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HR1: Live from Training Camp 2026 Day 1 · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

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Speaker 1: This is live coverage of the twenty twenty six Steelers
0:04
Speaker 1: training Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
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Speaker 1: Peter is Everywhere.
0:45
Speaker 2: Actor Matthew kna Hey, All.
0:47
Speaker 3: Ride, All Ride, All Ride.
0:51
Speaker 2: Deco, Man Dark your ego.
1:00
Speaker 4: Oh, and we thank you for being in the locker
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Speaker 4: room with us from Latrobe.
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Speaker 3: The Engines came up here.
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Speaker 4: In a few weeks, the Engines will be going back
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Speaker 4: again to Pittsburgh and other parts, scattering the Steelers players
1:13
Speaker 4: and coaching staff and personnel and everybody else around Western Pennsylvania,
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Speaker 4: along with Max Starks. I'm Rob King, How are you Max?
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Speaker 4: Good to see you, my friend.
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Speaker 2: I am doing well, Kingar And of course, where else
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Speaker 2: would you rather be at the end of July than
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Speaker 2: in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on the beautiful campus of Saint Vincent College,
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Speaker 2: which has been the commencement grounds for whatever season's going
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Speaker 2: to be for the Steelers since nineteen sixty nine. Great atmosphere,
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Speaker 2: cool day to day.
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Speaker 4: It's perfect, really perfect, excellent, you know, and it's been
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Speaker 4: when you talk about the history of this place, it's
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Speaker 4: been so important to the history the Steelers, and of
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Speaker 4: course all the greatest years in Steelers history have begun
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Speaker 4: here on this sod out in this beautiful setting. And
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Speaker 4: again we you know, we talk about this every year.
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Speaker 4: If you've never been here, it is just beautiful. The
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Speaker 4: rolling hills, gorgeous. You know, there's there's some a rustic
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Speaker 4: element to it, but there's you know, plenty going on
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Speaker 4: as well. It's just a beautiful, beautiful campus, a beautiful place,
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Speaker 4: so welcoming, and it's different. Now, Max, I don't remember,
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Speaker 4: did you go to camp when you're with Saint Louis?
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Speaker 2: Did not go to camp with Saint Louis? I was
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Speaker 2: what San Diego is?
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Speaker 3: Okay? Time?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so did they have a location away from the facility?
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Speaker 4: So what is the difference? What everybody talks about this.
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Speaker 4: You know, Aaron Rodgers was raving about being in a
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Speaker 4: college dorm with DK Metcalf didn't even have his own room, right, Yeah,
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Speaker 4: you know, raving about the connectivity of the players when
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Speaker 4: you're here. Is that what made it part of what
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Speaker 4: made it so special to be out here? Yeah, it was.
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Speaker 2: It was an isolation factor, but isolation in a good sense,
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Speaker 2: like you created a silo for this team to to
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Speaker 2: interact with each other. You know, when you go to
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Speaker 2: other training camps and other places. I was in San
2:59
Speaker 2: Diego and training camp was at the facility, and you
3:03
Speaker 2: stayed in a hotel and you traverse back and forth
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Speaker 2: via van to the facility. You didn't even have a
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Speaker 2: lunch room. It was a tent outside on the fields
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Speaker 2: where they had catering services come in. So it was
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Speaker 2: just a different element to that, and you didn't really
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Speaker 2: feel close and connected here you are in a door room.
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Speaker 2: It is literally like going back into college into a
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Speaker 2: time capsule where you have some rooms, have two guys
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Speaker 2: to a room and you share a bathroom between, so
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Speaker 2: there's four guys sharing one bathroom. When you get a
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Speaker 2: little bit older, you get the one to one, so
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Speaker 2: only two guys sharing a toilet, so you know exactly
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Speaker 2: who you could yell at and when things weren't looking
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Speaker 2: as fresh as you wanted, right, But that's what you get.
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Speaker 2: And everybody's right next door to each other, and they
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Speaker 2: put them in four different stories and you just interact.
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Speaker 2: You know, if you're bored in your room, you go
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Speaker 2: down to somebody else's room, figure it out, play video games,
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Speaker 2: play cards, hang out in the in like the common
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Speaker 2: area downstairs, and it's all about getting to know each other,
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Speaker 2: get to figure out who your teammates are, and really
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Speaker 2: meshing that. So you really accelerate that bonding process that
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Speaker 2: it takes for a team to get along. Whereas I
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Speaker 2: feel like in some places, because it's at your facility,
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Speaker 2: you're staying in a remote location traversing back and forth,
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Speaker 2: whether you drive or whether you ride the shuttle, there's
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Speaker 2: an element that you kind of lose that additional time.
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Speaker 2: I mean, minutes matter at this point of the season
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Speaker 2: where you have to accelerate. How do I know the
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Speaker 2: guy next to me, How to know the guy across
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Speaker 2: from me. We have to figure each other out so
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Speaker 2: that we can play better and move without speaking.
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Speaker 4: Come game time, when you were in San Diego. Did
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Speaker 4: some of the guys live at home? Did the local
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Speaker 4: guys live at home? So it's only guys trying to
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Speaker 4: make the roster, rookies, veteran free agents that were in
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Speaker 4: the hotels.
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Speaker 3: If we didn't live in.
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Speaker 4: San Diego, if you lived in San Diego, you lived
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Speaker 4: at home. If you're in the hotel. So that's taking
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Speaker 4: a certain element and number of the team out of
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Speaker 4: the equation to begin with. And probably the stars you're
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Speaker 4: going to afford place in San Diego.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, he's actually a fod A place in San Diego won.
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Speaker 2: And then secondly, you know, if those guys were they
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Speaker 2: weren't living as next door neighbors or anything, so you
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Speaker 2: lose something like I didn't see Philip Rivers in the hotel.
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Speaker 2: You know, right, Phil is going home to his five
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Speaker 2: to seven kids at that time, and you know, and
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Speaker 2: he's dealing with dad life and a lot of other guys,
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Speaker 2: a lot of I mean, even think about the year
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Speaker 2: the COVID year and training camp was at the stadium
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Speaker 2: for that one year and twenty twenty guys were staying
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Speaker 2: at home. They weren't even staying in the hotels. So
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Speaker 2: it's a very similar element to that, and I think
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Speaker 2: you lose that closeness and that bonding when you do that,
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Speaker 2: and you know, there's only what a handful of teams
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Speaker 2: that still actually do it. I think the Kansas City
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Speaker 2: Chiefs are one that does it. I just saw the number.
5:42
Speaker 2: It's it's five or fewer. Yeah, I say, I want
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Speaker 2: to say it's four, I think, and I can't. I'm
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Speaker 2: trying to think of who else. Maybe does Cleveland go away?
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Speaker 3: I'm not sure.
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Speaker 2: I think Cleveland goes away until they build a new facility,
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Speaker 2: of course in Korea, but I think Cleveland goes away.
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Speaker 2: And one other team, maybe the Saints, I'm not sure,
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Speaker 2: but everybody no, I'm sorry the Cowboys, because the Cowboys
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Speaker 2: go to Oxnard every year. So there's only a very
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Speaker 2: few teams to actually do this. But that's also what
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Speaker 2: makes it special, right right, the mystique, the lore, and
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Speaker 2: just the kind of historical aspects of coming here, Like
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Speaker 2: you can literally say that all six Super Bowl championship seasons.
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Speaker 3: Started here exactly.
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Speaker 2: Nobody else can tout that that's right.
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Speaker 4: So there's a lot to get to max because so
6:27
Speaker 4: much happened when we were still on the air Mike
6:30
Speaker 4: Tomlin had and you know, we were I think we
6:33
Speaker 4: were all caught flat footed. I mean, to some degree,
6:36
Speaker 4: you'd heard stories, but it was hard to believe when
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Speaker 4: it happened. I guess the the somewhat hacking expression shocked
6:43
Speaker 4: but not surprised came to mind. Shocked that Mike tom
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Speaker 4: Win decided to step away. And then by the time
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Speaker 4: we were off the air, the Steelers had not named
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Speaker 4: his successor, and then we learned that was Mike McCarthy.
