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Transcript

HR1: Hall of Honor · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Oh, Kinger, I got to tell you, as soon as
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: he turned the corner and went wang-dang-doodle down that sidelines,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: you knew nobody was going to catch him. Oh, that's
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: our buddy Craig Wolfley, man. It is just so great
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: to hear his voice. Thank you for being with us
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: in the locker room today with Willie Colon and Max Tarks.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: I'm Rob King.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: And Willie, you know, Craig Wolfley, we talked to Kevin
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Colbert on Wednesday about He and JT Thomas, a real
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: pioneer in football and a great player. And Craig Wolf,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: we are all going into the Steelers Hall of Honor
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: in a ceremony today. They're going to be honored over
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: the course of the weekend. And just fun to hear
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Wolf's voice one more time.
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah, man. You know, Craig was always somebody who, when
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: I had the opportunity to talk to him and He
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: just gave me so much life, you know, because not
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: only did he play the position, but he also knew
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: what it meant to be a Steeler. And he always
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: had that big huckle and chuckle of a laugh. He
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: was always in a jovial mood. But he was just
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: a guy's guy, man. He was a man's man. And,
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: you know, hearing that clip and hearing him, you know, talk,
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: it warms my heart, man, because he was one of
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: those guys that, you know, sometimes you're happy to see people.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: Sometimes you're like, ugh. I don't need this conversation. I'm
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: not trying to be a malicious way because I just
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: don't feel like talking. But any time I saw Craig, man,
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: I just wanted to talk to him. I just wanted
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: to speak to him and talk. And he was great
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: because a lot of times when we were on the sideline,
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: you know, when he was on the sideline and we
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: were playing, he was standing right next to us. And
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: so he would, you know, while he was talking, Talking
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: to the booth and talking to you guys, he was
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: always kind of pumping us up, too, like, yeah, come on, guys. Like,
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: let's go. So he would multitask in that regard. But
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: he was awesome. I really do miss him, and he'll
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: never be forgotten.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: You know, he was one of those guys. I worked
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: with him for many years, Willie. You know, he'd come
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: in with Tunch. That's when I first started working with
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: him in our studio when we did post-game. See, there's
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: wrap-up shows on Sunday night. and coming in with his
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: best buddy, Tunch, and that was always fun. But then
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: I got to work with him extensively in high school football,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: and then sadly for me, only one year.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: With the Steelers.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: But regardless of where he was, he was one of
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: those guys that lifted up the room.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: You thought the room was in a good shape.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: You thought everybody was positive and feeling good, and then
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Wolf would come in and and it just raised everything
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: to another level. He just made you feel good about
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: being you, and that's, man, that is not an easy
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: thing to do.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: It's a gift.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, I think he embraced the gift,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: but it was a gift the way he made people
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: feel about themselves.
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: You know, it's true, and I agree. The thing is, too,
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: you know, me and Max obviously have been Steelers, have
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: played for the organization. had a lot of success with
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: the organization. When you wear the black and gold and
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: now you're on the other side from the media standpoint,
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: you see it, Rob, because you see what we deal with.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: You know, they want us to be positive, right? You
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: don't want to, you know, obviously this team is going
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: through their ups and downs. It's a little turbulent as
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: they prepare for the Bengals. When you wear the uniform
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: and now have to be on the media side, it's
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: easy to kind of either two ways. You could be corporate,
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: if you will, and not say anything negative and everything's
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: bright and sunny, uh, or you can be on the
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: other side and negative. But what Craig taught us from
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: the media side is just be a guy, just be relatable, right?
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: Be somebody that they appreciate and love and understand that
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: your words have weight, but also optimism goes a long way.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: So I just always appreciate that. Yep.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Uh, he, One of a kind. Huge presence. Huge, huge presence.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Obviously greatly missed. We're going to be honoring Wolf throughout
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: the course of the show today. Alex Highsmith is going
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: to be joining us today. It'll be fun to talk
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: to him. He's off to a fabulous start.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sorry.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: Sorry, Max. Go ahead.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: Go ahead, Max.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: Sorry.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: I had to step in on that one.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: Jumping in. Max is jumping in. Go ahead, Max.
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah. No. You know, this is one. It still hurts
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: because I spent a lot of time with Wolf. Wolf
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: was the light. He was your favorite uncle's favorite uncle.
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: He was your big brother's big brother. And having the
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: pleasure of working with him for.
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: Professionally, five years, but knowing him since 2004, knowing him
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: for well over two decades, he meant everything as not
• 5:43
  Speaker 6: only a Steelers alumnus, but as the offensive line kind
• 5:50
  Speaker 6: of big brothers, him and Tunch. And I remember, and Willie,
• 5:54
  Speaker 6: you remember this, in the spring when we got here, right,
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: you had options.
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: You could either do yoga or you could do boxing
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: on workout days.
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: And we always chose boxing because Wolf ran the boxing
• 6:08
  Speaker 6: because Wolf had a boxing and martial arts studio up
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: there in Bridgeville, actually right by the studios. And I
• 6:16
  Speaker 6: remember I'd go there in the off season. He's the
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: first one that exposed me to acupuncture and Chinese medicine, right?
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: And And I knew that if I had a question,
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: I knew I could always go to Wolf and ask him.
• 6:30
  Speaker 6: And he was going to give an honest answer. And
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: I think that's the unique thing is that he never
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: had an agenda. He never had ego. He never had
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: some other type of thought process outside of just genuinely
• 6:47
  Speaker 6: helping you. And he made you feel like you were
• 6:49
  Speaker 6: the only person in the room when he talked to you.
