Latest / The Steelers Report / HR 2: Steelers Hall of Honor 2026 Class, NFL Week 3 Preview

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HR 2: Steelers Hall of Honor 2026 Class, NFL Week 3 Preview · The Steelers Report

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Make play, action, pass. Back, looking, throws, lofts, left, and
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: it's picked off!
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Intercepted by Patrick Queen at the 10-yard line, gets to
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: his feet, wrestled down at the 12, a huge turnover!
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's just get after it.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Bacco and Ed
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Troup on Steelers Nation.
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 0:37
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh Steelers continue to prep on the south side, day
• 0:41
  Speaker 5: number three of practice as they get set for their
• 0:44
  Speaker 5: first AFC North matchup of the 2026 season this Sunday
• 0:48
  Speaker 5: at Ecclesiastica Stadium, 1 p.m. against the 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals.
• 0:53
  Speaker 5: Steelers and Bengals split last year, 1-1. Brian Bacco is
• 0:58
  Speaker 5: on the south side for Steelers practice today for day
• 1:01
  Speaker 5: number 3, double B. Let's start out hour number 3
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: before we get into our league leaders in and across
• 1:08
  Speaker 5: the NFL. We already touched on this a bit with
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: the injury news in the first hour, Brian.
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: But anything else so far today on the injury front?
• 1:18
  Speaker 6: No, I don't think so, Ed. I mean, we'll see
• 1:22
  Speaker 6: where this goes. I mean, I guess as far as
• 1:24
  Speaker 6: the Joey Porter Jr. situation is concerned, I do think
• 1:28
  Speaker 6: it's at least interesting to kick around this idea of–
• 1:34
  Speaker 6: and I think this was brought up by Jason Simmons
• 1:37
  Speaker 6: last week, the Steelers DB's coach, along with Joe Witt Jr.
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: They both pretty much collaborate on the corners and the
• 1:44
  Speaker 6: safeties and getting things right. on the back end there
• 1:48
  Speaker 6: while wit also has the assistant head coach responsibilities to
• 1:52
  Speaker 6: under Mike McCarthy Simmons mentioned that, you know, Patrick Graham
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: has kind of some possibilities in mind for Joey. And
• 2:01
  Speaker 6: it's weird to think of him as like a situational
• 2:03
  Speaker 6: player because he's been on the field for every snap
• 2:07
  Speaker 6: the last couple of years. And since he became a starter,
• 2:10
  Speaker 6: he's been very reliable and sometimes shadows opposing receivers sometimes
• 2:15
  Speaker 6: play sides, but, perhaps if he does get back out
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: there for the Steelers, at least while he's still ramping
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: up and getting back into football shape, would you just say, Hey,
• 2:27
  Speaker 6: it's a big third down. It's third and 10. Go
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: guard T Higgins on this play and use your physicality
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: and your length to try to mitigate his physicality and
• 2:36
  Speaker 6: his length. Now those two have had, they've locked horns
• 2:39
  Speaker 6: many a times and Higgins has won some of those battles.
• 2:42
  Speaker 6: Joey's won some of those battles as long as you can,
• 2:46
  Speaker 6: play your brand of football without getting the flag thrown
• 2:49
  Speaker 6: on you, I think that's at least somewhat fascinating to
• 2:54
  Speaker 6: think about. But again, we don't know if he's even
• 2:56
  Speaker 6: going to be active for this game, hasn't played yet
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: this season. I'm just living in hypothetical land here as
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: we talk about any under-the-radar wrinkles or storylines for this game, Ed.
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: No doubt, Brian.
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: And that's one of them that we will keep our
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: eye on as we go throughout the weekend and throughout
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: this season, the status on Joey Porter Jr.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: In the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary. But you got to get
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: ready one way or the other.
• 3:27
  Speaker 6: And we probably should mention the Steelers safeties in this game.
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: I mean, this is going to test Jaquan Brisker, Jalen Ramsey,
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: and whatever role he lines up in for this one.
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: Rayshawn Jenkins, too. You know, that's someone who if you're
• 3:42
  Speaker 6: the Bengals and you're probably looking at someone in the
• 3:44
  Speaker 6: secondary to attack would be the guy who came along
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: and jumped on a moving train a few days into
• 3:49
  Speaker 6: training camp.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: And this has been with several teams over the last
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: few years, but yeah, I mean, that's going to be,
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: that's going to be big too. You know, honestly, I
• 3:59
  Speaker 6: think the kicking game could come into play Sunday, Chris Boswell.