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Speaker 4: And of course fans have had a lot of time to,
6:58
Speaker 4: you know, to sort of absorb and what it might
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Speaker 4: mean to the team. But it means something now here
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Speaker 4: because we're watching practices that are going to be run
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Speaker 4: very differently. The OTAs will run very differently. The messaging
7:10
Speaker 4: is going to be different to some degree, clearly, But
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Speaker 4: you know, what is this? What is this the coaching change?
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Speaker 4: And of course it is not just Mike Tominy the headman,
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Speaker 4: but most of the staff is well, there are a
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Speaker 4: few holdovers. What does that mean here now to this
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Speaker 4: team as you go through OTAs and get yourself prepared
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Speaker 4: for the season.
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Speaker 2: Here in the trope, it's a new era in Pittsburgh
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Speaker 2: Football another era, and we've only said that three other
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Speaker 2: times in contemporary history, right, And I think that's what's
7:40
Speaker 2: the most significant thing, is that there was a changing
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Speaker 2: of stewardship, a changing of the guard at the top
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Speaker 2: level of this organization, which is the head coach, and
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Speaker 2: having someone like Mark McCarthy coming in that was probably
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Speaker 2: the only fitting name that could have done, unless you
7:57
Speaker 2: want to go completely back to a young, first time
8:00
Speaker 2: head coach, which had been the last three head coaches
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Speaker 2: had been newer guys. So this was a departure from
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Speaker 2: the norms that were used to when it has happened.
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Speaker 4: But can I say this, I will say this because
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Speaker 4: we did caution this, like we thought. I think we
8:14
Speaker 4: both thought it would be a young guy. Yeah, but
8:17
Speaker 4: we also were quick to point out, you know, a
8:19
Speaker 4: trend is something that happens relatively, you know, frequently. When
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Speaker 4: you hire three coaches in fifty years, I'm not sure
8:28
Speaker 4: you can call that a trend, fifty five years, whatever,
8:31
Speaker 4: whatever the number was. So, yes, did it again, shocked
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Speaker 4: but not surprised. Did it catch me flat footed? Sure
8:39
Speaker 4: it did it. I thought, like everybody else, they are
8:40
Speaker 4: gonna go out and like do what they'd done in
8:42
Speaker 4: the past, but again, not a trend, right when you
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Speaker 4: do it three times in fifty years.
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Speaker 3: We did caution that.
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Speaker 4: And now Mike McCarthy comes in with a different way
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Speaker 4: of doing things, a different way of running practice, the
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Speaker 4: different messaging.
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Speaker 2: We're not going to see any hitting out here, no tackling.
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Speaker 2: Tackling is off the book. So if you're coming expecting
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Speaker 2: Friday night lights or goal line sessions where they're alive,
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Speaker 2: you are going to be sorely mistaken trying to time
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Speaker 2: that up. Mike McCarthy's learned, and I think this is
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Speaker 2: the other thing that comes with it. A veteran coach,
9:13
Speaker 2: he's had multiple stops and had success at each of
9:17
Speaker 2: those stops, and he said one thing in his press
9:19
Speaker 2: conference he learned was that I ground my team to
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Speaker 2: a pulp in two thousand and six when I took
9:24
Speaker 2: over Green Bay, and he's like, and I learned every
9:27
Speaker 2: year after that what I needed to do. So this
9:29
Speaker 2: is a culmination of that knowledge and expertise. Whereas you
9:32
Speaker 2: get a young coach, he doesn't know any better. I
9:36
Speaker 2: got to grind them to a pulp to see what
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Speaker 2: they're made of. Mike McCarthy's like, I've already been through that,
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Speaker 2: And he even referenced the game like that week one
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Speaker 2: game against Cincinnati where it's stormed and then it was
9:45
Speaker 2: just humid and muggy, and his team was dead by
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Speaker 2: the second quarter because they'd been hitting so much. So
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Speaker 2: I think that's something where you see a certain level
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Speaker 2: of maturity with him. And also he's the first coach
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Speaker 2: that's been like this really Pittsburgh, bread on the street
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Speaker 2: guy that's always wanted to coach here, and he's seeing
10:05
Speaker 2: a dream realized. So he understands he doesn't have to
10:08
Speaker 2: go read the culture of the seventies. He lived it right.
10:10
Speaker 2: He understands what the identity of this team is and
10:13
Speaker 2: he tried to emulate that and every other team that
10:16
Speaker 2: he coached at he wanted to bring that Steel City
10:18
Speaker 2: toughness to the board. So I think it is it's different,
10:22
Speaker 2: but I think there's a lot of familiarity because of
10:25
Speaker 2: his connection to the city of Pittsburgh.
10:26
Speaker 4: I think there's another thing too to consider when you
10:29
Speaker 4: bring in a veteran coach. Now, this is a veteran
10:31
Speaker 4: team that wants to get to the playoffs and start
10:33
Speaker 4: winning playoff games. They've been getting to the playoffs, they
10:35
Speaker 4: haven't been winning playoff games. But you bring in a
10:38
Speaker 4: coach that doesn't have to go through those things. How
10:41
Speaker 4: do I get through camp without grinding my team to
10:44
Speaker 4: a pulp? You know, people sometimes use the expression he
10:46
Speaker 4: knows how to handle a team. I dislike that because
10:50
Speaker 4: these are men, not animals. You handle animals, you communicate
10:53
Speaker 4: with men. In my opinion, so and lead, lead, But
10:57
Speaker 4: he knows how to do that. He comes in with cashet.
11:00
Speaker 4: He doesn't have to prove anything to anybody.
11:05
Speaker 3: You know.
11:05
Speaker 4: DK Metcalf, for example, said I think it was yesterday
11:08
Speaker 4: or the day before. Look, I think it was yesterday. Look,
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Speaker 4: this is the first time I've ever had an offensive
11:13
Speaker 4: head coach. Ever, so now this is gonna be a
11:15
Speaker 4: different emphasis. But nobody's saying, hey, this is a first
11:18
Speaker 4: time head coach. How does he communicate with the players?
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Speaker 4: Does he come in too strict? Does he come in
11:23
Speaker 4: too loose? You don't want to come in too loose,
11:25
Speaker 4: because then you have to get strict later. You don't
11:27
Speaker 4: want to come in too strict because then that the
11:29
Speaker 4: veterans start to bristle. Mike McCarthy doesn't have to worry
11:32
Speaker 4: about any of that stuff. He knows how to do
11:34
Speaker 4: that because he's coached, not only as he coached for
11:37
Speaker 4: a long time in the NFL, but he's coached to
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Speaker 4: other historic, incredible franchises. Knows about the pressures that surround
11:46
Speaker 4: the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh's Dealers.
11:50
Speaker 4: He brings a lot of those intangibles, some of which
11:54
Speaker 4: can be most of which can be extremely important to
11:59
Speaker 4: a new Ta.
12:00
Speaker 2: Well, and I think you referenced it there. He has
12:04
Speaker 2: coached at the Big Three. Now, now there's no other
12:09
Speaker 2: franchises that you can name that compete with the history,
12:15
Speaker 2: the cachet, and of course the worldwide appeal of those
12:18
Speaker 2: three franchises. And I would even argue Greenberg's probably third,
12:22
Speaker 2: and that it's more of a US phenomenon. But when
12:24
Speaker 2: you talk about worldwide recognition, they know what the star
12:26
Speaker 2: is and they know what the hypocycloids are when you
12:28
Speaker 2: go anywhere in this world. So I think that's something
12:31
Speaker 2: that when you understand the level of this stage, of
12:35
Speaker 2: this point, that you're gonna be in a good place
12:39
Speaker 2: to lead as soon as your feet hit the ground,
12:41
Speaker 2: and you don't have to go and try and prove myself,
12:45
Speaker 2: show what my credibility is. Go through the resume. No,
12:49
Speaker 2: you lived it, you saw it, and some of these
12:50
Speaker 2: kids grow up watching it that are now on your team,
12:53
Speaker 2: that are now young men. And that's the benefit that
12:56
Speaker 2: plus you have the biggest credibility factor, Aaron Rodgers, you're starting.
