan, safety from two thousand one
to two thousand six and member of Super Bowl forties
UH teams. So you can get a picture with Mike
Logan talking up with him, probably get an autograph and labs.
You said you had a couple of updates as well
on some of the tvds we had for some of
those legend ops. Let me just throw this out though
(45:27):
about Mike Logan. Mike Logan was very um open and
accepting and helpful uh to some young safety that they
brought in during the end of his career, got by
the name of poll Mall. Mike Logan hoped, helped and
tutored a little bit, and you know, kind of passing
(45:49):
the torch onto someone who you know might be one
of the all time favorite Steelers in terms of you know,
fans ever and a Hall of Fame guy. So you know,
that's the kind of guy that Mike Logan was as
a professional player. Um yeah, a couple of updates. Um
we I think we mentioned Rocky Blyer what was added
(46:12):
to the list. He will be August three. Another addition
to the list on August nine is Tim Worley. August
tenth is Merrill Hodge. And then you know you close
with what I you always want to I guess when
you do a show, you know, the the the act
that closes the show is you know, usually the headliner, right,
(46:33):
I mean concerts, you know you don't play, uh you
know the who doesn't open for you know, some braggedy band,
you know the Rolling Stones there, you know they're the
headline and they play at the end. Well, the Steelers
closer on August eighteenth is a guy named Mel Blunt.
I think you've heard of him. Um that must be
why we open the festivities on SNR. Then we're the
(46:55):
opposite of the head. Yeah right, we we get we
get the group more n that'll do it for today's
training camp report. Always appreciate you guys giving us a listen.
We'll be back again tomorrow at nine am, recapping the
first padded practice that gets underway at one fifty five Today,
Wolf and Starks are in the locker room up next,
so keep it right here on Steelers Nation Radio.
Man, we're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get started. And so now we take off. DC's the
training camp re report what Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola
on Steelers Nation Radio. The Steelers have four training camp
practices under their belts already, but today day five is
different from all the ones that came before. It labs
(00:29):
the pads come on today. I'm sure there is just
a buzz around that campus and in those dormitories. The
players have got to be thrilled. They we're gonna be
playing some actual football this afternoon. Well it goes beyond
the players too, because I just want you to know that, um,
you know, the morning that DV Morning Shows Suite is
right next door here to the training Camp reports suite. Um,
(00:52):
and I thought we were calling that the Labriola Palatial
State Okay, okay, yeah, right next to the uh I
mean located on the first floor of you know, Bennet Call.
So I just wanted to let you know that if
you know, you come out of a break or something,
or there's a lagging the conversation and you can't get me,
(01:12):
probably out in the hall doing backs on backers with
pursuit because he is um even more over caffeinated than
normal um. And so there, as you said, there's there's
a buzz around and uh, I'm gonna you can you
might hear some pads, Bob, So you will be in pads,
though you'll be wearing pads when you do your backs
(01:32):
on backers with pursuited. You brought your shoulder pads to
camp with you in your helmets there in your room
right now. Well, I'll tell you what, at this stage
of my life, I'm padded at seven three. On a
serious note. He'll never admit this, but do you think what?
You don't think I was serious? Do you think? Do
you think Tomlin and the players obviously do, but do
(01:53):
you think Tomlin? After you know, day three, day four
of non pads, it's just like, all right, enough of
this walk through, you know half the three quarter speed stuff.
I want to see some of these guys hit people,
because how can you evaluate without actual football being played.
Let me tell you this. I mean there's thirty two
teams in training camp right now, and I don't know
(02:15):
that there's one besides the Pittsburgh Steelers who'll have live
tackling drills every day. I mean, I remember when Mike
Tomlin instituted that UM and I was. I happen to
be standing down on the field with about within about
three ft of Kevin Colbert. And Tomlin didn't tell anyone
(02:37):
that he was going to do this because he didn't
want anyone to come in and try and talk him
out of it, or maybe in the case of you know,
Art Rooney or Dan Rudy, order him not to do it,
him out of it, right, because this was when there's
long enough ago when levy On Bell was here and
(02:58):
you know, not holding out or you know any of
that stuff. And I read the first play. It was
eleven on eleven. They hand the ball to levy On
Bell and he like bounces outside, and you know, he's
running towards the sideline where Kevin Colbert. And as they said,
I was standing in some other media and club officials
and stuff, and I forget who the dB was. He
(03:22):
came up, the safety came over, and I mean there
was a collision on the sideline. You know, Kevin had
like one of those w A T F looks on
his face, and they got up and nobody got yelled at,
you know, for because he was tackled to the ground.