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: And when you talk about the Bengals, you know, Evan
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: McPherson is, I think also probably one of the better kickers.
• 4:10
  Speaker 6: in the NFL. And so far this season at six
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: for six, he's got a 58 yarder has not missed
• 4:15
  Speaker 6: an extra point either. And four of his makes have become,
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: have come from 50 plus. So he is back to
• 4:23
  Speaker 6: being a weapon for the Bengals after, I think he's
• 4:27
  Speaker 6: had his ups and downs in the league as a
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: lot of kickers have, but McPherson at age 27. Now
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: he can absolutely shrink the field for them and get
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: you three points. Even when a drive stalls.
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: No doubt one of the better kickers in the NFL.
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: That's for sure that the Steelers will face and hit
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: the game winner last year on that Thursday night in Cincinnati.
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: On the Bengals side for an injury report, Double B,
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: I think earlier in the week, Jonathan Allen, BJ Hill,
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: I think we're on that list. Are they still there
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: from what you've seen so far? Again, we'll get the
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: day three injury report a bit later on this evening
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: here on Friday, so we don't have that in front
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: of us yet. But at least through the first two days,
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: my understanding is both Jonathan Allen and and B.J.
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: Hill did not practice?
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: That's right, and Hill's coming back from an Achilles issue,
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: so I feel like it's not super optimistic for him,
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: but Allen, it sounded like wasn't a big deal, but
• 5:23
  Speaker 6: reporters didn't see him out there yesterday down in Cincy,
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: and maybe he will get out there Friday or find
• 5:30
  Speaker 6: a way to suit up and play. He probably... Can't
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: do that at his age with his experience level with
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: Washington and Minnesota. He's 31. He's been around the block
• 5:41
  Speaker 6: a lot. I was actually reading a piece on Bengals.com,
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: a Q & A with him and Jeff Butchie-Hopson, longtime
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: Bengals beat guy. And Jonathan Allen, I guess his parents
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: grew up Bengals fans. So it's a cool homecoming for him.
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: And needless to say, getting to finally face an AFC
• 5:59
  Speaker 6: North team and play the Steelers in your first AFC
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: North matchup with your Kind of childhood team, probably gets
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: his juices flowing. But yeah, I mean, Allen, Big 93,
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: he's been a force thus far.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: For the Bengals.
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: And speaking of Bengals D linemen, Ed, I think this
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: is another really cool note in this game. Landon Robinson,
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: a rookie D lineman for them. I don't know that
• 6:26
  Speaker 6: you're going to see Big 96 out there. He was
• 6:30
  Speaker 6: inactive for the first two games, but I bring him
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: up because... he played at Navy with Eli Heidenreich and
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: he was drafted four spots ahead of Eli Heidenreich in
• 6:39
  Speaker 6: the seventh round by the Bengals. He's from Copley, Ohio,
• 6:42
  Speaker 6: which is in the Akron area, but his family reportedly
• 6:45
  Speaker 6: grew up Bengals fans too. And Robinson was an awesome
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: story coming into the draft this year, because frankly, he's
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: one of the shortest D linemen you're going to find.
• 6:53
  Speaker 6: He was 5'11 at the combine, but he's two, he's
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: listed now at six foot 295 on the Bengals roster.
• 6:59
  Speaker 6: And He was the heart and soul of the Navy
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: defense last season. Eli was the heart and soul of
• 7:04
  Speaker 6: the Navy offense. They both hear their name called on
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: draft weekend after going to the combine and going through
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: that process. First time since 1958, Navy had two guys
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: taken in the same NFL draft and four picks apart.
• 7:19
  Speaker 6: I was talking to Eli about that in the locker room,
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: and I said, did you even get a chance to
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: see your buddy and your teammate get picked? Or because
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: of the delay... in the, you know, especially at the
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: end of the draft, did you kind of find out
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: that you were coming to Pittsburgh before you even saw it?
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: He's like, no, I did see it. And then obviously
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: his world turned upside down probably seconds or minutes later
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: when he found out that he was staying home with
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: the Steelers. But so I don't know if they're going
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: to play against each other in this one. The Bengals
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: haven't had the need, haven't needed their rookie seventh rounder
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: just yet, but either way, whether it's pregame or postgame,
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: hopefully Heidenreich and Landon Robinson are get a moment to
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: reflect on how special that is for a couple midshipmen
• 8:00
  Speaker 6: living out the dream in the NFL. They both made
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: the 53.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: How cool is that, too?