13:00
Speaker 2: QB knows this guy from thirteen years together as head
13:05
Speaker 2: coach and quarterback combination. So the buy ends immediate.
13:08
Speaker 3: Yep.
13:09
Speaker 4: I mean it's an exciting change.
13:13
Speaker 3: You know.
13:13
Speaker 4: Again, we can talk and we will talk a lot
13:17
Speaker 4: about what we think and what we expect out of
13:20
Speaker 4: this team, what we think of the roster construction, the
13:24
Speaker 4: spoiler alert. I think it's just gotten better and better
13:26
Speaker 4: over the last several years. I think it's gotten deeper.
13:29
Speaker 4: I think, you know, we talked about this last year.
13:33
Speaker 4: We were up here and saying, hey, there's gonna be
13:34
Speaker 4: some good guys who are going to be cut from
13:36
Speaker 4: this football team, who are going to be on the
13:38
Speaker 4: practice squad, are going to be picked up by other teams.
13:41
Speaker 4: I'll just give you a couple of examples, Dylan Cook
13:45
Speaker 4: and James Pierre, And of course Dylan Cook is competing
13:49
Speaker 4: for the starting tackle job this year, did a very
13:51
Speaker 4: credible job last year when he stepped in after some injuries,
13:55
Speaker 4: and James Pierre got himself a free agent contract deal,
13:57
Speaker 4: and these guys were not on the ross that left
14:01
Speaker 4: and started the regular season. So there are, there are,
14:06
Speaker 4: and I think it's deeper this year than.
14:07
Speaker 3: It was a year.
14:08
Speaker 4: That's that's just a quick thumbnail, Max, And we're gonna
14:11
Speaker 4: dive into all this. But the point I was making
14:13
Speaker 4: it ahead of this is that it's all gonna be
14:16
Speaker 4: it's all gonna be proven during the season, right.
14:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, your action, your actions will always speak louder than
14:21
Speaker 2: our words, right, And I think that's how just barely though,
14:26
Speaker 2: just barely, because we do talk pretty loud. But I
14:29
Speaker 2: think this is and this is the genesis of that.
14:31
Speaker 2: This is this is the origin story for the twenty
14:34
Speaker 2: twenty six, twenty twenty seven Pittsburgh Steelers. Because we know
14:38
Speaker 2: injuries will happen, right, it's not a matter of if,
14:41
Speaker 2: it's a matter of when, and you're gonna need guys.
14:44
Speaker 2: You're gonna recall that list of guys that got trimmed
14:47
Speaker 2: from here that you're gonna want to go bring back
14:49
Speaker 2: because they understood and maybe they were, you know, number
14:52
Speaker 2: fifty four to fifty five to fifty six, or maybe
14:54
Speaker 2: those guys are probably picked up and started elsewhere, maybe
14:56
Speaker 2: sixty through sixty five, right that you're gonna have to
14:59
Speaker 2: call back to come help and put their hand in
15:02
Speaker 2: the pile. Like you said, you referenced a Dylan Cook
15:04
Speaker 2: being one of those guys, a James Pierre being one
15:07
Speaker 2: of those guys that had to come in and did
15:09
Speaker 2: admirable jobs. But now this is a new iteration. So
15:12
Speaker 2: who's going to be this year's James Pierre? Who's going
15:15
Speaker 2: to be this year's Dylan Cook? Will see that along
15:19
Speaker 2: with who are going to be the new starters, because
15:20
Speaker 2: we do have a lot of open positions that have
15:23
Speaker 2: been filled by free agents and draft picks. So how
15:26
Speaker 2: do those guys fit into the scenario and how do
15:28
Speaker 2: they fit into the rundown as far as as team
15:32
Speaker 2: capabilities and opportunities to actually put their hand in the pile.
15:36
Speaker 3: I can't wait to dive in this, you know, I'm
15:37
Speaker 3: so excited.
15:38
Speaker 4: I'm really first of all, excited to be here, excited
15:40
Speaker 4: to be back with my friend Max Starts, looking forward
15:42
Speaker 4: to another season of Stevens football and can't wait to
15:45
Speaker 4: dive into this roster.
15:46
Speaker 3: It was. It was.
15:51
Speaker 4: A very busy, very very busy offseason. We're going to
15:55
Speaker 4: dive into a lot more of that. Obviously, the head
15:57
Speaker 4: coaching position was number one on the list, but much
16:00
Speaker 4: more to get to.
16:01
Speaker 3: We continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
16:03
Speaker 3: Audio Network.
16:06
Speaker 1: This is live coverage of twenty twenty six Steelers training
16:10
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Speaker 1: number three. We don't go to the office, We build it.
16:53
Speaker 4: And we thank you for being us. In the locker room.
16:55
Speaker 4: We have two thirds of the on air broadcast team.
16:58
Speaker 5: Missus refuses them in somewhere She's not with us, but
17:02
Speaker 5: she will be with us periodically throughout the course of
17:03
Speaker 5: the season, actually regularly scheduled, not periodically regularly scheduled in
17:09
Speaker 5: season season.
17:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, on Fridays and Sundays every day. I guess I
17:17
Speaker 2: should say game day because we do have a couple
17:18
Speaker 2: of days of the week that aren't Sundays this year,
17:21
Speaker 2: so you know, which which is also something I can't
17:24
Speaker 2: wait to get into later in the you know, in
17:26
Speaker 2: uh in the training camp time, talking about looking at
17:29
Speaker 2: the schedule, because I think there's a lot of interesting
17:31
Speaker 2: stuff that's in there as well about those other days
17:34
Speaker 2: of the week. But no, we're focused squarely on training
17:37
Speaker 2: camp leading into the preseason season and then of course
17:41
Speaker 2: barreling towards the regular season.
17:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's so much to go over, and I you know,
17:46
Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to us, you know, maybe spending a
17:48
Speaker 4: show or two diving into the AFC North opponents and
17:51
Speaker 4: what they've done, because it was a you know, we're
17:54
Speaker 4: just scratching the surface here, and what the students did
17:56
Speaker 4: in the off season. It was a it was a
17:59
Speaker 4: huge off season in the in the AFC North too.
18:01
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, new coaches in three fours.
18:04
Speaker 2: Right, right, all but all but the one we thought
18:07
Speaker 2: was gonna get fired right literally is gone?
18:09
Speaker 3: Right?
18:10
Speaker 4: You know, you think about that that incredible last game
18:15
Speaker 4: at Akershuer Stadium, and you know Tyler Loup, who had
18:19
Speaker 4: not missed a field goal under fifty all season long,
18:21
Speaker 4: missing that field goal and the two of us in
18:26
Speaker 4: shocked amazement and enjoy watching that field goal attempt to
18:31
Speaker 4: saale wide right?
18:33
Speaker 3: And what happened after that? Right?
18:34
Speaker 4: Like, is John Harbaugh still the coach of the Baltimore
18:37
Speaker 4: Ravens of that? I mean, you hate to say that.
18:39
Speaker 4: I hate to say that because I'm sure that I
18:42
Speaker 4: was about I'm sure that went through Tyler Luke's mind
18:45
Speaker 4: more than once during this offseason. That's a lot of
18:48
Speaker 4: pressure on that kid, but who had a great year
18:50
Speaker 4: for him. But you know, you just think about the
18:52
Speaker 4: vagaries of what happens and and how things can be
18:55
Speaker 4: affected one way or the other, And you know, would
18:59
Speaker 4: would those out eclysmic changes in Baltimore have happened if
19:02
Speaker 4: that field goal goes through?
19:04
Speaker 3: Yeah?
19:05
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, as as the old adage goes,
19:08
Speaker 2: you know, if ifs we're fifths, we'd all be drunk, right,
19:12
Speaker 2: But you're right, I mean, if he doesn't miss that,
19:15
Speaker 2: how does that change the narrative of the Ravens Steelers,
19:21
Speaker 2: because we obviously knew what happened later, but be hindsight,
19:25
Speaker 2: you wonder what happens if that gets accelerated and it
19:28
Speaker 2: becomes a different storyline than the one that we had
19:31
Speaker 2: of Mike Tomlin stepping away on his own volition or
19:35
Speaker 2: is it a force out or a firing in that process?