• 6:52
  Speaker 6: And I think that's... his unique capability to be able
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: to tap into the human experience and really be vulnerable
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: and open about everything. Like, he never hid anything from you.
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: It's just, if you didn't ask, you didn't get the answer.
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: But if you asked him, he was going to give
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: you the answer, whether you wanted it or not. And,
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: you know, his infectious positivity, like Willie referenced, you know,
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: just the big, just, I mean, deep belly laughs that
• 7:29
  Speaker 6: he would have.
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: I mean, they were some.
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: Of the most true and it just, you know, it just, it,
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: you couldn't have a bad day around Craig Wolfley and
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: he inspired all of us.
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: He, he made us better. He brought out the best
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: versions of ourselves and he's going to be truly missed.
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: I mean, you know, I still work with his brother, Ron.
• 7:53
  Speaker 6: And so, you know, for years, I always called every
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: Wednesday between two wolves, right? Because I would, I would
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: do the show with Craig on here. And then I
• 8:03
  Speaker 6: would go do an hour with his brother in studio.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: Out here in Arizona.
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: And the one thing they always said, you know, to
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: each other or to me to tell to each other
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: was tell my brother, I love him. Like that was just,
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: you know, it's just one of those cool, like little moments.
• 8:21
  Speaker 6: And For him to get this honor is amazing and overdue.
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: But at the same time, I wish he was here
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: to receive it because he deserved that. He deserved those flowers.
• 8:36
  Speaker 6: So we're going to try and celebrate him this weekend.
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: And hopefully the stadium, you will erupt. I don't want
• 8:42
  Speaker 6: to see a single person sitting in their seats when
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: that name is announced because he meant that much, not
• 8:49
  Speaker 6: only to the team, not only to the organization, But
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: to the city of Pittsburgh, his work he did at
• 8:56
  Speaker 6: Light of Life Rescue Mission and all the times of
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: going and hanging out with the homeless and serving meals,
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: he believed it was his duty to serve those in
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: need because he could.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: And so, as I'm getting emotional about this, I'm going
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: to wrap it up.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: Take your time.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: You're right, man.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: You're worthy of it, man. He's worthy of all the
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: praise and glory. So take your time.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: Yeah. So, so yeah, so we will celebrate Wolf.
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: I know he, him and him and Tuncher looking up
• 9:30
  Speaker 6: at heaven and now he's doing his brother in the
• 9:34
  Speaker 6: hall of honor.
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: So it's gonna be a special day on Sunday.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: It is.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: We're going to pay homage to Wolf, uh, throughout the
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: course of this program. Um, we have some of his calls,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: some of the great things he said, uh, his own
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: language that he spoke, um, Lots of stuff. We're also,
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: of course, going to be spending a lot of time.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: As I mentioned, we'll have Alex Highsmith coming on. Missy
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Matthews will be with us. Spending lots of time getting
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: you ready for the Steelers and the Bengals. I wanted
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: to start with guys who might be available and who
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: might not be available.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: For the Steelers.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: We told you about the report that was out yesterday
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: that Spencer Anderson may have suffered a leg injury. He
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: was back at full practice. There's no other reports that
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: that is the case. So That's good news, that Spencer
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Anderson appears to be fine and ready to go. Let's
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: hope that that's the case, whether he's starting or Brock
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Hoffman is starting at right guard. Look, you need as
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: many healthy bodies as you can. And then just quickly
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: here to update the injured list, and then we're going
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: to hear from Joey Porter Jr.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: In a moment. Michael Pittman, limited practice with a foot.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: Rico Dotto did not practice with a toe. Joey Porter Limited,
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: they're calling it conditioning.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Jalen Warren limited with a shoulder, Jamel Dean limited with
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: an ankle, and Jennings Dunker limited with a knee. So, again,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: we'll get a more full picture of where these guys
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: all stand after today's practice. Of course, this is the
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: kind of game you would hope that a fully capable,
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: fully ready Joey Porter Jr. would be available to the Steelers.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: So this is what he had to say to the
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: media yesterday after practice.
• 11:13
  Speaker 7: What's the expectation?
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Plain.
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: I think it's the same like how it's always been,
• 11:19
  Speaker 7: just keep ramping up, keep doing what I can do,
• 11:21
  Speaker 7: and just be.
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: There for my teammates.
• 11:23
  Speaker 8: Joey, I know that your injury status on the report
• 11:26
  Speaker 8: has said back at some points, at other points conditioning.
• 11:29
  Speaker 8: Yesterday it was listed as conditioning. How does your back feel,
• 11:33
  Speaker 8: and is it just conditioning right now that's keeping you
• 11:36
  Speaker 8: from being on the field on Sundays?
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Both.
• 11:39
  Speaker 7: My back habits, moments where I flare up here and there. And,
• 11:42
  Speaker 7: you know, we're still just trying to get my conditioning
• 11:43
  Speaker 7: down and just me being out there as much as possible.
• 11:46
  Speaker 7: So it's really just both. Joey, would you have enough
• 11:49
  Speaker 7: conditioning at this point to play Sunday?
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 11:52
  Speaker 7: We still got two more days to practice. So, I mean,
• 11:55
  Speaker 7: we could figure that out sooner. And in a week,
• 11:57
  Speaker 7: I just know I did everything today and it went smooth.
• 12:00
  Speaker 7: So we're going to just keep working.
• 12:01
  Speaker 8: From the report that came out that you were seeking
• 12:04
  Speaker 8: a second opinion, did you get that second opinion?
• 12:05
  Speaker 7: And what was the result of that? I don't know
• 12:07
  Speaker 7: where that came from. Have you requested a trade, Joey?
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: No, I didn't.