They did it again, I mean right, and for um
(03:48):
an NFL team to do that, and for an NFL
team to give it to their first team All Pro
running back in that drill. So, um, yeah, you when
you asked, as Mike Tomlin excited up this, um, my
answer would be yes, and uh, you know I would
expect it to be. Um, you know, I don't know
that Nausey Harris is going to get a bunch of
(04:10):
carries if when they run live tackling, because I just
cannot imagine they won't do that. But um, you know,
there there's gonna there's gonna be some real football out
on the on the fields today. Well before we you know,
look ahead to day fives practice today with the pads
coming on, we got to recap a lot of stuff
that went on on Saturday's Day four practice, A very
(04:32):
fun day at St. Vincent College. Hall of Honor class
was announced and Tomlin was extremely enthused in his post
practice pressor as well you know, the seventeen thousand plus
fans on site. It was an incredible atmosphere. So let's
take a listen to what coach Tomlin had to say
to the media following day for his practice on Saturday. Man,
(04:52):
how about that crowd today, Man, we were just so
excited to be back in this environment and field the
support of our fans. I'd be remiss if I didn't
opened up with that. We had an opportunity to get
better today. We snapped the ball thankfully today as the
last day of acclamation, and so we're pushing more towards
some football. Next time you guys see us, we'll be
carrying full pads. And that's just a significant component of
(05:13):
this process. Man. We'll get an opportunity to stop speculating
and start looking at the realities of play and and
so it's a big day for guys. Um A couple
of injury updates. We talked about Claypool last time went down.
Wasn't able to finish practice with a shoulder that can
be characterizes day to day. Like I mentioned prior um
to the pat prior move has a hamstring that can
(05:35):
be characterized this day. Today, Marcus Allen went down with
the hamstring in practice that needs to be evaluated before
we describe the extent of that um. Like I always
mentioned this time of year, bumps and bruises occur along
the way, and it's an unfortunate component of the game,
but what it is as an opportunity for others. Man,
we're running a little short at at tight end the
(05:56):
day because the Friar move and it gave a guy
like Connor hate with an opportunity to to put his
skills on display. I thought he stepped up and made
some place today, um CAZy did yesterday obviously with Maka
missing some of the time that he's missed, and and
I just make those points because that's what team development
is about. Man. There's gonna be opportunities and windows of
opportunity for guys to ascend and work in a different
(06:18):
group or or to get additional reps. And it's important
that they ready themselves for those moments and equally as
important that they see them. And so we're working on
assignments and things of that nature, but we're also working
on things that kind of represent the game of football.
We get into the regular season and the starter gets hurt, man,
it is a tremendous opportunity for backup, and so we
get an opportunity to represent that in situations like this
(06:41):
when we work just start out, pause and talk about
that for a little bit. Now open it up for
questions to translate just highly competitive. Um. He he warmed
up to the competition and and and his skills were
on display. He didn't shrink in the face of it.
(07:03):
You'll feel it on Monday, I promise you looking forward
to it. Along those lines. J Watson's like he's having
a lot of fun out of here and really energized.
Just what's it like for you last year? And he's
obviously doing to see him out here in this guy
of environment t JS bing, t J Man. We appreciate that. Um.
He loves football, he loves the work, he loves to compete. Um.
(07:25):
It's guys like that that you really want the young
guys to pay pay close attention to. They have resumes
and things that are respectable, but to watch them day
to day. I think that's where the real learning occurs.
You see why they're able to build the resumes that
they have more energized participate in everything. I'd be lyind
if I said, yes, he's always energized. What I mean,
(07:46):
they have one of your guys now in the Hall
of Water, another guy man, it's great to see big
Heath miller Man Uh. You know, it's a cool thing
to to to be in this position long enough to
to get guys that come back and to receive the
recognition for their playing days, but equally is important just
to come back and see them share and spend time
with the current player. I smile when I watched Pat
(08:09):
talking to Heath. We had Vince Williams here today and
Max Starks and others. We had Aaron Smith yesterday. Um.
That brotherhood, that fraternity. Man, You can't you can't can't
describe it, um, but you feel it and it is appreciated.
I just love the fact that Heath worked in silence.
(08:30):
You know, Um, you talk about a man a few words, Man,
Heath was a man of no words. Um, but man,
you felt the intensity um in his demeanor and in
his play. And I just think it's a unique thing
when a when a quiet guy, um, still is able
to display intensity and you feel it in his presence
involved in seven shots today. That's something you heard or
(08:52):
just part of the protests and plans getting in reps.
Reps are gonna come not only for him but for everyone.
We had the very early stages of this. Everyone is
gonna get an opportunity to show their capabilities for sure
which one it's It's a bunch of throws. Man. I'm
not you know, hanging my hat on one particular play.
(09:16):
I'm not making any um, you know, I'm not making
any guesses about participation ideal in reality and who we
have working and what transpired today. We'll see what happens
as we move forward. Are for a year? What are
your thoughts on about? What can you tell me about it?
You know, this is his first opportunity to to be
(09:39):
on the train when it leaves the station. Oftentimes we
pick guys up and they get on a moving train
during the course of the season and so forth. Um,
it's good that he's had the totality of the off season. Uh,
the learning process, and I think being a component of
the entire process is showing in a in a positive way.
That's conch Tom and speaking with the me the following
(10:00):
day four's practice on Saturday at LABS, he always shares
the injury report and some of the big guys on
it was Claypool and Pat Friarmouth. They did not participate
in practice on Saturday, but as he noted, it's an
opportunity for guys to step up and make a name
for themselves. And in seven shots he touched on this
a little bit, but Connor Hayward really did that. He
(10:21):
really took um, you know, the opportunity that was presented
him and ran with it. Yeah, I mean it, Connor
Heyward definitely uh caught a touchdown pass and seven shots
and then I'm gonna be curious to find out because
there was another play where the ball was thrown into
the end zone and it kind of got batted around
a little bit and Connor Hayward came down with it,
(10:42):
and then you know it's a question of whether was
he downed by contact, you know, outside of the end
zone or did he across the plane of the goal line.