19:38
Speaker 2: And of course, the Cleveland's Cleveland, so you know they're
19:41
Speaker 2: gonna change coaches with the change of the wind direction.
19:43
Speaker 3: So excuse me. They're an interesting team to me though.
19:46
Speaker 2: They're very interesting this year, very interesting this year. And
19:49
Speaker 2: I'm like, you know, as I look at it, I'm like,
19:51
Speaker 2: I don't think they're gonna be as bad as everybody expects.
19:54
Speaker 2: Even though the departure here it helps helps that scenario.
19:58
Speaker 2: They still got to figure out who's their quarterback. Yes,
20:01
Speaker 2: because now the dark Horses entered back into it and
20:03
Speaker 2: Deshaun Watson conversation incredible, So you know, there's a lot
20:09
Speaker 2: of intrigue, mystery, and I think, like you said, if
20:11
Speaker 2: you're Cleveland, you're excited and nervous at the same time.
20:13
Speaker 2: But I think this division might come back to the
20:17
Speaker 2: old days that we're used to in AFC North, where
20:19
Speaker 2: it's a slugfest for who's going to finish out on
20:22
Speaker 2: this and kind of resembling. I've given the AFC West
20:25
Speaker 2: and the NFC North their credence the last couple of
20:28
Speaker 2: years as being one of the best divisions from top
20:31
Speaker 2: to bottom in football. But I think that Moniker starts
20:34
Speaker 2: to flow back to the East after this year.
20:38
Speaker 4: Like when we dive into the schedule, the NFC South
20:40
Speaker 4: is suddenly intriguing to me, and I wonder if it's
20:42
Speaker 4: gonna be a little bit tougher than we may have
20:44
Speaker 4: thought AFC South.
20:47
Speaker 3: You know, it's so funny year to year changes.
20:49
Speaker 4: It feels like the Steelers are timing it just right
20:51
Speaker 4: to catch every division when they're at their peak.
20:54
Speaker 3: Of course, the rest of the I think those two
20:57
Speaker 3: divisions are going to be good, you know.
20:59
Speaker 4: Again, So but I was I have to tell you,
21:01
Speaker 4: I was up in Cleveland right after the All Star
21:04
Speaker 4: Game and Joe Block the you know what, the Joe
21:08
Speaker 4: Block and Greg Brown of course with the play by
21:09
Speaker 4: play guys for the Pirates. So I filled in and
21:11
Speaker 4: did a series up in Cleveland did the play by play,
21:14
Speaker 4: uh for for sports and at Pittsburgh and couldn't help.
21:18
Speaker 4: You know, there's a there's a room full of guys
21:19
Speaker 4: that come in, came in technicians and other guys that
21:21
Speaker 4: are just hanging out in the from Cleveland in our
21:25
Speaker 4: booth before the game a few hours before the game.
21:27
Speaker 4: So I'm talking, I'm like, what do you guys think
21:29
Speaker 4: about the Browns? And they all just shook their head.
21:31
Speaker 4: They're like, but I'm a little I'm like, I'm with you,
21:34
Speaker 4: a little more bullish on them than I think most
21:36
Speaker 4: people I thought. I think they had a great draft
21:38
Speaker 4: class last year, and I think they had another really
21:41
Speaker 4: intriguing draft class this year.
21:43
Speaker 3: But again that's for later. We'll get into that. I
21:45
Speaker 3: want to get into it all right now.
21:47
Speaker 2: I know well. And also we haven't been on the
21:50
Speaker 2: air to Gain for like four months, so we this
21:53
Speaker 2: like the first day of school, really, like you got
21:55
Speaker 2: to catch up and let everybody know your summer plans.
21:57
Speaker 2: What did I do the new outfit? Like, we we
22:00
Speaker 2: have all this stuff that's just contained it is. Again
22:03
Speaker 2: we have to like measure ourselves for the next two
22:07
Speaker 2: hours of the rest of training camp. Broadcast.
22:09
Speaker 3: That's what it feels like.
22:10
Speaker 4: So the other I think the biggest story clearly obviously
22:15
Speaker 4: is Mike McCarthy and Mike tom Win. The change a
22:17
Speaker 4: head coach. You know again, it's just happened so infrequently.
22:21
Speaker 4: It's like a generational thing, really, is what it is. Yes,
22:24
Speaker 4: so Aaron Rodgers, you know, would he resign? I think
22:28
Speaker 4: we were both pretty confident that he was going to
22:31
Speaker 4: come back for one more year, But until he signs,
22:33
Speaker 4: you don't know. And you know, again, the hope was
22:37
Speaker 4: it would maybe happen a little sooner than it did
22:39
Speaker 4: last year. It kind of really didn't. It is a
22:42
Speaker 4: very similar timeline. But he resigns for one more years.
22:46
Speaker 4: And Ray Fittipaldo had, you know, a really interesting article
22:49
Speaker 4: in the PG.
22:51
Speaker 3: Uh.
22:51
Speaker 4: These are the quarterbacks who have started at forty two
22:54
Speaker 4: or older. Okay, there are six in NFL history, Tom Brady,
22:59
Speaker 4: Steve to Burg, Philip Rivers, Vinnie Testa, Verdi, Warren Moon,
23:05
Speaker 4: Doug Flutey. About that, I don't think I saw that
23:09
Speaker 4: one coming when I was reading raised article.
23:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't realize was that when he was in
23:13
Speaker 2: New England or where was that?
23:14
Speaker 3: You know what? That's funny. It must have, right, had
23:16
Speaker 3: to have been New England. Yeah, you would have been.
23:18
Speaker 4: He was out of Buffalo by then, I think, right, yeah,
23:20
Speaker 4: I think he was out above Rob Johnson, you know,
23:22
Speaker 4: took his place late in that one season.
23:25
Speaker 3: So I don't know, but that surprised me.
23:27
Speaker 2: That's still a wild list to be a part of.
23:31
Speaker 2: To be that old and still starting in the NFL.
23:34
Speaker 2: I mean, Ben was close. He tried, he tried to
23:36
Speaker 2: fight it. But I mean when you think about that list,
23:39
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, just I mean Tom Brady, we
23:41
Speaker 2: already knew like he I think he's also the only
23:44
Speaker 2: quarterback to start the age of forty five. Maybe yeah, right,
23:47
Speaker 2: so yeah, trying to get to that that number is
23:49
Speaker 2: going to be impossible. But like so Steve de Berg,
23:51
Speaker 2: that's another one where you're like, oh yeah. And then
23:53
Speaker 2: Vinnie Testaverdi. Of course you remember that because he came
23:56
Speaker 2: off the couch he was smoking cigarettes and then went
23:59
Speaker 2: to start a game and you know, played pretty darn
24:02
Speaker 2: good for his age. Warren Moon obviously a timeless guy,
24:05
Speaker 2: and because his NFL career started a lot later, because
24:07
Speaker 2: he started in the CFL, they came to the NFL.
24:10
Speaker 2: He still had a nice tenure. But yeah, the Doug
24:12
Speaker 2: Flutie one. Yeah, that's surprising because I thought Doug definitely
24:16
Speaker 2: was done, you.
24:17
Speaker 3: Know, before he got to forty.
24:18
Speaker 4: You know, Warren Moon to Hall of Famer and you know,
24:20
Speaker 4: obviously great quarterback. He's a Hall of Famer, but you know,
24:23
Speaker 4: you know he's not.
24:24
Speaker 3: He's not.
24:24
Speaker 4: I don't think on too many people's listed the ten
24:27
Speaker 4: greatest quarterbacks and it sounds like I'm insulting him. He's
24:29
Speaker 4: a Hall of Famer, But did anybody ever throw a
24:32
Speaker 4: prettier ball than Warren Moon? Listen, I don't think he
24:36
Speaker 4: ever threw a ball at his life that wobbled.