• 12:12
  Speaker 7: Did somebody say that?
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: I'm just asking.
• 12:14
  Speaker 7: No, I think it would have hit the media if
• 12:16
  Speaker 7: I did that.
• 12:18
  Speaker 8: Joey, since the last time we talked to you, the
• 12:19
  Speaker 8: deadline for negotiating contracts has kind of come and gone.
• 12:23
  Speaker 8: What was your emotion as that kind of came through
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: and the extension didn't get done?
• 12:29
  Speaker 7: It didn't get done. It didn't happen. That's really just
• 12:32
  Speaker 7: old news for me now. It's mainly just focused on
• 12:35
  Speaker 7: what I got ahead of me and just really just
• 12:37
  Speaker 7: getting back to 100%.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Do you see yourself playing at some point, Joey?
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: Do you feel like your relationship with the team has
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: been strained through this process?
• 12:47
  Speaker 7: No, I mean, I love all my guys, and my
• 12:48
  Speaker 7: guys love me too. Love you, Joyce! My guys. So,
• 12:52
  Speaker 7: you know, they're here for me, and I'm there for them.
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: I'm just trying to be.
• 12:56
  Speaker 7: A good motivator to all the young guys and even
• 12:58
  Speaker 7: the OGs in here.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: So, Max, the story continues to drag on. I don't
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: know if that provided any real clarity to the situation
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: maybe we'll know more after practice today maybe we won't
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: know until Sunday I don't know what the case is
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: but and I don't know how it's you know again
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I suppose as a team you just carry on with
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: the players you have and just hope that you can
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: find a way to win the game against the Bengals
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: without Joey Porter he'd be a nice addition but then
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: your question also has to be well how much can
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: he add he really hasn't been able to practice much
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: throughout training camp and throughout the early portions of this season.
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and I think that's kind of where you have
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: to leave it at. You have to say he isn't
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: going to add as much as people might think or
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: as much as he's done in the past to this
• 13:51
  Speaker 6: type of matchup because.
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: The lack of.
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: Training, the lack of ability to be in there and
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: actually going through the downs, he hasn't had any Game
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: reps this season. So even if he was available, I
• 14:05
  Speaker 6: would think it would be in a very limited capacity.
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: He'd be rotational at best. If he is, but I mean,
• 14:13
  Speaker 6: you know, kudos to Joey for standing in there and
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: answering all the questions, right? They did not hold back
• 14:19
  Speaker 6: any of the questions they had for him. But you
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: could see, yeah, he did, you know, he didn't ask
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: for a trade. And he's trying to be a positive teammate.
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: You heard his teammate in the background. Say we love you, Joey.
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: That type of stuff, that goes a long way in
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: the locker room. But yes, is it troubling and concerning
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: that you can't put him out there on the field
• 14:39
  Speaker 6: for whatever reason it is?
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely. And there is a strain.
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: Even if he doesn't say it's a strain, it is
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: something because if you feel like you're not getting paid
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: your worth or you're not getting valued at what you
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: feel is a market value is one thing, but at
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: the end of the day, there does have to be
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: compromise on both sides and trying to figure out where
• 14:59
  Speaker 6: That is where that number lies, is for his agent
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: and for Omar Khan and company to figure out. But
• 15:06
  Speaker 6: the fact that he's there, he's showing up to practice,
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: he's in the building, and he's making himself available. He
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: practiced yesterday, as he talked about in that interview. I
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: think you have to take it with a grain of salt.
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: It is what it is, and just look at it
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: at face value.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think one of the things that, from a
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: team standpoint... it becomes a distraction because as you get
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: in the locker room, guys want their guy, right? They
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: want their champion, and they're starting to rally it behind JPJ,
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: and they feel like at this point, as the season
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: continues to unravel, and the Steelers play back-to-back meaningful games.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: They're playing the Bengals, and they play the Browns. So
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: as they continue to figure out who they are and
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: what they want to become this season, you want to
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: do it with all hands on deck. And listen, I
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: love his game. I love everything he's done. I think
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: he's been rated higher than Patrick Sertan and Christian Gonzalez
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: and some of these elite corners. I think he, in
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: my heart, I think he definitely deserves to be paid.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: But then there's the steal away. And when it's the
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: steal away, you've got to adhere to what they do
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: and what they don't do. And so they've already come
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: out and talked about they don't do negotiations during the season.
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: And now it's a matter of who breaks, who bends.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: And to be honest, you know, you never want to
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: dig in a man's pockets. And I'm certainly not trying
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: to do that. But the Steelers need JPJ because, you know,
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: right now from this standpoint, as the season starts to unfold, man,
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: injuries happen. We're looking at we're looking around the league, man.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: It's a big time injury. It started from Jackson Dart
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: to Caleb Williams to, you know, Damon. The guys are
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: going down left and right. The Steelers, they have to
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: start building some momentum, and they have to start getting
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: their guys out there so they can start winning some
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: football games and start pulling away from the division. Because
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: the Ravens lost, the Browns or whoever the Browns choose
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: to be, depending on what Sunday it is. But the
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: Bengals right now, they seem like the top dog. So
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: this is a big game for the Steelers coming up
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: because they not only have to find their identity, but
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: they've got to start gaining momentum as the season goes along.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: No doubt about it.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: And some big, big key matchups in this game that
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: we're going to get to. We're also, as we mentioned,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: going to be talking to Alex Highsmith, Missy Matthews as well,
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: when we continue in the locker room here on the
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: That was a slobber knocker. You had everybody on the
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: sideline screamed as one.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: Whoa!