So you know, it's hard to see a lot of
times because there's so many bodies standing around um, and
those things are usually argued out and discussed and debated
(11:04):
during the film session, you know, in the early evening.
So um, I'm sure word will trickle out one way
or the other. Weather Colomer Heyward you know, ended up
with two touchdown passes catches in seven shots or only one.
But then through the rest of the practice, I mean
he was much more visible in a lot of the
passing periods. Uh, caught a bunch of passes. Uh, you
(11:27):
could kind of describe them as you know, underneath routes, checkdowns,
those kind of things. But I mean, he did get
a lot more targets and he didn't drop anything, so
you know, I would characterize it as a good day
for him. Yeah, that's all you can ask. When an
opportunity comes, uh, you know, knocking at your door, you've
got to be able to deliver. And so far, so
good for him. Hopefully though, Friarmouth and Claypool for that matter,
(11:50):
can get back onto the practice field soon. Don't don't
expect those injuries to you know, be really lingering that much.
It's really just you know, a day to day thing,
as as one in you noted in your your practice
report from Saturday. Well yeah, and also, um, as part
of that pressor you heard, Mike Tomlin asked about Anthony Miller,
(12:11):
the veteran wide receiver spent some time in the practice squad,
was added to that practice squad. Um. I can't remember
exactly when, but it was sometime during the process or,
as Mike Tomlin says, he got on a moving train UM.
Now he and Miles Boykin, both another veteran. Boykin was
(12:31):
released by the Ravens. You know, these are two guys who, UM,
they've shown some things in training camp and you know
when you look at the depth chart there and wide receiver,
you know you have you know, if you want to
play the numbers game right now, you have UM, you know,
George Pickens, Chase Claypool, Deante Johnson. And then then you're
(12:54):
starting to look at, you know, some of the other
guys who you know might have an opportunity or um
you know, uh contribute or compete for a roster spot.
That was what I was looking for, compete and you know, UM,
Anthony Miller and Boyken are on that list. You know
that how are they gonna keep five? Are they gonna
keep six? Is Gunna Roschewsky considered, UM, you know as
(13:18):
strictly a special teams guy or you know, does he
make the team at UM wide receiver and then return
kicks as well. You've got rookie Calvin Austin the third,
who is uh if you're looking at something that he
brings that no one else does for me, it's his burst,
his you know, raw speed. So UM you know, the
Steelers lost some veteran receivers over the offseason, jud Smith, Schuster,
(13:43):
James Washington, Ray, Ray McLeod uh. And there was some
thought slash fear that this was gonna be an inexperienced
green group. But you know, as again and this to
me has been uh the case for the last few summer.
The wide receiver group is a tough group to cut. Um.
(14:04):
It's not an easy you know where you're You're looking
at the depth chart and watching practice and say, okay,
here's the line right here. You know, these guys on
this side of the line make it. These guys on
this side of the line are long shots and or
have hopes only if there are you know, some injuries.
But the Steelers have seven guys maybe uh And again
(14:24):
as I mentioned, how do they categorize al Chefski who
are going to be in this mix? And so yeah,
there there are some opportunities for guys. As an example
in Chase Claypool uh has a little bit of his
shoulder injury. Well. Another development from Saturday's Seven Shots was
the debut of Kenny Pickett in the drill and it
went relatively well for him. You notity threw a fade
(14:45):
pass into the back of the ends and that was
grabbed by Tyler Vaughan. So Kenny pick It finally getting
his feet wet in seven shots. And you heard tom
and his pressers say, you know, more opportunity is going
to come to guys as we work our way through
this training camp. It was it's just a very early
on in the process. Yeah, And I think Mike Tomlin's
playing with Kenny Pickt in terms of you know, public
(15:06):
proclamations is going to be to be as neutral as possible.
I don't think he's gonna go over go overboard praising
him or ripping him. Um, you know, it's gonna be
uh show me kind of situation with Kenny Pickt, something
he's gonna have to show, you know, over time too.
It's not gonna be uh, you know, uh any kind
of anointing after a drill or burying him after a
(15:28):
drill h period in a particular practice. So, um, you know,
Mike Tomlin is often slow to uh you know, as
they used to say about Chuck Noll, he throws around
compliments like manhole covers, um, and you know Tomlin is
kind of like that, especially with young people with rookies
with new additions to the roster. So, um, you know,
(15:52):
the Kenny pick At thing, it's a it's a process.