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: Very cool. Absolutely, Double B. And what a moment that
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: would be.
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: What a storyline that would be if they would go
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: up against each other this upcoming Sunday.
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Let's go in and around the NFL now as far as.
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: League leaders go we'll do our renegade preview coming up
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: next here at 320 but for now let's go with
• 8:23
  Speaker 5: our league leaders double b we'll start with quarterbacks and
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: passing leaders through the first two weeks of the season
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: now Uncle Tommy had a shout-out about who he thinks
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: the early candidate for NFL MVP should be, and this
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: player is in the top five. He was number one,
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: but you slide Jordan Love in there after last night
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: with 844 yards. Now that's only because he's now played
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: an extra game above everyone else.
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: Yeah, my Uncle Tommy, he's on the shuck train, taking
• 8:56
  Speaker 6: up a spot right next to ed troop or maybe, uh,
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: across the aisle. But yeah, you guys have, uh, are
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: believers in Chuck. I'm not far off, but I think
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: I want to see a little bit more. I know
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: he had a strong end to 2025 and was even
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: getting some offensive rookie of the year love from probably
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: mainly from saints fans, but still he did play well
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: down the stretch and gave new Orleans some hope they
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: can close the book on the Spencer Rattler era. Uh,
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: as far as Chuck goes, it's, you know, not going
• 9:26
  Speaker 6: to get, uh, Not going to get any easier for
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: him now that teams start to see more film on him,
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: start to figure out ways to maybe try to harass him.
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: But it might get easier this week in some ways
• 9:40
  Speaker 6: facing the Raiders at home in New Orleans. It's got
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: to deal with Max Crosby, though, and a 2-0 Raiders
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: team that's probably feeling pretty good about itself.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: Listen, Uncle Tommy and I will not be rooting for
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: the Saints nor Tyler Shuck come October 25th when they
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: play the Pittsburgh Steelers. I know that much for sure.
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: But yes, Tyler Shuck, Number two in the league right
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: now at 662, but he would be. your leader if
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Jordan loved it and play last night who now has
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: 844 Bryce Young is third in the league with 648
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: yards passing CJ Strout 627 and Josh Allen 582 rounds
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: out your top five passers I.
• 10:14
  Speaker 6: Think you see some empty calories there maybe with CJ
• 10:17
  Speaker 6: Stroud considering they scored six points against the Bengals last
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: week or at least maybe not finishing guys but yeah
• 10:25
  Speaker 6: Bryce Young having a resurgence of sorts I guess he
• 10:28
  Speaker 6: can see over the line Ed but we'll see if
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: that keeps up in Carolina I think a big thing
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: there too is they've got their pass catchers taking big
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: steps forward whether it's second year guy Ted Arroa McMillan
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: offensive rookie of the year last year I believe if
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: I'm not mistaken and Jalen Coker has been a real
• 10:46
  Speaker 6: find for them and then Darren Waller, not done yet.
• 10:49
  Speaker 6: He's been retired, unretired. Now he's back with the Panthers.
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: And at 34 years old, I think, tight end Darren
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: Waller had a couple touchdown grabs last week. I don't
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: think they're using him a ton, but they must like
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: his big frame and his ball skills when they get
• 11:06
  Speaker 6: in close. And he's got a resume for that, no doubt.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: He did, and I picked him up in a couple
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: of my fantasy football leagues.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: That usually will mean that he won't do anything now
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: the next couple weeks, right, after he comes off a
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: performance like that.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: Let's go to the top five rushers in the league. Brian,
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: did you have a thought?
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: No, I'll save it.
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: I'll save it until we get to another stat category.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Go ahead, Ed.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: My man.
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: So running-wise, who do you think the top rusher is
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: in the NFL going into week three?
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: Well, it's certainly Bajon Robinson now after– last night. He
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: might've been anywhere.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: No, he wasn't. It was Kenneth Walker.
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: I think we talked about that earlier in the week
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: when we were discussing MVP, early MVP candidates, first two
• 11:47
  Speaker 6: week MVP candidates. But you know, I just, my takeaway
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: from looking at this list in front of me, and
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: obviously you weren't going to quiz me considering I just
• 11:55
  Speaker 6: pulled up the rushing leaders, but it's the, it's the
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: usual suspects so far. No one's getting taken by surprise here.