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: The old slobber knocker. You know, one thing about Wolf,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: first of all, he was a very shrewd football guy.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: You know, he loved all that stuff that made people laugh.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: He knew people laughed at the stuff and the Wolfisms
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: and everything. You know, I just wanted to say one
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: other thing. Well, we'll each share more stuff about Wolf
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: if we have it. But, you know, I used to
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: tell my kids, guys, you know, one of the things
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: I admired about Wolf, you know, in addition to the
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: service and the way he made people feel and all
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: the other things about him, was that he was really fearless.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of us in society are held
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: back because we're worried about doing something stupid. We're worried
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: about what are people going to say, what are people
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: going to think. Wolf never worried about that for one second.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: I used to tell my kids, be more like Mr.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Wolfley.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Whether it was entering a strength contest before he lifted
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: a weight in his life, whether it was jumping into
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: the ring in the last minute to face Butterbean, because
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: somebody had to pull out of a fight. It was
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: the world's strongest man. He jumped on stage with blues
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: legend Albert Collins and played his guitar.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: And you know what?
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: If he did something that made people laugh at him,
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: he was always the first to laugh, and he laughed
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: the loudest. He lived his life in a fearless way
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: in addition to all the other great things about him that.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: I always thought was very, very exemplary.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: So I just wanted to share one more thought about
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Craig Wolfley with you guys.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, those are sweet words, man. I'll let you go, Max.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: I apologize. I think you said something I think we,
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: as office alignment, naturally do. We don't really adhere to
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: what the outside world says about us. you know we're
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: already large men making a living in tights so we
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: kind of you know we kind of grow a callous
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: skin because of that but I do think you know
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: part of my relationship with Max and some of our
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: other guys that we've grown a brotherhood with you know,
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: our reality is about how we make other people treat,
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: how we treat other people and how we protect other people.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: That's just the nature of the job. But also from
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: a humanistic standpoint, man, you know, you got a short
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: time to live beyond this earth, man. Let it rip
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: and be free and be kind to others. And obviously
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: you want people to be kind to you. But also
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: part of being an office line, part of our creed is,
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: Leading by example, you know, and when you're able to
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: lead and set a precedent and set a standard, you know,
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: people tend to follow because if they don't, they don't
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: necessarily belong in the same room with you and they
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: don't want to be in the same room with you
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: because you're different. And Craig was definitely different and he
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: was special.
• 20:56
  Speaker 6: And just to kind of piggyback on Willie, man, I mean,
• 20:59
  Speaker 6: you know, if you can't laugh at yourself, then, you know,
• 21:04
  Speaker 6: Craig didn't want you around, right?
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: I mean, you had to have.
• 21:07
  Speaker 6: A certain level of sense of self, but also confidence.
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: It takes confidence in yourself, right, to be vulnerable. It
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: takes confidence in yourself to laugh at yourself and not
• 21:17
  Speaker 6: take things so seriously. And I think, you know, he
• 21:21
  Speaker 6: had the ultimate confidence. And, you know, people kind of
• 21:25
  Speaker 6: mistake confidence with bravado, but.
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: For Craig, no, it was... You could still be masculine.
• 21:31
  Speaker 6: You could still be the guy's guy and still cry, right?
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: You know, I mean, he made that okay. And he
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: did that constantly. And I think that's what, when you're
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: thinking about.
• 21:42
  Speaker 6: How guys live their lives and how they show themselves
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: to you, you know, there's an authentic nature about it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: And that's exactly what Craig was. He was truly authentic
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: and was him for the sake of just being him. And,
• 21:57
  Speaker 6: you know, love him for it and love what he
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: represented in that moment because you know it takes a
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: very special person to have been that been that type.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Of guy so uh quickly well not quickly uh because
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: we've got a little bit of time here I know
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: we have a we have a lot going on here
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: so my I'm always like let's go let's get but
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: I don't want to I don't want to um we
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: talked to Kevin Colbert obviously he's a guy that you
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: know eventually I hope is going to be in Canton
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: I think he deserves to be in the Pro Football
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Hall of Fame as well as going into the Steelers
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Hall of Honor Wolf you know a great You know,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: just a really fine football player, a really fine and
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: fun broadcaster, just a great ambassador for the Steelers. And
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: then there's JT Thomas. Talk about a man that did
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: not lack confidence.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: He's a pro bowler, Max, and a guy that started.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: For the Steelers on Super Bowl championship teams, had 20
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: career interceptions, you know, playing opposite of Mel Blunt. You know,
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: you had to have some confidence just to be able
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: to do that because Mel, of course, is an inner
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: circle player. hall of fame type, but JT Thomas going
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: into the hall of honor, not only all those things,
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: but Max also a pioneer as well.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: No. Yeah.
• 23:07
  Speaker 6: JT Thomas, um, you know, as a pioneer was truly groundbreaking, right?
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: He was, he was the first African-American to, to play at,
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: at F at Florida state university.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: I mean, you know, that's, that, that, that's.
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: A pretty, pretty big nod and, and what he meant,
• 23:24
  Speaker 6: you know, to, to all the young boys in Florida, uh,
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: you know, to see that that was a possibility, that
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: you could go play at a school like that, I
• 23:32
  Speaker 6: thought was, you know, it's groundbreaking. And then for him
• 23:35
  Speaker 6: to come and be a part of all those Super
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: Bowl teams speaks a lot. I know we don't talk
• 23:40
  Speaker 6: about him as much because, you know, when you have
• 23:42
  Speaker 6: Joe Green and you have Mel Blunt and you have Franco.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Harris, you have, you know, Rocky Blunt, you have all
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: these names.