I won't call him a project because that implies something,
but I don't think it's the case. So, you know,
are just gonna have to see how things unfold. Despite
Kenny Pickett having a relatively successful debut in seven shots
and Haywards positive contributions, the defense was still able to
walk away with the wind. That's two wins for the
(16:13):
defense in three tries with seven shots. But things become
a lot different when they do seven shots today than
the previous three days. Yeah, I mean I and I
don't know that there's live tackling in that drill or anything,
but I would imagine that at some point there's still
got to be some more hanging right, some more bumping around. Well,
(16:34):
you know, if for no other reason, there's gonna be
uh uh. The offensive line, now, I think, is going
to have a little bit more of an opportunity to
do its job. I was talking to Craig Wolfley about this,
and he was explaining to me how it's difficult to
do your job as an offensive lineman without paths when
you're not hitting, because so much of doing your job
(16:55):
as an offensive lineman is about, you know, getting your
hands on people, being physical with him, you know, as
Rush Grim always said, moving someone from point A to
point B against his will. So, um, maybe that had
something to do with the number of times we've seen
defensive players have free runs into the backfield. But that
stops now, I mean, that's not an excuse anymore. As
(17:17):
an offensive lineman. You know, you're allowed to get a
hat on a hat, as they say, So, um, that's
gonna be part of seven shots. And I would also
imagine at some point, since the ball is on the
two yard line, you know, nausea, Harris might come into
play here too, and not as a receiver. You know,
it's it's not a rule in seven Shots that it
(17:38):
has to be a pass every time. I understand that
this is the early part of camp and you're wanting
to work both offensively and defensively on you know, the
quarterback reading the coverage, delivering the ball to the right spot,
receivers running the correct routes, making plays um in traffic,
and sub uh. Subsequently on defense too, you want your
(18:00):
defensive backs to be able to you know, pick up
the coverage, get through the rub rowts and the crossing
patterns and all that you know, trash and traffic that's
going on down there, and and do their job as well.
Now though, um, you know, play action might actually mean something,
you know, because they might give him the ball and
then h right, yeah, so uh yeah. I think seven
(18:23):
Shots is going to take on a whole new dimension
starting today. Can't wait to come back tomorrow and talk
about a padded seven shots with you when we come
back on this training camp report, though, we're gonna get
into t J. Watt, B and t J Watt, like
Mike Tomlin said in that presser and you you did
touch a little bit on the wide receiver group, but
there was one wide receiver in particular that I wanted
to kick around with you as well. That's all on
(18:44):
the way next here on the Steelers Training Camp Report
right here on Steelers Nation Radio d's No Training Camper
Report with Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola on Steelers nay
In Radio. A lot of guys through four days of
practice have turned some heads, but no one has been
(19:07):
as eye popping as the defensive Player of the Year
t J. Watt, who's just simply doing defensive Player of
the Year things in the early going of training camp. Now,
the pads don't come on until practice today that kicks
off around one this afternoon. But as far as how
t JS looked without the pads on, I think explosive
is a really good adjective that you could apply to
(19:29):
his play. And you know, just the savv nous from
being that veteran presence and being that defensive Player of
the Year is just you see that so much now
in his camp. And remember this is something we didn't
get to see last year from t J didn't really
participate in training camp because of the contract negotiations. Well,
the thing about t J Watter is, I mean, this
guy came to the Steelers, he came into the NFL
(19:54):
um and I say this with all due respect as
as in complimentary an old man. You know, he wasn't
a young guy, no, but I mean he comes with
a seriousness and a professionalism and a business like approach
that is not really normal for someone, uh the age
that he was as a rookie. So um he when
(20:17):
he showed up the camp this year, the fact that
he won Defensive Player of the year last year. I
don't know that that meant anything to him in terms
of you know, normal human behavior is something you achieve
something like that and you just go, you know, I
did it. So but if anything, I mean, I think
(20:39):
he's more determined and juiced to you know, either show
that he deserved that or that he wants another one. Um.
You know, I don't know specifically what is in his head,
but there doesn't seem to be any satisfaction uh around
surrounding him at all. And so there's that. And then
(20:59):
the other thing is, as you mentioned, his um his
explosiveness has really been um on on on show so far.
And uh, you know, as I mentioned in the previous segment,
it's a little bit difficult for the offensive players to
try and deal with a guy like t J Watt.
(21:20):
If you can't, you know, you certainly don't want to
um cut him or anything like that. You know, it's
not that you don't hit him, but you know, let's
be smart and professional about this. This guy's a hugely
significant part of this team, so you know, you're trying
to direct them and a little bit or those the
things that you can kind of do as an offensive
(21:40):
A lineman or uh pass blocker under these rules and
pathless practices, and it's really you know, it's it's impossible.
You can't. Um, you can't control the guy that way.
You just can't. And as you mentioned, he's so savvy,
he has such a good understanding, he knows Steelers playbook,
and I mean he's just everywhere you don't want him
(22:02):
to be. Uh. He's been very disruptive. Uh. And one
of the things that I would just suggest with my
very untrained and unprofessional football I is, here's an idea,
let's not run that quick sideline screen to t J.
Watt's side anymore because it's not it is not going
(22:23):
to work. Um. So uh. And I don't know if
any um, any Stealers opponents are listening to this show,
probably the Ravens for sure, because they have such respect
from my inside and knowledge. Um, but you know that
that that stuff doesn't work. You know, you you run
it at him a couple of times, and he's gonna
do kind of the kinds of things that he did yesterday,
(22:46):
you know, bat them in the air intercept one. Uh.