24:39
Speaker 2: There was zero wobble. I mean, he had one of
24:41
Speaker 2: the most beautiful And here's one of the things. So
24:44
Speaker 2: when I was talking with my uncle before he passed,
24:47
Speaker 2: talking about guys that you played against and everything, and
24:49
Speaker 2: he was like, man, he's like, the first autograph that
24:52
Speaker 2: I ever asked.
24:53
Speaker 3: For was Warren Moon. Oh that's great.
24:56
Speaker 2: He was like, because he was hell to deal with
24:59
Speaker 2: and his ball was super accurate. And my uncle was
25:01
Speaker 2: a defensive back. He was a safety, so he definitely
25:04
Speaker 2: tried to defend a lot of those passes back in
25:06
Speaker 2: the day, and he said, yeah, that was one of
25:08
Speaker 2: the best best football passers he's ever played against.
25:11
Speaker 4: Like just you know, if you were if you wanted guys,
25:15
Speaker 4: you know, just like throwing the football and the beauty
25:19
Speaker 4: of it, we could do.
25:19
Speaker 3: We could spend a whole show on this.
25:21
Speaker 4: But the other guy that that comes to mind for
25:23
Speaker 4: me is uh is Dan Fouts. Like Fouts also threw
25:26
Speaker 4: a beautiful, really nice but but but Warren Moon, I
25:29
Speaker 4: just remember every ball coming out of his hand was
25:32
Speaker 4: it was a spiral, I mean a perfect spiral.
25:34
Speaker 3: Yeah.
25:35
Speaker 2: And I think also because he went to the CFL, right,
25:38
Speaker 2: the wider, wider field, longer field and the things that
25:42
Speaker 2: you had to do to manipulate the football made him
25:45
Speaker 2: that much better when he came to the NFL. And
25:48
Speaker 2: like you said, just he was in such a rhythm
25:51
Speaker 2: that he could I mean he could throw a blindfolded
25:53
Speaker 2: standing on one knee and like you said, zero wobble,
25:56
Speaker 2: just just a dart that he could throw.
26:00
Speaker 3: Of him not getting an opportunity.
26:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, there there there were, there were that's not for
26:05
Speaker 2: our show to that, that's not.
26:06
Speaker 4: Disrect but yeah, a pioneer in some ways, let's put
26:09
Speaker 4: it that way.
26:10
Speaker 3: Warren Moon successful, Yeah, successful pioneers.
26:13
Speaker 4: So so Aaron Rodgers look back, and I'll tell you
26:19
Speaker 4: what I thought about Aaron Rodgers last year. There's still
26:21
Speaker 4: some athleticism there. I mean, you know, look, none of
26:24
Speaker 4: us are the athlete at forty two. Remember forty two
26:27
Speaker 4: then that is you were twenty seven eight years ago.
26:30
Speaker 4: But yeah, thanks Max. Definitely couldn't have done that. No,
26:33
Speaker 4: but it doesn't let you know, I still probably couldn't
26:34
Speaker 4: have done what.
26:35
Speaker 3: No.
26:35
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just it's just it's called being a human.
26:38
Speaker 4: That's just what happens to your body. And but the
26:43
Speaker 4: arm strength was more than enough to be really good.
26:47
Speaker 4: The decision making still there, the respect of his teammates.
26:50
Speaker 4: You know, I think I've told the story before, but
26:52
Speaker 4: I'm gonna tell it again. So you know, Aaron Rodgers
26:55
Speaker 4: comes in, and Aaron Rodgers comes in with like he
26:58
Speaker 4: rolls in one way and there's like this it's like, uh,
27:02
Speaker 4: you know, and I did not a perfect analgy like
27:05
Speaker 4: you remember pig Pen from the from the cartoons.
27:07
Speaker 3: He came in, there's like this.
27:08
Speaker 4: Cloud around and right, there's a cloud of stuff around
27:11
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers but that's not you know, it doesn't I
27:14
Speaker 4: don't think, you know, that's certainly part of the makeup
27:16
Speaker 4: of who he is, but all that stuff dissipates. He's
27:19
Speaker 4: here with the teammates. His teammates clearly really enjoyed playing
27:23
Speaker 4: with him. So I was asking James Pierre, you know,
27:27
Speaker 4: and and James would give you very thoughtful answers, like
27:30
Speaker 4: I asked him one time about, you know, what made
27:32
Speaker 4: a good special teams player, and he went into length
27:34
Speaker 4: about being a good gunner and that sort of thing.
27:36
Speaker 4: And then I was asking him, you know, did anything
27:39
Speaker 4: happen for you that helped you to evolve this year
27:44
Speaker 4: as a as a really a quality starting cornerback, right,
27:47
Speaker 4: I mean, and James Pierre story is interesting in its
27:50
Speaker 4: own right. He came in during the COVID year. You know,
27:52
Speaker 4: the staff felt like, hey, we might really have a
27:55
Speaker 4: diamond in the rough here. But he comes in during
27:57
Speaker 4: COVID and and then it just sort of didn't all
28:00
Speaker 4: go together. We talked about it, he didn't, you know,
28:02
Speaker 4: all the gears didn't connect. At the same time, he
28:05
Speaker 4: didn't make the active roster. So anyway, last year he
28:07
Speaker 4: becomes a starting quarterback and so I'm asking about it.
28:11
Speaker 4: He's talking about some things and he goes, yeah, you
28:12
Speaker 4: know what was big was that? Back in training camp
28:15
Speaker 4: in La Trobe. You know, I'd be out in the
28:17
Speaker 4: field and Aaron Rodgers'd be like, I see you forty two,
28:20
Speaker 4: I see you, James, I see you redoing there, and
28:21
Speaker 4: he goes, that was big for my confidence. I'm like,
28:23
Speaker 4: whoa man, that's a defensive guy who's fighting to get
28:27
Speaker 4: on the roster.
28:29
Speaker 3: And that's the kind of impact Aaron Rodgers can have
28:31
Speaker 3: on a team.
28:32
Speaker 2: And I think that's the value of the leadership, right.
28:35
Speaker 2: I mean, I think they kind of hoped that that
28:37
Speaker 2: would be the same way Russell Wilson came in, that
28:40
Speaker 2: he would provide this kind of boost and kind of
28:42
Speaker 2: corral everybody and kind of, you know, rally the troops,
28:46
Speaker 2: so to speak. But Aaron, when you talk to any
28:50
Speaker 2: of his former teammates, they don't have a bad thing
28:53
Speaker 2: to say about him. Nope, none of his former teammates.
28:57
Speaker 2: But yet, like you said, as Immdia personality, we see
29:00
Speaker 2: one side and we kind of just go with that
29:02
Speaker 2: because we see what the masses. Well, if the beat
29:05
Speaker 2: writer's saying this, it must be true, right in the
29:07
Speaker 2: local market. But then he gets here and it's a
29:11
Speaker 2: completely different personnality that we're privy to because once again,
29:15
Speaker 2: we're in training camp, we're on the grounds, everybody's walking around,
29:19
Speaker 2: we're in the lunchroom, dining room, and you see guys
29:22
Speaker 2: sitting together, or he will just go PLoP himself up
29:25
Speaker 2: with somebody sitting by himself, like that type of character
29:28
Speaker 2: and that type of thoughtfulness wouldn't be available if they
29:31
Speaker 2: were at the facility heading back home. Guys may or
29:35
Speaker 2: may not stop in the lunch room. This interaction creates
29:38
Speaker 2: that different environment, so you get to see the other
29:41
Speaker 2: side of Aaron Rodgers. And I think that's what's been
29:43
Speaker 2: probably one of the coolest things to see is that
29:46
Speaker 2: you get most of these kind of advices, nuggets and everything,
29:50
Speaker 2: but then to see that kind of myth dispelled is
29:53
Speaker 2: pretty special. And the fact that he'll just come and
29:55
Speaker 2: speak to anybody, whereas like, oh, he doesn't talk to anybody,
29:58
Speaker 2: he's stand off, he's rude to media. Mike, No, that
30:02
Speaker 2: like that could be further than the truth I get
30:04
Speaker 2: maybe in some of those environments because of the access
30:06
Speaker 2: and listen, I could give you a whole show about
30:08
Speaker 2: the kind of the Jets and how they treat the media.