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: That you can pick. Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, even on
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: the defense, Dottie Shell.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, geez. Yeah, just the list goes on and on.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: Right. Yeah.
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: Dwight White.
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: I mean, you know, uh, you know, I mean, you have,
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: you have so many guys that you can pick from,
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: but he was, he was amongst those guys.
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: You know, and that's, and that's something where you would,
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: you know, you, would you have a room full of dudes, uh,
• 24:12
  Speaker 6: you know, at some point, you know, there's other dudes
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: that get, that get the, uh, recognition, but he was
• 24:19
  Speaker 6: one of those guys that was still just essentially, uh,
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: a part of those things.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: By the way, uh, Willie, um, Thursday night football last night,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: you were talking about teams that are looking around and
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: the fan base wondering, like in Tampa Bay and other places, hey,
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: what's going on here? Green Bay just got smoked by
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: the Falcons last night.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: Holy mackerel.
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: You ain't lying, Rob. It's tough, because I thought Green
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: Bay should have lost to the Jets last week, and
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: obviously I covered that game, and they were losing in
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: the fourth quarter by 10 points, and And Jets really
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: just can kind of put the nail in it. And,
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: you know, Packers figured it out in overtime. Going into
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: this game, I thought the Packers had the edge considering
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: this was going to be their first home game, right,
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: to start the season. Michael Panik's coming back. I thought
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: the front seven for the Green Bay Packers really understood
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: the assignment. Like, man, we stopped B. John Robinson. We
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: got it. This thing is going to be over. And
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: you thought that was the case the first drive because
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: Michael Penix went one for five and he actually threw
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: it in interception. But after that interception, it was almost
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: like the monkey was all of his back. He said,
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: you know what? It is what it is. I'm going
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: to let this thing rip. And he used B.J. Robinson
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: in that office line. They kind of used B.J. Robinson
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: as a security blanket. Then Drake London had a big game.
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: Between Drake London and B.J. Robinson, they had over 400
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: yards of offense. So it just seemed like as the
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: game went along and you started to see– the Falcons
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: pick up momentum and panic started delivering. And it just
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: seemed like there was a snowball effect on Atlanta that
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: the Atlanta Falcons were able to do offensively. And then
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: defensively for the Packers, man, they look unhinged. They just
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: started becoming unhinged as the game went along. And, you know,
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: they're struggling up front, you know, much like the Steelers,
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: believe it or not. They've had some injuries. They're dealing
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: with some identity issues with their front five. Um, they
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: miss Josh Jacobs. I know Caleb Johnson is now over there,
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: but he hasn't been as impactful as they would like.
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: And so they're struggling to run the ball and it's
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: tough with Jordan. Love is playing really well, but they
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: just can't, you know, people are just selling out against
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: the past, uh, and pretty much erasing the run and
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: they can't do anything. So the Packers are dealing with
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: a lot right now. Um, and now people are questioning
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: if Matt LaFleur is the guy for the future.
• 26:42
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: It doesn't look good.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Coming off a playoff appearance a year ago. Um, I
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: have one big takeaway from this game. Nothing against Drake
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: London or the work Michael Penix did, but my goodness, Max,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: is Bijan Robinson just incredible.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: He made some cuts last night.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: He had a touchdown run, and when he put his
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: foot in the ground, there just wasn't a hole there.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: He knew the hole was coming. By the way, that
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: hole was about 18 inches wide. The old Gale Sayers,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: just give me 18 inches of daylight. The cut he
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: made when he ran down the left sideline, I mean,
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: just the lateral quickness, the speed, the agility. He's hard
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: to knock off his pins. And the way he gets
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: eight or nine yards when, I mean, he had a
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: run yesterday. I mean, I was looking at my son
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: and I were watching the game. I was like, hey, man,
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: most running backs, that's a three-yard loss. He turned it
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: into an eight-yard gain. I mean, I just, he makes
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: me shake my head. He's just, I think he's the
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: best in the game. We've said it before. No disrespect
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: to Derrick Henry or Jameer Gibbs or anybody else. I
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: just think he's the best there is. And, you know,
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: they said it last night in the broadcast, one of one.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: That's what I think he is. I think he's one
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: of one.
• 27:57
  Speaker 6: No, he absolutely is. I mean, he is the guy that,
• 28:02
  Speaker 6: you know, you have to fear him. You have to
• 28:05
  Speaker 6: fear what he brings to the table. And that's just him.
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: I mean, I mean.
• 28:11
  Speaker 6: Listen, you try and stop him and you can only
• 28:15
  Speaker 6: hope to contain him. Because what Bijan does better than
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: anybody is he has great contact balance.
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: He has a.
• 28:23
  Speaker 6: Great ability to just be able to know where his
• 28:28
  Speaker 6: body needs to be and put himself in the right
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: decision and the right place to be able to counteract
• 28:34
  Speaker 6: a lot of the things that you think are wrong.
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: impossible like you said 18 inches and he makes it
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: he makes it happen it's not even close.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: You know he's he's i can't think of anybody else
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: and then this isn't a bijan robinson show but he
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: just makes me marvel i can't think of anybody else
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: um i'm sure there's been guys where i just think
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: repeatedly like you're like okay that's pretty good job by
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: the defense what's that it's going to be what uh
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: second and eight no wait a minute second and six
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: wait a minute he.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: Got eight yards on that He got seven yards on that?