You know, he's always in the way of what you're
trying to do. On offense, which is bad for that unit,
but exactly what you want to see from the defense.
I love how you said, you know, you might be
able to get away with it once, but once he
sees it a couple of times. I mean, if you
keep throwing those quick wide receiver screens, you're you're almost
(23:08):
tempting fate for a pick six at that juncture. I mean,
it's just he's gonna get his hands on the ball.
It's just a matter if he comes away with the
interception or if he just bats it down into the turf.
Um we've signed, We've seen that from him the when
you were talking about, you know, him batting down the
ball and those wide receiver screens. My my mind just
played that video of Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Monday
(23:28):
Night game late last year where watch just swatted the
ball right out of the air when he tried to
pass it and gave him the the old Hakimala jo
decimbe Matumbo. Excuse me, no, not today. I mean, the
guy is, without question, the best player on the field
when he steps on the field, and you know you
talked about how you don't see any satisfaction with him.
(23:49):
I wonder if the fact that he tied straight hand
for the sack record instead of officially breaking it and
having that record all to himself. I wonder if that
has been some motivation in this offseas and like that's great.
I you know, I matched the Hall of Famer straighthan
and I reached a number that only he has reached
before in that category. But I need to break and
I need T. J. Watt's name to be the only
(24:10):
name next to that record. Yeah, I mean. T J. Watt,
I think is one of those guys who will maybe
go out of his way, uh to find things to
motivate himself. You know, manufacture some slights or you know
how he was robbed or you know whatever might be
um the case in terms of you know that gets
(24:31):
his juices flowing. Like for example, the Madden rating this
year he was less than miles. That's something he could use.
And you know that's what makes um those guys, excuse me,
those those guys who have that ability to do that,
you know, extra special, extra dangerous for the opponents. So,
(24:52):
you know, whatever t J. Watt has used over the
off season to come to this camp motivated, it's working.
Like can just tell you that I don't know exactly
what it is, um, but whatever it is is working,
and I'm I'm sure that over the course of you know,
this camp, preseason process and then into the regular season.
Who knows, um the fact that you know, if the
(25:14):
Steelers are picked to finish below five hundred for the
first time in you know, Mike Tomlins career, or you know,
the defense is criticized for having so many highly paid players,
and you know where they finished last year in NFL
rankings in terms of yards, a loud and points. Alob,
he'll figure it out. He'll find something, and I'm sure
he'll make it work for him too. Now, like I mentioned,
(25:36):
he did not participate in the training camp last year
for the most part. He did individual stuff, of course,
as he was working on a contract. Obviously, you can't
predict injury. There's no way we could sit here and
look and do a crystal ball and say he's gonna
play every single game this year. He's only gonna miss
one week. There's just no way to tell. But I feel,
and I'm interested if you feel the same way that
(25:56):
at least having this full training camp schedule under his
bell this year will be more advantageous to staying healthy
throughout the regular season than last year, where he wasn't injured.
I wouldn't say he was injury prone last year, but
a couple of games where he had to uh either
check himself out early in the game or just misscompletely
due to injury. I wonder if a full schedule of
ramping his body up might be able to make him
(26:18):
a little bit more durable this year. Yeah, I mean,
I really think that you can look at that issue
that you just posed either way. I mean, there's there's
something to be said, certainly for getting your body into
what I'll call hitting shape. Um. But then there's also
uh a case that can be made for you know, um,
(26:39):
you throw a glass uh a glass bottle on the ground,
uh enough times and it's gonna break. It just is
so you know, it's a fine line you gotta walk there. Uh.
As an example today, I wouldn't expect to see too
much t J. Watt in backs on backers. Um. I
just you know, it's not do we really need to
(27:00):
see t J. Watt's pass rush moans? Um. And you
know the other thing is, you know, Mike Tomlin, may
you know and I'm i was. I've been thinking about this,
you know, throughout the morning, because you know that there's
nothing to do here besides listen to pursuit it um
through the wall uh and wondering how Mike Tomlin might
handle it. You know, he might go one of two ways,
(27:23):
not use them hardly at all, or he may put
him out there first just to set it to him
for the defense, because I remember a couple of years,
a couple of summers, um he would put James Harrison
out and you know, the way the drill is is
structured is there's two defenders and only one of them attacks,
(27:46):
you know, the backfield and the blocker whoever it is,
has to like read the situation and first of all
do that and then get himself into position to deal
with which one of the two guys is coming. But
when Mike Tomlin would put Harrison out there, you know
they all called Harrison Debo um and Tomlin would you
know that Harrison would go out, you know for his
(28:09):
rep and Tomlin would just start yelling Debo's coming. You know,
you know there's no there's not gonna be any attempt
at trickery or camouflage, you know, or disguise or any
of that. You know he's coming, he's gonna run you over.
Deal with it. You know, how can you deal with this?
So that that that could that could be a method too.
(28:32):
So you know, a lot of these little subplots also,
like backs on backers interesting and that's one of the
ones I'll be watching. Gonna be a lot of exciting
things to take a look at today. When the pads
come on. Uh, wide receiver play gets a little different
when the pads come on as well. You know, it's
not just you know, getting off the line easy as
possible and getting into your route. You're gonna have to
(28:52):
fight off some defensive backs. Looking at the wide receiver room.