30:10
Speaker 2: But that's not our place here. We're in Pittsburgh, You're like,
30:14
Speaker 2: and we we have a different view of what the
30:16
Speaker 2: media is and how our interactions are with him. And
30:19
Speaker 2: I think that softened, you know, the blow of when
30:22
Speaker 2: he came in here, because he was able to endear himself,
30:25
Speaker 2: make cut the jokes with everybody, and you see him
30:27
Speaker 2: on the field kind of having fun. And like you said,
30:30
Speaker 2: he talked to anybody. You could be the four string
30:32
Speaker 2: defensive back as well as the starting nose tackle to
30:36
Speaker 2: the lineman, your receiver who you're now sweet mates with.
30:40
Speaker 2: Like he can he can talk to everybody. And he
30:41
Speaker 2: said he had open door policy. You know, guys could
30:44
Speaker 2: just come in and uh and talk to him at
30:46
Speaker 2: any point. And of course some guys use that a
30:48
Speaker 2: little bit, right.
30:50
Speaker 4: Literally Vincecaroni, but prepossessed, you know, flip flops, shorts, T shirt,
30:57
Speaker 4: you know, nothing, nothing that says look at me, I'm
30:58
Speaker 4: a big star and I'll be see. Look when you
31:00
Speaker 4: do I do shows that are based on around you
31:03
Speaker 4: and Netflix and all these other things. You know, some
31:05
Speaker 4: of that attention is going to come with it, right,
31:07
Speaker 4: And so it's not all just a perception some of
31:10
Speaker 4: it were seeing, but the reality of what we saw,
31:13
Speaker 4: in the reality of what he meant to the team,
31:15
Speaker 4: I think was far different than maybe people would think
31:18
Speaker 4: on the outside looking in.
31:20
Speaker 2: And at the end of that Texans game, the look
31:23
Speaker 2: that he had on that field as he walked through
31:27
Speaker 2: that tunnel, it looked like unfinishedment, like he felt a
31:32
Speaker 2: personal responsibility for like letting his team down. And I
31:36
Speaker 2: don't think in years past we've seen that aspect of him.
31:39
Speaker 2: But the fact that he felt that way and now
31:42
Speaker 2: we're here some months later and this guy's back trying
31:46
Speaker 2: to finish the job that he tried to accomplish a
31:48
Speaker 2: year ago, says a lot as well. Right, That he
31:51
Speaker 2: enjoyed himself that much here, that he cared for his
31:55
Speaker 2: teammates enough that it wasn't like he wanted to leave
31:58
Speaker 2: them and abandon them. He felt this sense of responsibility
32:01
Speaker 2: to at least come back one more time. And of
32:03
Speaker 2: course knowing who the head coach is and you having
32:05
Speaker 2: a relationship with them played into that decision. But I
32:08
Speaker 2: think really it's the guys on that field that reinvigorated him.
32:12
Speaker 2: To come back for one more year.
32:13
Speaker 4: First day School. Max Starks, I'm Rob King. We thank
32:17
Speaker 4: you for being with us. We have much more to come.
32:19
Speaker 4: We continue in the locker room on this steer.
32:22
Speaker 3: There's Audio Network.
32:25
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Speaker 1: We don't go to the office, We build it.
33:11
Speaker 3: And on the Saint Vincent College campus.
33:14
Speaker 4: Max Starks, I'm Rob King and just delighted and excited
33:17
Speaker 4: to be here and just really excited about Steelers football
33:22
Speaker 4: and it's starting right here. And you know the press
33:25
Speaker 4: conferences yesterday that Mike McCarthy speaking today, our first practices
33:29
Speaker 4: in the books. But you know, we're doing a little
33:31
Speaker 4: bit of rewinding to get you know, to get back
33:35
Speaker 4: in the groove and to get caught back up on
33:37
Speaker 4: all the big things that happened in the off season.
33:39
Speaker 4: You know, just to reiterate quickly, Mike McCarthy being hired
33:42
Speaker 4: after Mike Tomlin stepped aside, that of course is the
33:44
Speaker 4: biggest news. Aaron Rodgers re signing. You know, that was
33:48
Speaker 4: a question would he be back? What are the Steers
33:50
Speaker 4: going to do at the quarterback position? And of course
33:53
Speaker 4: we'll talk more about that, the backup quarterbacks. But then
33:55
Speaker 4: you know, some contracts signed as well to keep guys here,
33:58
Speaker 4: and so of course you know people are gonna about
34:00
Speaker 4: the contracts that haven't been signed yet as well. But
34:02
Speaker 4: Chris Boswell four year, twenty eight million dollar deal, tying
34:06
Speaker 4: Brandon Aubrey for the highest paid kicker in NFL history,
34:09
Speaker 4: well deserved for the Wizard of Oz. And then Nick
34:12
Speaker 4: Herbig and Darnell Washington signing long term contract extensions. I
34:16
Speaker 4: think a lot of people wondered if Nick Herbig was
34:19
Speaker 4: was going to.
34:20
Speaker 3: Be into that deal.
34:20
Speaker 4: I think, you know, the Boswell one, I think everybody
34:23
Speaker 4: saw that was coming, right, that had to happen.
34:26
Speaker 2: That had to like, like for Boswell, like you're not
34:29
Speaker 2: going to get a better kicker in the NFL note
34:31
Speaker 2: right now, and you want to keep the guaranteed guys.
34:35
Speaker 2: He's guaranteed, as the young kids would say, buckets. You know,
34:38
Speaker 2: he's guaranteed buckets. He's guaranteed points. When he steps on
34:41
Speaker 2: the field, you know that the golden toe is going
34:44
Speaker 2: to put three on the board or the extra point,
34:46
Speaker 2: whatever is needed. And hell, he can even score all
34:49
Speaker 2: of the points if we needed, like he did in
34:51
Speaker 2: Atlanta a couple of years ago, right right, So yeah,
34:54
Speaker 2: he's too valuable of an asset to let go of
34:57
Speaker 2: free agency. But I think when you talk about her Big,
35:00
Speaker 2: it was like, well, we have TJ. We signed up
35:02
Speaker 2: to this deal. We had Alex Highsmith, we signed to
35:04
Speaker 2: this deal. We have Patrick Queen, we signed to a
35:06
Speaker 2: deal Jalen Ramsey. You had a lot of guys on
35:08
Speaker 2: defense that were getting paid. So it was like, was
35:12
Speaker 2: Herbig going to fall through the cracks as that transitional
35:16
Speaker 2: pass rusher, change up guy. Was he going to be
35:20
Speaker 2: one of those guys? I was like, that was just
35:21
Speaker 2: a cap casualty and Steelers said, no, we need this guy.
35:24
Speaker 2: He's a future impact player for this team as well
35:27
Speaker 2: as his present contributions.
35:28
Speaker 4: You know, when you draft and develop as well as
35:32
Speaker 4: his Steelers have done historically. Part of the business is
35:37
Speaker 4: you're going to lose guys, right there, just you can't
35:40
Speaker 4: sign them all.
35:41
Speaker 3: H Javon Hargray.
35:42
Speaker 4: Right, there's another there's an example of a guy that
35:46
Speaker 4: keeps finding big contracts because he keeps being really really productive.
35:51
Speaker 4: I mean we you know, going back to when they
35:53
Speaker 4: had all the wide receivers and Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders.
35:55
Speaker 3: You can only keep one and Antonio Brown Brown was
35:58
Speaker 3: the guy you kept. Good decision too, by the way,
36:01
Speaker 3: and the student has done a nice job with those decisions.
36:03
Speaker 3: But sometimes you're gonna lose valuable players. And to be honest,
36:07
Speaker 3: you know, not as as somebody.