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, it just doesn't even look like– and then
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden you look up and he's like
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: slithered through some guys, like you said, Max, contact, balance,
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: and all of a sudden he's stretching forward and you're like,
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: how did he get seven yards out of that? It
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: looked like it was well defended. I just– I like
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: watching that guy play. I don't like watching that guy play.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: I love watching that guy play. I just think he's incredible.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: Well, I'll say this, Rob. You've got to give the Falcons'
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: tight end core a lot of credit. They protect and
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: they block their tails off on the edge. Because a
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: lot of times when you watch the Falcons' offense, they're
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: kind of in that stretch zone where they're building his
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: momentum up to the line of scrimmage and he's able
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: to attack the edge and then make hay with any
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: cuts or any decisions he sees. I also think it's
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: imperative to understand part of having a good run game,
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: besides having a prolific back like that, is the ability
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: to everybody on the edges and as a receiver core,
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: their willingness to block. You know what I'm saying? Like
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: when you see Drake London out there, when you see
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: some of their other tight ends, when you see some
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: of their backup receivers, like these guys understand we're not
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: a great offense, but what we got is good enough.
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: And if we all buy into blocking, right, and when
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: he gets the ball, we're going to get what we
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: need out of it, right? Because you always want to,
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: like around the league, They try to merit a pass
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: off the run. And what's interesting during our time, me
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: and Max's time as a Steeler, if Hines Ward set
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: the president on a receiver block, he made his name
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: being able to go out in their flats and sticking
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: it to DBs or safeties. And then I watched what
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: it did for Santonio Holmes, and I watched what it
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: did to other receivers on our team. they realize, like, yeah,
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: if we want the ball, we also got to block.
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: But we got to be good at blocking. We don't
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: want to just get in the way. We don't just
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: want to, you know, pick our feet up and act
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: like we're blocking. No, we want to attack it and
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: attack DBs. And that just sets an edge, man. And
• 31:04
  Speaker 4: when you have the five up front protecting and blocking,
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: and then your tight ends are protecting and blocking, and
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: then your receiver core is protecting and blocking, that's called
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: an attitude, man. That's how you build an identity. And
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: so when you start to see it in real time,
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: and for everybody out there, for all these teams out there,
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: and you're trying to scratch your head, like, why are
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: these guys already running? It's not always the running backs.
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: It's not always the five up front. It's collectively as
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: a unit, when it's time to run the ball, everybody's saying, hey, man,
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: we're putting our face in the fan and we're putting
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: our hat on another hat, and we're going to get
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: the job done. And last night, we saw that with
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: the Falcons.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: And, Willie, you only have to go back to last
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: week's game, Travion Henderson, that 39-yard touchdown run. That's a
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: 15-yard gain if Pop Douglas doesn't come over and pick
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: up Rayshon Jenkins.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean? He's there.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: That's a 12-yard gain. Well, that block happens, and now
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: it's a 39-yard touchdown run. You don't have long runs
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: without that receiver. The receivers and the tight ends and
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: those guys, everybody blocking downfield. You might get five or six,
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: but you're not going to pop the big ones. That's
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: a great point by you. And, Max, as we look
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: at this, I mean, I'm sure we're going to dive
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: into the offensive line because– I know we all have
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: our big-time matchup for the game. It is hard on
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: a macro level not to look at the Steelers' offensive
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: line and say that is going to be one of
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: our big-time matchups of the game.
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: They've got to find a way to block.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: And the Bengals, this is a different Bengals team than
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: we're used to seeing, but we need all hands on
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: deck here for the Steelers to get the run game going,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: protect Aaron Rodgers, and just in general get the offense
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: going this week.
• 32:41
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's going to be monumental to get the offense going,
• 32:44
  Speaker 6: and we'll preview the big-time matchup, the beef-eater matchup, so
• 32:50
  Speaker 6: to speak, as we go about it, but it is
• 32:54
  Speaker 6: going to take everybody's Herculean type of effort to get
• 32:59
  Speaker 6: this job done, and I'm definitely excited about what he
• 33:04
  Speaker 6: can bring to the table, what this offensive line can do,
• 33:08
  Speaker 6: because I think You know, because you have to, right?
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: You have to do it.
• 33:14
  Speaker 6: I mean, that's the other part about it. It's not
• 33:16
  Speaker 6: kind of a sometime where we hope it is. No,
• 33:18
  Speaker 6: you have to do it.
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: If not now, then when?
• 33:22
  Speaker 6: For this offensive line, for this team, it just matters
• 33:27
  Speaker 6: that much. And this is a big-time game, not because
• 33:31
  Speaker 6: it's the next one, but because it's a division.
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: One, that's the next one.
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: So I just want to make sure that, you know,
• 33:37
  Speaker 6: guys understand the severity of And they understand the gravity
• 33:41
  Speaker 6: of the situation because you want to see them at
• 33:44
  Speaker 6: their best and you want to see them succeed. But
• 33:47
  Speaker 6: they need to do it for themselves because I think
• 33:48
  Speaker 6: this would be a big confidence boost for this offensive line,
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: for this offense. If you can go out there and
• 33:53
  Speaker 6: just be competent.
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: Third downs is going to be a big key in
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: this game. Third down conversion rate.
• 33:58
  Speaker 6: How are they going to handle third down duties and
• 34:02
  Speaker 6: how are they going to make it so that you
• 34:05
  Speaker 6: can just get the job done and not think as
• 34:07
  Speaker 6: much and just react?
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to be bringing you our keys to
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: the game on offense and defense a little bit later on,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: our big-time matchup in this game as well as we
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: get you ready for the Steelers and Bengals and continue
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: here in the locker room on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: Oh, great googly moogly. Was that a beautiful moment?