You know, we we just talked about t J Watt
Defensive Player of the Year. He's been shining at training camp.
Everybody expected him to shine. Though. Another guy that I
think is being mentioned just as much as t J
is having a great impact early on has been the
second round pick, George Pickens out of Georgia. The guy
has just been a darling in everybody's eyes so far
(29:15):
this camp period. Really interested to see how he does
now with pads on and those dbs jamming him at
the line of scrimmage. See how his getoff is. Yeah,
I mean, you know, with with wide receivers in the
NFL today, it's not like it used to be decades ago,
where there were two starters and then other guys filled
different roles. You know, offenses now have multiple personnel packages,
(29:37):
and so you know, to say a wide receiver only
started three games out of a seventeen game season might
not mean anything. I mean, he might have been on
the field more in terms of percentage of snaps than
the two guys listed as quote unquote starters. So let
me just say this, George Pickens is a starting caliber
wide receiver in the NFL already. Now you know how
(30:00):
how that all plays out in terms of you know,
opening play personnel packages will see. But I mean, this
guy has it all. He's he's fast, he's big, he's
physical when he needs to be as good hands. I
have not seen any fear in him at all, regardless
of where the where he's running routes, where the ball,
(30:23):
you know, how the ball arrives is high, does he
have to jump for it? Does you have to reach
behind him? You know, some of those physical positions that
the arrival of the football puts a receiver in that
are somewhat more dangerous than others. Um, you know, he
just I mean he he doesn't look like a rookie
at all. Ever. And another thing I'm in terested to
(30:45):
scene about George Pickens is this, uh, you know, backs
on Bankers is famous for, you know, the the matching,
the pinning of you know, tight ends and running backs
against the outside linebackers, you know, and that kind of
pass block well down the road a little bit at camp,
you know, and it's not as publicized and it's you know,
(31:05):
doesn't have as much fanfare. They have what they call
a little man backs on backers, which is wide receivers
blocking safeties and corners. So George Pickens, I mean I've
seen some um clips of him when he was at Georgia.
He's not afraid to get in a defensive backs face
(31:28):
and blocked for running place. That physicality extends beyond just
you know, making combat catches. He likes to hit somebody. Yeah,
and you know, when you look at the success of
a running game, you know, the ability for you know,
a four or five yard game to become a twelve, fifteen,
twenty yard game. Is often blocking on the perimeter and
that's probably where George Pickens is gonna, you know, spend
(31:50):
a lot of his time. And so I've seen him
do some of those kinds of things in college to
help spring you know, Georgia running backs and so you know,
I know that Alabama and Georgia are rivals on the
football field in college, but I mean, um, this Georgia
wide receiver could become the Alabama running backs best friend
(32:14):
when in terms of helping spring him on some of
those runs that you know we're all looking for him
to have. You mentioned how he doesn't look like a
rookie at all. You talk about a ton of positive
attributes he has to his game. Is there one thing
so far? And it's super early, so you know, I'm
not gonna hold you to it if you don't really
have one yet, But is there one thing that you've
noticed that he does in his game that is just
(32:36):
so much better than the rest where maybe high pointing
a ball, the combat catch, the route running, any anything
early that's shown that he's just over and above everybody
else at he doesn't drop it. I love to hear that.
I mean, there's never there's never any um, lack of
concentration or um, you know, turning up field too quick,
(32:59):
or you know, any of the uh simple, uh stupid mistakes.
You know, the human beings make, you know, And it's
it's not just young guys, it's it's everyone. He doesn't
he hasn't. Let me say, I won't say he doesn't.
He hasn't done that at all. And um, you know,
it just seems to me that you know, he'll catch
(33:20):
the ball away from his body. He he will, you know,
he reaches for it. He Uh. The other thing that
I notice about receivers is the sound that the ball
makes when it hits their hands. You know, if it
sounds like, you know, kind of like slapping a pillow,
that's what you're looking for. If it sounds like clapping
your hands, that's not what you're looking for. And when
(33:42):
the ball hits George Pickens hands, it doesn't make very
much of a sound. And so you know, that usually
means he's catching it with his fingers, his hands. That's
what they teach them to do. That's the best way
to do it. And the other thing I have not
seen from him yet is when he gets his hand
is on the ball, it's a completion, it's not you know,
he secures the catch. To use the coaching phrase, so um. Again,
(34:08):
it's really not a singular physical attribute that this guy
has that to me is outstanding. It's that he already
plays like a pro and he's not. And he didn't
even play much last year. Don't forget because of that, Yes,
because of that injury. Uh and he um. The Steelers
really like the fact that he hustled back from that
(34:30):
injury to join his teammates, you know, down the stretch
and play in the College Football Playoff when he could
have you know, the significance of the injury that he sustained,
that could have been one where you just you know,
the doctor says, yeah, that's a that's an eight month injury.