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: Kenneth Walker is, Derrick Henry, Jameer Gibbs, James Cook, and
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: Jonathan Taylor after Robinson. And I guess that just goes
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: to show for how much we talk about, hey, you
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: can't let this guy beat you. You got to focus
• 12:15
  Speaker 6: and hammer down and stop the run and devote extra resources,
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: stack the box against these guys. The truly great ones,
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: they still find.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: A way to get theirs.
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: Hey, if you're not cheating, if you ain't cheating, you
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: ain't trying, right? I think that's the famous saying. So
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: bring those stats up on your end, and you can say, hey, Ed,
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: it's Robinson with exactly 349 yards after last night, and
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: I'll look at you like the genius that you are. Yes,
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: Bijon is number one. Kenneth Walker, though, is still probably
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: going to be your leader.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: Well, we'll see. I don't know.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: He's at 290, so we'll see what he does this weekend.
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: as he tries to catch up in the rushing category. Okay, receiving-wise,
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: Christian Watson, after last night, had a nice game as
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: well for the Green Bay Packers in that loss. He's
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: number one at 284, Jackson Smith and Jigba. Second with 277,
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: the Drake London, who also had a big game last
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: night for Atlanta. My son Brendan this morning on the
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: way to school reminded me of that because he has
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: him in his fantasy football league.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Chris Oveleve has 268 yards for the Saints.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: And Matthew Golden, who's been a nice wide receiver for
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: Green Bay, 253.
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: He also had a nice game last night.
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Golden did that on my bench. Actually, my son
• 13:24
  Speaker 6: and I were debating whether to put him in there
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: last night, and I actually flipped the coin, and it
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: was tails, so I kept Golden out and probably could
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: have used him, honestly. My only hang-up was I've also
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: got Tucker Kraft, and I was leery about putting both
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: in there. I was correct to do so, but I
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: chose the wrong one. I didn't really have any other
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: options at tight end. Kraft caught a lot of balls,
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: but had some struggles, too, in that game. And it's
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: a little bit of a slow start to the season
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: for the guy who lit up the Steelers last year
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: on Thursday Night Football. And then I guess he was
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: giving some grief to the cheeseheads after the game. I
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: saw some quotes going around with Green Bay reporters that
• 14:01
  Speaker 6: he wasn't too happy with.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: The boos.
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: But, you know, we know these things pop up from
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: time to time. My last thought on the receiving leaders, Ed,
• 14:09
  Speaker 6: should have mentioned Jackson Smith and Jigba when we were
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: talking about early season MVPs, because he just keeps getting
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: it done. Big plays, intermediate plays, and he's doing it
• 14:19
  Speaker 6: for Drew Locke. So to me, when you talk about value,
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: you know, you strip away Sam Darnold and that QB
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: and he just elevates whatever quarterback is throwing to him.
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: So yeah, JSN, not give it up to Crown anytime soon.
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: Evan Williams is your tackle leader with 29 for Green Bay. Now, again,
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: these are real-time stats, so it's almost like the Packers
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: and Falcons because they're a game ahead of everyone.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: I shouldn't even be including them in this activity. Anthony
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: Hill Jr.
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: From Tennessee was the leader going into last night with 26.
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: Alex Singleton from the Denver Broncos with 25. Julian Love
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: is your interception leader from Seattle with two. Devin Lloyd, second,
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: from Carolina with two. And then your sack leaders, TJ
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: Watt with three and a half, Alex Highsmith with three.
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: Your guy from Buffalo still the leader going into week
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: three with four.
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: Gregory Rousseau. He's finding a way to navigate to the quarterback.
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: That's for sure.
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: Those are your stat leaders going into week three.
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: Again, a lot of Green Bay and Falcons stats went
• 15:21
  Speaker 5: into that. We'll talk about the Packers-Falcons game in more
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: detail whenever we come back, and we'll also look around
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: the AFC North and the AFC and the NFL going
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: into week three.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: I'm ET. He's BB.
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: It's the Steelers Report here on Steelers Nation Radio, part
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: May gets a.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: Snap, throws out to the left.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Oh, and diagnosed beautifully by Nick Herbig.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: And he makes his stop on Chisholm and flings him
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: down for a loss.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, Kinger, I got to tell you, as soon as
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: he turned the corner and went wang dang doodle down
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: that sideline, you knew nobody was going to catch him.
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: We're working in some of those wolfisms from... previous broadcasts.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: Those are current plays from last week with Rob King
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: and Max Starks and Missy Matthews, who have the call
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: each and every week here on Steelers Nation Radio and
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: the Steelers Audio Network. But we're celebrating Wolf today, so
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: we're adding in some Wolfisms at the tail end of
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: those plays.