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: Always a beautiful moment when we get to hear Craig Wolfley,
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: who is going into the Hall of Honor along with
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: JT Thomas and Kevin Colbert. Wife, faith, and family will
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: be on hand for that ceremony today. It's going to
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: be celebrated over the course of the weekend, including Sunday
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: as well, when the Steelers will be taking on the
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals. Guys, the first matchup for the Steelers in
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: the AFC North. You know, amazing that suddenly the Bengals
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: are Had the longest tenured coach in the division. Every
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: other team's got a new head coach except the Bengals
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: with Zach Taylor. And, you know, I think, Willie, when
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: we look at this team, we think normally about the Bengals' offense,
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: but that defense is completely remade. They brought in Dexter Lawrence.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: They brought in Jonathan Allen. I mean, Lawrence is obviously
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: the big guy. They traded their first-round pick for him,
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: but I don't want to undersell Jonathan Allen. who's a good,
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: solid veteran. You brought in Boye Mafé, and that allowed
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: all those other guys, the T.J. Slaytons, the Chris Jenkins,
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: to be moved into complementary roles. And now all of
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: a sudden you look up and you've got a really
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: good starting unit, and then you've got guys like the
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: guys I just mentioned, Slayton, Jenkins, Shamar Stewart, Cedric Johnson's
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: been very good. They've spent a second round pick on
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: Cassius Howell, and all of a sudden in one fell swoop, Willie,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: this is a very good and very deep Bengals defensive front.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, because they look like a group that's on a mission, right?
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: And there's been so much talk about how bad this
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: defense has been collectively that now they feel because of
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: the additions they've been able to make in the offseason,
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: they're not going to be the same old Bengals. And
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: it starts with their defensive line. When they were able
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: to get Jonathan Allen, a lot of people were like, good,
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: that's a good way. They felt like that was a
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: solid piece defensively. But how are they going to continue
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: to build around them? Then you add Dexter Lawrence, and
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: you say, okay. And then you start seeing other pieces
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: of these guys who came from other destinations who are long,
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: you know, not long-tenured guys, but guys who played enough
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: football to understand what the division looks like and what
• 37:07
  Speaker 4: it means to play in this division from a defensive standpoint.
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: So what you're seeing out of this team is pretty
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: much a defense right now led by Dexter Lawrence where
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: they want to be able to stop the run With
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: their front seven, they want to come at you in
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: a multitude of ways. They're not afraid to play bully
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: ball and make it a home-booth game with you. But
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: on the back end, man, they want to play a
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: lot of cover one and they want to play man.
• 37:29
  Speaker 4: And so on top of that, they're also clouded up, man,
• 37:32
  Speaker 4: and play nickel and play a lot of cloud cover.
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: So they have the personnel and they have the depth
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: right now to come at you in different ways. But
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: their main focus is stopping the run. And I think
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: over the last two weeks, they've only given up 200 yards,
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: receiving yards to tight ends. So that's why it's going
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: to be imperative for this Steelers tight end group with
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: Pat Furmuth and obviously Mount Washington. We're going to have to–
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: if there was a chink in the Bengals' armor, it's
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: going to have to be our tight ends stepping up
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: and having an impact, if you will, where we can
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: really make hate in between the 20s and use our
• 38:10
  Speaker 4: big tight ends to get in the red zone. So, yes,
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: this is a different Bengals team. I think they're leading
• 38:16
  Speaker 4: in a lot of categories. Good. But this is going
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: to be very clear. We've been saying it all week.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: This is going to be a phone booth type fight.
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: So it's going to be a lot on our offensive
• 38:28
  Speaker 4: line and schematically being able to kind of get the
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: edge against the Bengals because they're looking really good right now.
• 38:39
  Speaker 6: And I think, you know, the other thing is, you know,
• 38:42
  Speaker 6: and we kind of drilled this yesterday, Rob, with– With
• 38:48
  Speaker 6: Dan Hoard, you know, we spend a majority of time
• 38:50
  Speaker 6: talking about this defense and.
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: Where they have come a long way. It's come a
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: lot further than where they were the last number of years, right?
• 39:02
  Speaker 6: We talked about the last time they really had a
• 39:04
  Speaker 6: defensive tackle tandem, you know, was when you had DJ
• 39:08
  Speaker 6: Reader on.
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: This team, right?
• 39:09
  Speaker 6: And you had this big space eater in the middle
• 39:12
  Speaker 6: that you had to worry about Dexter Lawrence has come
• 39:15
  Speaker 6: and taken that position.
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: I'm not going.
• 39:19
  Speaker 6: To say it was a cure-all, but for intensive purposes,
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: it has been what the doctors ordered so far this
• 39:27
  Speaker 6: season for them.
• 39:27
  Speaker 5: Now, can he hold up the rest of the way 15?
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: More games and do i think that you know he
• 39:33
  Speaker 6: can he can help that yeah but you got jonathan
• 39:36
  Speaker 6: allen as well that you brought over here boy a
• 39:38
  Speaker 6: mafe off the eshamar stewart you have a lot of
• 39:41
  Speaker 6: guys cedric johnson You have a lot of guys that
• 39:44
  Speaker 6: are now believing, and that front seven is cooking, young
• 39:48
  Speaker 6: linebackers to go with them.
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: So you've got to make it at the start.
• 39:55
  Speaker 6: You have to go punch them in the mouth to
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: establish your dominance, because if not, like Willie said, they
• 40:01
  Speaker 6: have the personnel that can actually.
• 40:06
  Speaker 5: Be a quote-unquote build-a-bear, so to speak. You build it
• 40:10
  Speaker 5: the way you want it.