36:08
Speaker 4: Look, I leave the cap stuff. You know, Omar Khan
36:10
Speaker 4: is brilliant at all that stuff and his group. But
36:13
Speaker 4: I just I didn't see how Herbert could be retained
36:17
Speaker 4: and I thought that was kind of a bummer, And
36:19
Speaker 4: they found a way to retain him, and I think
36:21
Speaker 4: that's very exciting.
36:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, bummer gone, right, Bummer's gone, and when you think
36:26
Speaker 2: of just that three man rotation, that's a heck of
36:29
Speaker 2: a trio. I don't know if you can go find
36:31
Speaker 2: an edge rushing trio like that anywhere else in the league.
36:35
Speaker 2: And they knew that was something special, and so to
36:37
Speaker 2: be able to rework deals to make that happen pretty
36:40
Speaker 2: special in that process. And you still found a way
36:43
Speaker 2: to still add other quality guys away from the team,
36:46
Speaker 2: but you had to take care of home base first.
36:48
Speaker 2: You knew what Nick Herbig was like. You said, you
36:50
Speaker 2: groomed him, and he was drafted here, so he understands
36:54
Speaker 2: the system. He fits in perfectly. So you don't really
36:56
Speaker 2: have to rock the boat on that from the edge
36:59
Speaker 2: production state endpoint. But they knew other areas they were
37:02
Speaker 2: gonna have to go out and they were gonna have
37:03
Speaker 2: to retool in a different way.
37:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, and we'll get to some of those differences and
37:08
Speaker 4: those of those different guys that were brought in. I
37:10
Speaker 4: think at this stage we can talk a little bit
37:13
Speaker 4: about the fact that when we talk about Mike McCarthy
37:16
Speaker 4: being the new head coach and he's an offensive guy
37:18
Speaker 4: and things are gonna be a little bit different.
37:20
Speaker 3: There's a new defensive coordinator.
37:21
Speaker 4: As well, and Patrick Graham and how you know every
37:25
Speaker 4: year for the last two or three years, you know,
37:28
Speaker 4: everybody knows where TJ.
37:29
Speaker 3: Watt's lining up.
37:30
Speaker 4: Every single snap He's going to be there, and they
37:32
Speaker 4: moved him a little bit, but you know every years, hey,
37:35
Speaker 4: are they gonna are they gonna move him around a
37:37
Speaker 4: little bit? And are they gonna be able to find
37:39
Speaker 4: this you know, three headed monster at the pass rust position.
37:42
Speaker 3: They did a little last year.
37:44
Speaker 4: It was effective at times, but it wasn't overwhelming uh
37:48
Speaker 4: over overwhelmingly successful to the point where you're like, oh
37:50
Speaker 4: my gosh. You know it's on Sports Center, look at
37:53
Speaker 4: this three hit. You know, we didn't see that really.
37:54
Speaker 4: But now we have a new defensive coordinator as part
37:57
Speaker 4: of this new staff, which we dealt with at the
38:00
Speaker 4: top of the show when we were talking about Mike
38:02
Speaker 4: McCarthy being here. So look, when you have assets like this,
38:06
Speaker 4: and this is something Mike McCarthy talked about at as
38:08
Speaker 4: introductory press conference, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel.
38:11
Speaker 3: I've got a really good roster.
38:13
Speaker 4: I believe in bending what you do a little bit,
38:19
Speaker 4: you know, melding it however you want to put it
38:20
Speaker 4: so that you utilize the best players on your team.
38:23
Speaker 3: Well, this this is a way.
38:25
Speaker 4: This is going to be interesting to see how they
38:27
Speaker 4: do this because there's guys in the defensive line I
38:30
Speaker 4: also want to see out there rushing the passer, Cam Hayward,
38:33
Speaker 4: Keanu Benten, Derek Harmon. You know, it's hard to get
38:37
Speaker 4: them all out on the field at one time. It'll
38:39
Speaker 4: be interesting to see how they're gonna be used. But
38:41
Speaker 4: I think just you know, when you say we're gonna
38:44
Speaker 4: put this investment in Nick herbig to me Max almost
38:48
Speaker 4: by definition, you're saying he's going to see more playing time.
38:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think that's kind of the key thing
38:54
Speaker 2: is is putting your A players and A positions to
38:58
Speaker 2: have ape productivity right. And so for TJ. Watt, teams
39:03
Speaker 2: can work themselves out of your crosshairs. You know, there's
39:08
Speaker 2: a lot of rollout stuff. You can go opposite direction.
39:11
Speaker 2: You might not be able to do as much one
39:13
Speaker 2: cut because he will be there back the doorsiding, but
39:15
Speaker 2: you have it double teaming him like they're gonna find
39:18
Speaker 2: different ways to neutralize him. So moving him around keeps
39:22
Speaker 2: that offense guessing and they can't really key in on it,
39:24
Speaker 2: and I think it is something you have to be
39:26
Speaker 2: smart to do that. I mean, look at you know,
39:28
Speaker 2: you think about the years that he's been in contention
39:30
Speaker 2: for Defensive Player of the Year. The one time that
39:33
Speaker 2: it's been really you know, outside of the Undeniable year
39:36
Speaker 2: he won it, But the other times when he was
39:38
Speaker 2: up against others is because the others moved, Right, That's
39:41
Speaker 2: really what it came down to. It wasn't the productivity,
39:43
Speaker 2: because the productivity stacked up next to it and actually
39:46
Speaker 2: looked a little bit better. But because the other guys moved,
39:48
Speaker 2: I think that's why they got the nod that. Oh
39:50
Speaker 2: he not only did it from just this spot and
39:52
Speaker 2: got twenty plus sacks, he played on all four positions
39:56
Speaker 2: of the defensive line, and that's the differentiator. He's more
39:59
Speaker 2: value because he can move and play more positions. So
40:02
Speaker 2: I think being able to do that, I'm not saying
40:04
Speaker 2: you have to do it every game, every series, but
40:07
Speaker 2: giving that versatility I think will bring that much more
40:10
Speaker 2: opportunity for him because you can match him up against
40:13
Speaker 2: the weaker guy, and sometimes that guy just happens to
40:16
Speaker 2: be a guard, and if you could do some twist
40:18
Speaker 2: stuff to get him involved, or we had that three
40:21
Speaker 2: outside linebacker look a year ago where they were doing
40:23
Speaker 2: a lot of that. If you could make that more
40:25
Speaker 2: of the norm, but not necessarily have to use three
40:28
Speaker 2: outside linebackers, but still line up in those places and
40:30
Speaker 2: have big bodies in some of those other spots, it
40:33
Speaker 2: presents a challenge as an offensive line. I don't want
40:35
Speaker 2: to block that. I don't want to see TJ. Watter
40:37
Speaker 2: the three technique in a stand up position, you know,
40:40
Speaker 2: on third and twelve, Like that sucks. That's a sucking
40:44
Speaker 2: position to be in. And you don't know if he's
40:46
Speaker 2: going to straight rush you, he's gonna edge, or if
40:48
Speaker 2: he's picking. Like there's a lot of things that you
40:51
Speaker 2: just want to have the illusion and the smoke and mirrors.
40:53
Speaker 2: And I think that's what Patrick Graham's so good at.
40:55
Speaker 2: You know, when he was at the Raiders, it wasn't
40:57
Speaker 2: the scheme that was the problem with the personnel they
40:59
Speaker 2: had that really limited him, because I mean he maximized
41:02
Speaker 2: everything Max Crosby could do. But when Max Crobbs is
41:05
Speaker 2: your only option and you lose quick Christian Wilkinson three
41:08
Speaker 2: weeks into the season, you know that you paid a
41:10
Speaker 2: bunch of money to bring over there. It forces you here.
41:13
Speaker 2: He has a simply an empty canvas and he can
41:16
Speaker 2: paint whatever he wants with that because he has the
41:19
Speaker 2: personnel in the depth at all the positions.
41:21
Speaker 3: I believe he's coached three four and four to three.
41:24
Speaker 4: He as a coordinat So that's again, that is a
41:27
Speaker 4: coach who, as we talked about with Mike McCarthy, here's
41:31
Speaker 4: my talent.