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: And then coming up next here at.
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: 340, we're going to play all of those, plus a
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: couple other sound clips from Wolf And we have spoke
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: to him in the past, again, as we've been talking
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: all afternoon long.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: And it leads up, Brian, to what's coming up here.
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: And, well, we're probably within, what, about an hour and
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: a half to two hours from AccuShore Stadium, where they
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: will have the Hall of Honor ceremony here tonight from
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: 4.30 to 9. We will have live coverage here on
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: SNR from 5.30 to 7 with Mike Persuta and Wes
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: Euler as Kevin Colbert, JT Thomas, and Craig Wolflea are
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: part of the 2026 class being inducted this evening and
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: then also on the field on Sunday at halftime against
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: the Bengals.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Sounds like it's going to be a great time.
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: I will not be in attendance. I've got a wedding tonight, Ed.
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: It's the final wedding of the Batco House wedding season,
• 17:16
  Speaker 6: number five of five. Looking forward to it, though. I'm
• 17:20
  Speaker 6: sure it's going to be a great night with the fam.
• 17:23
  Speaker 6: There's something to be said for the last, and this
• 17:25
  Speaker 6: is the last one for a lot of people in
• 17:27
  Speaker 6: my It's my wife's side of the family. So it'll
• 17:30
  Speaker 6: be the last one in a lot of ways and
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: it's going to be a good time. But yeah, hopefully
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: everybody who's down there at the Hall of Honor ceremony
• 17:37
  Speaker 6: and dinner has a great time too.
• 17:39
  Speaker 5: This has been the summer of weddings for Brian and
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: his wife and his family.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: Five or six? I thought it was six.
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: Creeping into fall now too. Not just summer now. I
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: think it was five. But yeah, I mean, It'll be
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: another night for the grandparents to put the kids to bed. And, well,
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: you know how that goes probably. Who knows if the
• 18:01
  Speaker 6: kids will be in bed by the time we get home.
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: We've got an early soccer game tomorrow morning, though, so
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: it can't be running on no sleep. We've got to
• 18:09
  Speaker 6: get out there at 9 a.m. and get on the pitch.
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: We've got to have the proper fuel for this first-grade athlete.
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you've got to have that curfew in place.
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: Maybe you should even take them and put them in
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: a hotel like the NFL does with their players the
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: night before, right?
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: I think the Fairmont or the Omni William Penn, something
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: like that, so they can really hunker down and focus
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: on the task at hand.
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: Listen, more importantly, before we move on, and we will
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: move on to the Week 3 matchups across the AFC North, AFC,
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: and NFL, will Uncle Tommy be in attendance this evening?
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: I actually don't.
• 18:44
  Speaker 6: I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure. He might be.
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: If he is, we will discuss the show.
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: Well, please do.
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: And please tell him we've given him now multiple shout-outs,
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: and we'll continue to do that. Maybe we get him
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: on the show sometime, Brian. We'll talk some Steelers football
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: with Uncle Tommy.
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: Let's do it.
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Oh, be careful what you wish for there, Ed. He'll
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: keep going. We'll be going way over on the segments. But, no,
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: he is an avid football watcher, so he'd have some takes.
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: There's no doubt in my mind he would have some
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: hot fire takes.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: I love it.
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: And again, just a reminder on Twitter, make sure you
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: follow at Brian Bacco or at Troop Eddie.
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: That's where you can find us on Twitter and throw
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: us some questions.
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: If you have some questions in regards to the NFL,
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: the Steelers, Brian and I will answer those live here
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: on the show and we'll give you a shout out
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: as well.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: So make sure you check us out. They're on Twitter. Okay,
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: let's go in and around the NFL.
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: A game last night that we've been talking about all
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: show long, the Falcons go into Green Bay, and they
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: win the first game of Week 3 on Thursday Night Football, 35-14.
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: A bit of a surprise, Brian Backo, as we talked about,
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: because we thought the Falcons were dead on their 2026 season.
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: And Michael Penix Jr. served up an interception right off
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: the bat in that game, and I thought, oh boy,
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: it's going to be a long night. He really settled in,
• 19:58
  Speaker 6: came around, and I'm not a big Michael Penix Jr. believer,
• 20:02
  Speaker 6: but maybe there's still something there with him. There's a
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: reason why the Falcons took him. in the top 10
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: just a few years ago in that same quarterback laden
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: draft class with Caleb Williams, Drake May, Bo Nix, JJ McCarthy.