• 40:11
  Speaker 6: And they can attack you in a lot of different
• 40:13
  Speaker 6: ways if you're not steady. And you have to start
• 40:16
  Speaker 6: taking things off their menu. Because the second that they
• 40:21
  Speaker 6: think they can get you at this, now they've added
• 40:24
  Speaker 6: another tool to their belt. You have to remove the
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: different items for them and make them play the game
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: that you want them to play, where you have to
• 40:33
  Speaker 6: dictate terms. But if you allow them to dictate terms,
• 40:35
  Speaker 6: it's going.
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: To be a very long day.
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: I want to say this quickly.
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: I apologize. I'm going to jump in. Understand it's like
• 40:43
  Speaker 4: they feel like they have a front four that can
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: control games. Yeah, we talked about Jonathan Allen, and we
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: talked about Dexter Lawrence. But they also have Cedric Johnson,
• 40:53
  Speaker 4: who had two sacks against the Texans. So they have guys–
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: they have a front four, man, that they feel like, man,
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: we can dominate the line of scrimmage. We can really
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: do things where we can– we don't have to put
• 41:06
  Speaker 4: a lot of pressure on our back end because– You know,
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: Dax Hill and Brian Cook, who are in the Bengals secondary, man,
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: they do a masterful job on third down, erasing the
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: receivers and erasing your number one option. And, Rob, you
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: can help me with this. I don't know who the
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: number one option for the Steelers is right now. I
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: know who it's supposed to be. But over the last
• 41:28
  Speaker 4: two weeks, I don't know if that game, and it's
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: not me kind of jumping on DK or whoever, but
• 41:33
  Speaker 4: you're talking about defense right now. They feel like with
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: the front four they have, led by Dexter Lawrence and
• 41:39
  Speaker 4: the secondary guys and their ability to eliminate your number
• 41:41
  Speaker 4: one option. For the Steelers, if you're a Steelers fan, man,
• 41:44
  Speaker 4: it's like, all right, what else do we have? And
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: this is where, as much as we talked about the
• 41:48
  Speaker 4: offensive line having a big game, once again, not to
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: be redundant, this is going to be a game where
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: our Titans really step up and be impactful, man, where
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: they're not only catching the ball, they're not only blocking,
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: but they're a big-time factor in the red zone for
• 42:01
  Speaker 4: the Steelers offense.
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: I agree, and I think when you look at other matchups, too,
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: in this game, And, you know, Mike McCarthy's talked about
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: simplifying things a little bit, maybe just cutting back, not simplifying,
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: maybe just cutting back on the simplifying in those terms,
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: how many plays you're going to run, figuring out what
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: you do well in the running game. You know, you
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: need to try to get something out of it. I mean,
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: the third, they've been in, you know, Mike McCarthy pointed
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: this out. Max just mentioned third down. They've been in
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: third and reasonable. You're 10th in the league in distance
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: to go on third down. They just haven't been able
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: to convert. I do think, I really hope Michael Pittman
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: is available and ready to go because I think as
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: a veteran receiver who's been there and done that, he's
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: the kind of guy that could sort of quietly have
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: a big game. I mean, maybe it's, you know, seven
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: catches for 70 yards with five of those are for
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: first downs to keep plays alive because you're right. I
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: don't think it's a, I don't think Willie, that it's
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: a completed defense yet.
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: I think it's a very good defense. It's a defense
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: that's taken huge steps forward. You know, D.J. Turner, they
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: will match him up with D.K. Metcalf. And, you know, look,
• 43:13
  Speaker 3: we saw D.K. get the better of A.J. Terrell.
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: We saw Christian Gonzalez do a good job on D.K.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: You know, this is what happens when you're the number
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: one receiver. You're going to face their best corner. And
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: they will put D.J.
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: Turner on him. So if D.J.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: Turner has a good game, who's up next for you?
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: To me, it's the tight ends, like you said, but
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: it's also this could be a game. If Michael Pittman
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: is healthy, he could play a big role for the Steelers' offense.
• 43:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I also think it's imperative to continue to
• 43:41
  Speaker 4: develop Jeremy Bernard, right? It's a situation where if we
• 43:45
  Speaker 4: can get him to do things– I know everybody doesn't
• 43:50
  Speaker 4: watch Niner football, but the way that Niners use Deebo Samuels,
• 43:54
  Speaker 4: as far as putting him in a slot, have him
• 43:57
  Speaker 4: in a backfield– giving the ball while in motion, you know,
• 44:01
  Speaker 4: that orbit motion. You see Mike Bidanes does a lot
• 44:05
  Speaker 4: with his offense and the charges of Kyle Shanahan. Like,
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: Jeremy Bernard has to become more of a weapon for
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: us where when we get in the middle of the field, man,
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: and we start doing some things with Minson Rush, and
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: because of his speed and his size and his ability
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: to break tackles, he can become a legit weapon for him. Like,
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: I know he's a rookie. He's a young guy. But
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: he's more than capable of handling– we should have some specialized,
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: you know– packages and plays singly for him because I
• 44:32
  Speaker 4: think he's that dynamic. And when you're talking about, you know,
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: if they're able to eliminate DK and if Pittman's not
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: ready to go, I think from an impact standpoint, from
• 44:40
  Speaker 4: a production standpoint, he has to be our next line,
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: our next weapon in line. So I would love to
• 44:45
  Speaker 4: see what Mike McCarthy continues to develop him and what
• 44:47
  Speaker 4: he does with him. But I think he can be
• 44:50
  Speaker 4: very special for the Steelers if they continue to find
• 44:52
  Speaker 4: ways to get him to football.
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: Willie Colon? Max Starks, I'm Rob King. Alex Highsmith's going
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: to be joining us next. Missy Matthews coming up next hour.
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: Lots more to get to as the Steelers get ready
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: to face the Bengals when we continue in the locker
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.