You know, this guy's done. But he hustled himself back
(34:51):
to the rehab, got on the field, and he made
a play deep down the field against Alabama. Um that
you know, it was early in the game, but it
was a tone center. You know, if you're a Georgia
Bulldogs fan or player or coach or anything, you know
you're playing Alabama, you know there's a little I won't
say that there's a doubt, but there's that little bit
(35:11):
of whatever it is in the back of your mind
that you're going against the heavyweight champion and you need
to get out to a good start with George Pickens
made that catched down the field early, and that not
only had to energize his teammates, but it had to
make Alabama their coaching staff sideline that defense think, uh,
you know, what are we gonna have to deal with
with this guy? So um. Statistically it wasn't a significant contribution,
(35:35):
but psychologically I I think it was well. The Steelers
are certainly hoping that Pickens can set the tone for
them often in games during his rookie campaign. When we
come back, we're gonna wrap up today's training camp report,
We're gonna preview today's padded practice a little bit more,
and we're gonna get labs of thoughts on the Hall
of Honor class that was inducted this past Saturday up
at St. Vincent College. So all that is on the
(35:57):
way next right here on the Training Camp Report on
your's Nation Radio. PC's the Training Camp Report with Tom
Opperman that Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio. Saturday's practice
at St. Vincent was really such a surreal scene. I
(36:17):
don't have to tell you that, Labs. You were right
in the heart of it. Uh. You sent me a
Twitter video before we went on the air this morning
from Peter King. Uh. He was at Latrobe on Saturday
for the practice and he was filming for about a
minute straight the cars that were lined up waiting to
get into the fan entrance at Chuck Nollfield St. Vincent's campus.
(36:39):
And at the very end of about a minute of
filming these cars, the camera turned to Pete and he said,
it's ten thirty in the morning right now, and the
practice doesn't start for another three to four hours. I mean,
Steelers Nation on Saturday was just it was something I
think surreal. Like I said, is the best word that
you can use to describe it. Yeah, I mean for
(37:01):
this particular training camp, you know, the post pandemic version.
I guess of going away, you know, to a small
college campus. Um, what the Steelers have gone to now?
It's still free. Parking is free, admissions free, you have
three you have to reserve a free ticket. Well, there
were seventeen thousand tickets reserved yesterday's practice, I mean Saturday's practice.
(37:24):
So um, you know, there were a lot of people there.
Whether everybody showed up or not, I don't know, but
there were a lot of people there. I I would
imagine that maybe somewhere, you know, disappointed or whatever, and
then turned around and left. I saw that line because
as you mentioned that there and riding in a car,
(37:46):
you know, past the cars that are lined up. So
I mean it's it's there's a lot of cars. I mean,
it's not like he's walking where you see so many.
Um so, yeah, there were uh it was in no pads.
I mean, it's not like they were there for the
first day in pats either. Um. Because I'm gonna be honest,
(38:09):
I had enough of paddless practice. I mean I had
to go and because that's my job and you know,
write a practice report about it. But I was not
enthusiastic about watching more of that. Again, just you're just
not You watch it in O t A. You're watching
a mini camp. Okay, you know, let's let's play. Let's
at least practice football now. So um yeah, the dedication,
(38:30):
the interest level, neither, there's no bend. You know a
lot of these things that you can point to that
in some national media have that would point to the
Steelers as being in a quote unquote rebuilding phase or
you know, heading toward a mediocre seas and I'm just
using some of the popular adjectives. Um was not in
evidence on Saturday. I mean, the people were here and
(38:53):
when Mike Tomlin he spoke to the crowd before practice
started as part of that UM initiative, you know, bring
back football or whatever it was that the NFL had
league wide on the first Saturday of training camp. So
Mike Tomlins talking, you know, the fans and thanking them
and you know, I won't say he was firing them up,
but he was fired up. And he brought Heath Miller,
(39:16):
who was in attendance with his wife and family, um
because he was part of the Hall of Honor announcement,
and he brought him out to the middle of the
field and the people went crazy and you know what
they were chanting or or you know, it's not a chance,
but what they you know, um so um, yeah, they
were into it too. So it was a beautiful day
(39:38):
and UM bording practice. But people turned out and they
waited in line and they stayed and uh. And a
lot of the businesses in the area were very happy
that those people then patronized a lot of them on
their way home. I'm very sure they were before we
get into you know, the padded practice to day, and
like we mentioned all day or the Training Camp report,
(40:00):
the first padded practices today at one. So if you
want a little bit more excitement in your practice, make
sure you head up to campus today. But Hall of
Honor class was announced on Saturday. If you haven't heard
it yet, just to recap real quick, Sam Davis, the
guard from nineteen sixty seven and nineteen seventy nine made it.
Ray Matthews halfbackslash right end from nineteen fifty nine made it.
(40:21):
As we just mentioned, Heath Miller two thousand five or
two thousand fifteen tight End is in the class, and
Myron Cope, the legendary broadcaster and creator of the Terrible Tow,
is in this year's Hall of Honor class. Labs, great work.
You and the committee did a phenomenal job as always,
And the one thing you said on the Training Camp
Report on Saturday before it was announced that you like
(40:41):
to do is have someone from each era and Steelers
history represented. I think mission accomplished as far as this
class is concerned. Yeah, and you know, thanks for the compliment.