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: And he's the odd man out at the moment, but
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: obviously he's at least finding a way to get the
• 20:24
  Speaker 6: ball to Drake London a lot better than Cooper Rush
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: did those first two games. That's a little bar to clear,
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: of course, but Penix injecting some new life into the
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: Falcons in that NFC South race, which is, Far from over,
• 20:38
  Speaker 6: nobody undefeated in that division. The Saints 1-1, the Panthers 1-1,
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: and then the Bucs, surprisingly, bringing up the rear at 0-2.
• 20:48
  Speaker 6: So they're keeping pace through three games, and winning that
• 20:51
  Speaker 6: game in Lambeau Field was a huge way to do so.
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: Speaking of the NFC South, the Browns within the AFC
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: North will face another AFC South opponent this upcoming week.
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: The Carolina Panthers, who are 1-1 on the season, visit...
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: The Cleveland Browns, who are also 1-1, who beat the
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: Bucs last week on the road. Big win for Cleveland.
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: Speaking of teams that we thought were dead on their season, again,
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: overreaction probably just one week into the season after they
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: lost their opener. The Cleveland Browns looked very good on
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: the road last week in Tampa Bay. They will face
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: a 1-1 Panthers team. Can the Browns keep the momentum
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: going in Cleveland this weekend, Brian?
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: We shall see.
• 21:31
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think there's a chance. I feel like that
• 21:33
  Speaker 6: game is honestly kind of a coin flip. It's still
• 21:35
  Speaker 6: so early in the year. You don't truly know what
• 21:38
  Speaker 6: to make of a lot of these teams. You have your,
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: your preseason notions obviously coming in and then some of
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: those get shattered very quickly. Other times they hold up,
• 21:48
  Speaker 6: but it takes time over the course of the year
• 21:51
  Speaker 6: for them to hold up. But yeah, I mean, Deshaun Watson, that,
• 21:54
  Speaker 6: that dysfunctional situation is, has kind of tamed down or
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: tempered down a little bit, I think, because much like
• 22:02
  Speaker 6: everything in sports, if you play well, People will like you,
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: and everything's easier when you're winning, and it gets a
• 22:11
  Speaker 6: lot harder when you're losing. And 34-3 loss in week one,
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: the noise got pretty loud. They quieted the critics, but
• 22:19
  Speaker 6: it's also what have you done? That was one game.
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: They're obviously going to have to keep it up.
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: And Steeler Nation will keep a close eye off in
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: the distance.
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: That's a 1 o'clock game on Sunday during the Steelers-Bengals matchup,
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: so I'll keep a little bit of an eye on
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: that because, again, that's the Steelers' next opponent. just a
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: few days from Sunday, next Thursday night in Cleveland for
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: Thursday night football, Steelers at Browns. The other AFC North
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: matchup is the Ravens at 1-1 on the season. As
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: they go up against the Cowboys, who are 1-1, this
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: game will be played in Brazil, and it will be
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: at 425 on Sunday on CBS, so you'll have an
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: opportunity to watch that game, Double B, if you want
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: to check out the Ravens here early on in their season.
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: as they try to bounce back from that week two
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: loss at home against the Saints. Meanwhile, the Cowboys trying
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: to build on their week two victory that they had
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: at home.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: Both these teams won and won.
• 23:11
  Speaker 6: No, I probably won't have a chance to watch that game, Ed.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I'll be working.
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: I'll be writing after the Steelers game, and I'll be typing.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Away, pecking away.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: You'll be hard at work.
• 23:18
  Speaker 6: On my keyboard, on my laptop. But yeah, I mean, hey,
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: hopefully we'll get it done as soon as we can
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: and catch some Ravens-Cowboys. I keep forgetting that game's in Brazil.
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: Thank you for reminding me of that. That should be
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: a good one. you know, two teams that a lot
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: of expectations coming into this season, one fan base is
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: going to be puffing their chest out, feeling good. And
• 23:39
  Speaker 6: the other one's going to be slinking through and feeling
• 23:42
  Speaker 6: like a same old, same old this season to go
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: back to the Browns and Panthers for a second there.