41:31
Speaker 3: How do I best utilize that? Right I can.
41:34
Speaker 4: I can have my scheme, and I think some coaches
41:35
Speaker 4: are better at doing that than others.
41:37
Speaker 3: Some coaches don't want to do that. Some coaches want
41:39
Speaker 3: to rip this is what I do.
41:41
Speaker 4: I'm gonna rip this down to the studs, well the
41:43
Speaker 4: Steelers aren't, and then I'm gonna get the players that
41:45
Speaker 4: fit the system I want. Steelers aren't that kind of
41:47
Speaker 4: a team. They're not a roster built where you'd want
41:50
Speaker 4: to do that. And so when Mike McCarthy says I
41:52
Speaker 4: want to take the best guys and put them in
41:54
Speaker 4: the best positions and maybe tweak my system a little
41:57
Speaker 4: bit to fit their skill sets, that's wonderful to hear.
41:59
Speaker 4: And that carrying over the defensive side. When you've got weapons, right, Like,
42:03
Speaker 4: how do you utilize them all and maximize their potential?
42:07
Speaker 4: And I'm not trying to be accusatory here and and I,
42:10
Speaker 4: but I think there's also something comforting in a defensive
42:13
Speaker 4: coordinator knowing I got TJ. Watt on the left side,
42:16
Speaker 4: I don't have to worry about that even if everybody
42:19
Speaker 4: knows he's going to be there, he's still going to
42:22
Speaker 4: be productive. And now I can kind of manage the
42:24
Speaker 4: rest of the roster. Well that may go somewhat by
42:30
Speaker 4: the wayside this year. I'm not that I don't expect
42:32
Speaker 4: to see TJ. Watt there a lot. It's going to
42:34
Speaker 4: be fascinating to watch. It's gonna be really fascinating. Like
42:37
Speaker 4: you said, you know, you think, hey, I got TJ.
42:39
Speaker 4: Watt on one side, I have Alex Heismith.
42:41
Speaker 2: On the other. And oh, by the way, I got
42:42
Speaker 2: one in the chamber with Nick Herbi right, that's right,
42:45
Speaker 2: So that gives you a lot. And then I now
42:47
Speaker 2: move to the interior defensive line. Right, it's Cam Hayward,
42:50
Speaker 2: keanum Bit and Derek Harmon Yya Black right. You know,
42:54
Speaker 2: we'll see what Dean Lowry can add to this as
42:56
Speaker 2: a veteran guy. You have a lot of experience in
42:58
Speaker 2: the middle right of that defense, and a lot of
43:00
Speaker 2: youth to go with it.
43:01
Speaker 4: I kind of like the way Patrick Queen, Peyton Wilson
43:04
Speaker 4: run around, So I don't want them off the field either.
43:06
Speaker 4: Those passing down situations. It's gonna be it's gonna be
43:09
Speaker 4: really interesting. I'm really excited.
43:12
Speaker 2: And then think about this, You're adding a Jawuan Brisker
43:14
Speaker 2: back there in the secondary as well, because you know, yes,
43:16
Speaker 2: Mel Dean, Jamel Dean is another one that's gonna be
43:19
Speaker 2: that's gonna be in the rotation. I mean, there's a
43:21
Speaker 2: lot of just good talented players, and like you said,
43:25
Speaker 2: the depth is there, and you're going to lose some
43:28
Speaker 2: good talent that's gonna go contribute elsewhere. We talked about that, right.
43:32
Speaker 2: But the fact that you have these options available to
43:35
Speaker 2: you to kind of play mix and match. You know,
43:37
Speaker 2: I always I use this obviously, girl Dad build a bear.
43:41
Speaker 2: You know, it's like build a bear. You know, you
43:43
Speaker 2: get to pay, Hey, what stuffing do I want in here?
43:45
Speaker 2: You know what heart and outfit that goes with it.
43:48
Speaker 2: You have a lot of different choices on how you
43:51
Speaker 2: want to do it, and like you said, having the
43:53
Speaker 2: flexibility of three four and four three, that's that's gonna
43:57
Speaker 2: be intriguing because you could run that four or two
44:00
Speaker 2: nickel star and make it look like a four to
44:02
Speaker 2: three front because you have some bigger safeties that can
44:05
Speaker 2: drop into that box a la Jalen Ramsey. Right, you
44:08
Speaker 2: can go and you can play some of some of
44:11
Speaker 2: the spread stuff as well. You can run three three
44:13
Speaker 2: nickel situations and force guys to play edge corners that
44:17
Speaker 2: can also cover right because we do have Patrick Queen
44:20
Speaker 2: and Peyton Wilson, who guess what, can probably cover the slot.
44:24
Speaker 2: You know, if team goes five hyde, they could take
44:26
Speaker 2: that interior slot guy that's gonna be a running back
44:28
Speaker 2: tight end type. You could go take that guy and
44:30
Speaker 2: you can iso a tight end on the backside because
44:32
Speaker 2: they have height to them as well. They're not gonna
44:34
Speaker 2: be sitting there like little shrimps out there on an island.
44:37
Speaker 2: So there's just so much that's unlockable with this team
44:42
Speaker 2: because of the way the Steelers have drafted, the way
44:44
Speaker 2: they've acquired free agents, the way they've churned this roster
44:47
Speaker 2: every year that Omar Khan's been here, him and Andy
44:50
Speaker 2: Widell have done a tremendous job of churning the numbers
44:53
Speaker 2: to get the right guys in here. That it presents
44:57
Speaker 2: coaches with a smorgas board of options.
44:59
Speaker 4: Right, and so that's there, and then you know the
45:02
Speaker 4: other guy that that's signed to a contract. Now, Similarly,
45:07
Speaker 4: I wasn't sure how they're gonna be able to do
45:08
Speaker 4: this because the students already had in Pat Fryermth invested
45:12
Speaker 4: money in a tight end and Darnel Washington, I think, Uh,
45:16
Speaker 4: for me, I love.
45:17
Speaker 3: Watching him play. He's he's an intriguing guy because he you.
45:22
Speaker 4: Know, old school helps you in the running game, probably
45:25
Speaker 4: helps you in the running game first. But he showed
45:27
Speaker 4: last year soft hands. Uh, nobody wants to hit him.
45:31
Speaker 4: We invented a verb last year. Earthworm is a verb.
45:35
Speaker 3: He earthworms people like he runs down and and they're
45:37
Speaker 3: just left.
45:40
Speaker 2: And I mean, how many times we see it, like
45:42
Speaker 2: on the sidelines like that? What was the game in Acri?
45:45
Speaker 3: Sure?
45:45
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, it was a near sideline farside from booth.
45:48
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I forgot, I forgot the team. But
45:51
Speaker 2: my god, kaboo, yeah, kaboo kabo. I mean, just if
45:54
Speaker 2: it was on the scene goodbye, like like good night.
45:58
Speaker 2: He is taking it ten fifteen yards easily. And then
46:02
Speaker 2: like you said, you got some of those ISO routes
46:04
Speaker 2: where he was where he was on the sideline making
46:06
Speaker 2: tremendous catches. But he's just a freak of nature. He's
46:08
Speaker 2: an X factor in your office. And how do you
46:10
Speaker 2: utilize him best? You know, when you're trying to maybe
46:13
Speaker 2: have more eleven personnel and fewer two tight end sets.
46:16
Speaker 2: We saw a lot of two tight end sets, three
46:18
Speaker 2: tight end sets, even occasionally four tight end sets under
46:21
Speaker 2: Arthur Smith.
46:22
Speaker 3: So much to get to with this Steelers scheme.
46:25
Speaker 4: And what they're going to do and how they're gonna
46:27
Speaker 4: best utilize their personnel. We're just getting started because it's
46:30
Speaker 4: day one at training camp for us. He is Max Starts,
46:33
Speaker 4: I'm Rob King. We thank you for being with us.
46:36
Speaker 4: We have another hour still to come in the locker
46:38
Speaker 4: room on this Steelers Audio Network