Great job. But I mean, I I don't know that
I've ever had an easier job than this. It's it's well, no,
but because there's so many worthy people, you know, and
it's not so many times. I mean every time the
(41:03):
committee has gotten together, I've gone into the session thinking, um,
you know, with everyone we've talked about, discussed, debated, it's
it's more of a question of when not if. You know,
I can't remember a name that's been brought up since
we started this in tween where um, you think, well,
(41:24):
that guy doesn't deserve it. You know, it's yeah, he does.
But these guys I think deserve it more right now
or you know, whatever it is, and so um, yeah,
this is this was a class thing. I also mentioned
in terms of me personally. I like to see is
you mentioned, you know, the different eras being represented, and
(41:46):
I like that. Always try for that. And the other
thing you want is you want the fans to be
excited about some of these guys, some of these people
and certainly you know Ray Matthews being from the fifties,
uh saying Davis even though he has four Super Bowl rings. Um,
you know, he's an interior offensive lineman. You know, a
lot of fans, especially younger fans, might not have a
(42:09):
real understanding about the contributions these guys made to this franchise.
But Heith Miller and Myron Cope everybody knows, uh, And
so I think that the those are a couple of
the people that the fans could really rally around. They
certainly did when Heath Miller made a personal appearance on
the field, and you know, watch practice for a while,
(42:30):
and you know, um, if you want to know Myron
Cops impact, you know, just turn around and look up
at the stands of Chuck bull Field here and all
the people on the hillside, and they're either twirling terrible
tials or they're using them to you know, mop the
perspiration uh from their faces from the sun or shield
themselves from the sun so their next don't get overly burned.
(42:53):
I mean, terrible tials are multipurpose um items, and everybody
has one and at least one, and everybody knows how
to use it. You mentioned how you know this is
one of the easiest jobs you've ever had. I'm sure
you already have a pretty decent list of guys that
didn't make the cut this year that you you know,
have written down for when you know this process begins again.
(43:15):
Fore you're gonna pick right back up there. I'm sure,
like you said, there's no shortage of people that you
have in mind moving forward. No, really, and and there's not.
I mean you could there there have been times where, um,
you could go with a single position, you know, just
putting nobody but defensive line, or nobody but running backs,
(43:36):
or nobody but receivers. Um. And you know, so many
categories are not are not even touched yet. Assistant coaches,
how about that group? Um, you know, so there's there's
a lot of um, deserving people, eligible people, and um,
(43:57):
that's why I think it's you know, it's a lot
of fun um for the fans. Two I won't say
necessarily participate, even though they do have a small roll
in with there. There are fan nominations that are you know, accepted, requested,
but you know, in terms of actual picking, you know
(44:20):
it's not a fan vote. So but um, you know,
the fans have a stake in this art. Rooney wanted
the fans to have a stake in this and so
this is that's why the procedure was kind of devised
this way. Um, but there's I think that you know,
fans get behind this, they get somewhat excited about it.
And you know, I think that you know, when the
class is announced and uh there there's when the players
(44:44):
are still alive uh and available, you know too, participate
in the actual ceremony as Heith Miller was. You know,
I think that that's fun for them as well. The
pads come on today for day five at St. Vincent
Steelers training camp. Practice today starts at one fifty five.
(45:04):
Some more stuff to look forward to though, if you
are headed up today. The legend for this uh today's
photo op is Mike Logan, safety from two thousand one
to two thousand six and member of Super Bowl forties
UH teams. So you can get a picture with Mike
Logan talking up with him, probably get an autograph and labs.
You said you had a couple of updates as well
on some of the tvds we had for some of
those legend ops. Let me just throw this out though
(45:27):
about Mike Logan. Mike Logan was very um open and
accepting and helpful uh to some young safety that they
brought in during the end of his career, got by
the name of poll Mall. Mike Logan hoped, helped and
tutored a little bit, and you know, kind of passing
(45:49):
the torch onto someone who you know might be one
of the all time favorite Steelers in terms of you know,
fans ever and a Hall of Fame guy. So you know,
that's the kind of guy that Mike Logan was as
a professional player. Um yeah, a couple of updates. Um
we I think we mentioned Rocky Blyer what was added
(46:12):
to the list. He will be August three. Another addition
to the list on August nine is Tim Worley. August
tenth is Merrill Hodge. And then you know you close
with what I you always want to I guess when
you do a show, you know, the the the act
that closes the show is you know, usually the headliner, right,
(46:33):
I mean concerts, you know you don't play, uh you
know the who doesn't open for you know, some braggedy band,
you know the Rolling Stones there, you know they're the
headline and they play at the end. Well, the Steelers
closer on August eighteenth is a guy named Mel Blunt.
I think you've heard of him. Um that must be
why we open the festivities on SNR. Then we're the
(46:55):
opposite of the head. Yeah right, we we get we
get the group more n that'll do it for today's
training camp report. Always appreciate you guys giving us a listen.
We'll be back again tomorrow at nine am, recapping the
first padded practice that gets underway at one fifty five Today,
Wolf and Starks are in the locker room up next,
so keep it right here on Steelers Nation Radio.
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