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: I also think like, if you're the Steelers Steelers fans,
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: of course, obviously, you hope that that's just a knockdown
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: drag out physical game, right? Maybe even go into overtime
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: rounds around and play Thursday night. So more than anything,
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: I mean, you, you always root for the NFC over
• 24:10
  Speaker 6: the AFC, particularly in your division, but hopefully that game
• 24:14
  Speaker 6: is a physical one and a battle of attrition. It
• 24:18
  Speaker 6: could be a Kenny Pickett revenge game. If anything happens
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: to Bryce Young, he can get some payback on the
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: team that dealt him away to Vegas after he pulled
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: his hamstring or whatever in, uh, in practice as he
• 24:29
  Speaker 6: was competing to be their starter last season. And, uh,
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: I don't know that I'm not wishing any ill on,
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: on Bryce young, but, uh, yeah, Ravens Cowboys. I think that's, uh,
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: in a way, one of the more intriguing games and
• 24:41
  Speaker 6: then it's always adds a layer to when you're going international.
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: So within the AFC North for week three, you have
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: Bengals Steelers, one o'clock at Akershire stadium. You have the
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: Panthers visiting the Browns also at one o'clock. And again,
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: as Brian just said in Brazil, uh, You have the
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: 1-1 Ravens, the 1-1 Cowboys, 425 on Sunday. Some other
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: AFC matchups. The Chargers does not get any easier for L.A.
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: They are 0-2 on the season. We've been talking a
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: lot about their start to their season with that 0-2 record.
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: They will visit the Bills, who are undefeated 2-0. Josh Allen,
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: we just talked about it, the No. 5 passer in
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: the NFL. 582 yards passing, 5 touchdowns. He's also ran
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: the ball for a couple scores today. Josh Allen has
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: looked very good. I called him my MVP earlier this week,
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: two weeks into the season, the early MVP candidate. The
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: Bills are at home against the Chargers, and again, Brian,
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: it does not get any easier for the L.A.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: Chargers.
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: I hate to be this guy and be a jerk
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: and bring up rough memories for someone, but any time
• 25:43
  Speaker 6: I see Bills versus Chargers, I think of that 2017
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: game where Nathan Peterman threw five first-half interceptions against Starting
• 25:52
  Speaker 6: for Buffalo, and they had to turn to Rod Taylor again.
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: I mean, that was– I enjoyed covering Nathan Peterman at Pitt,
• 26:01
  Speaker 6: my alma mater, but I was also a beat writer
• 26:03
  Speaker 6: at that time in some capacity and was wishing the
• 26:06
  Speaker 6: best for him as he finally got a chance to
• 26:08
  Speaker 6: start in the NFL. I mean, that was just a nightmare,
• 26:12
  Speaker 6: nightmare day for him. And in a way, it sort
• 26:16
  Speaker 6: of led to the eventual Josh Allen– takeover in buffalo
• 26:21
  Speaker 6: and i don't think he's going to throw five first
• 26:23
  Speaker 6: half interceptions in this game well if there's.
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: One thing for certain double b we saw it last
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: night anything can happen in these games right so just
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: when you think the chargers are going to be an
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: automatic oh and three and the bills are going to
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: be an automatic three and oh the nfl surprises you
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: so We'll keep an eye on that one this upcoming Sunday.
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: Another AFC matchup is in the AFC South. The Texans 0-2,
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: the Colts 0-2. So something's got to give there, Brian.
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: One of these two teams will get their first victory
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: of the season. The Texans have played two close games
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: this fall. Not that my Bengals game wasn't close. The
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: first game of the season was a close one in
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: which they lost to the Bills at home. Last week,
• 27:00
  Speaker 5: Cincinnati goes in there.
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: They win that one.
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: But the Colts got back in week two, went to
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: Kansas city on Monday night. So they're playing on a
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: short week, but they looked a lot better against the chiefs.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 27:12
  Speaker 6: I think, I feel like I'm going to take the
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: Texans in this one. I just think they're still the
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: better team, the better roster, but you're right. I mean,
• 27:19
  Speaker 6: there are two teams that after week one, at least
• 27:23
  Speaker 6: and what they did in week two, sort of going
• 27:24
  Speaker 6: in opposite directions there. I don't know what to make
• 27:27
  Speaker 6: of Houston. I guess there was a report that, Will
• 27:30
  Speaker 6: Anderson was calling a defensive-only players meeting. So I'm sure
• 27:35
  Speaker 6: that's not really going to be a small storyline or
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: small subplot down there in H-Town as they get ready
• 27:42
  Speaker 6: to head to the crossroads of America. Hopefully they're more
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: on the side of urgency than panic or concern for
• 27:50
  Speaker 6: that swarm Texans defense for their sake. But hey, for
• 27:53
  Speaker 6: the Steelers' sake, baby, if the Texans are a non-factor
• 27:56
  Speaker 6: this year, That would be nice as we assess the
• 28:00
  Speaker 6: potential outlook for the AFC postseason.
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: And, of course, the Texans come to Accuture Stadium later
• 28:05
  Speaker 5: this season. The Patriots are 1-1 after defeating the Steelers
• 28:09
  Speaker 5: in Week 2. The Jaguars are 1-1 after a loss
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: in Denver last week there at the tail end. Should
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: be a good matchup here between two playoff teams from
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: a year ago, Brian. Patriots and Jaguars, 1 o'clock on Sunday.
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: Parker Washington, Penn State alum, stepping up big time at receiver.
• 28:25
  Speaker 6: for the Jaguars making all sorts of plays. See if
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: he can find any wiggle room against that Patriots secondary
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: that smothered the Steelers last week and see if the
• 28:37
  Speaker 6: Patriots can keep it rolling. But yeah, one team will
• 28:39
  Speaker 6: be 2-1 in the AFC.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: One will be 1-2.
• 28:41
  Speaker 6: Kind of brings you back to how we started the
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: show today of the sky won't be falling. It won't
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: be the end of the world if the Steelers lose
• 28:48
  Speaker 6: to the Bengals on Sunday.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: But hey, Mr.
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: Captain Obvious alert. You'd much rather be 2-1 than 1-2
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: going into Thursday night football in that wild and zany
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: and not wonderful and crazy wonky place.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: That is Cleveland.
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: Chiefs 2-0 visit the 0-2 Dolphins. The Jets are 1-1.
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: They visit the Lions, who are 1-1 on the season
• 29:13
  Speaker 5: as well. And the Titans 0-2 at the Giants 1-1.
• 29:17
  Speaker 5: Also at 1 o'clock, Seahawks 2-0 at the Commanders, who
• 29:21
  Speaker 5: are 0-2 so far this season.
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: Those are the early games.
• 29:24
  Speaker 5: This upcoming week, the other 4 o'clock games, Cardinals 1-1
• 29:27
  Speaker 5: at the 49ers, who are 2-0. The Vikings 2-0 at 0-2. Buccaneers,
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: we already talked Ravens-Cowboys, also at 425. Raiders 2-0 at
• 29:36
  Speaker 5: the Saints, who are 1-1. Sunday night football, Rams 1-1. 1-1,
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: Broncos 1-1, and then next Monday night, Eagles 2-0 versus
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: Bears 1-1. Double B, we have about 30 seconds before break.
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: Any thoughts on any of those?
• 29:49
  Speaker 6: My thoughts are I'm excited for Sunday night this week.
• 29:52
  Speaker 6: I feel like it's usually a good game, but Rams
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: going to Denver and trying to keep up that momentum
• 29:57
  Speaker 6: they generated against the Giants on Sunday Monday night. So
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: that'll be three consecutive standalone games for the Rams to
• 30:03
  Speaker 6: start the season, the Melbourne game. And then Monday night,
• 30:06
  Speaker 6: now Sunday night, we get a chance to watch the
• 30:09
  Speaker 6: Rams a lot, but at least they tend to be
• 30:11
  Speaker 6: pretty entertaining.
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: Up next, we will play back some Craig Wolfley, Wolfisms.
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: There you go. I got to say that six times.
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: I got through it the other times, Brian, and then
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: got tripped up here right at the tail end of
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: the show. But we'll play some of those back, including
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: some audio from when we talked to Wolf a few
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: years back. It's Troop and Backo on the Steelers Report
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers Audio Network.
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: This is the Steelers Report with Brian Backo and Ed
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: Troop on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: Audio Network.
• 30:50
  Speaker 5: The Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 Hall of Honor class.
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: Will be inducted this weekend.
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: Acresure Stadium tonight, just in about 45 minutes from now,
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: they'll get started there at 4.30 to 9 o'clock. Coverage
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: here on SNR from 5.30 to 7 with Mike Persuta
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: and Wes Euler. Also, you can hear Wes Euler and
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: Matt Williamson right after us here at 4 o'clock for
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: SNR's Drive. Kevin Colbert, JT Thomas, and of course, our
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: buddy Craig Wolfley tonight. being inducted this weekend, and deservingly
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: so for all three of those. Brian and I also
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: will make our Bengals-Steelers prediction here coming up at the
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: end of the show, but first we're talking Hall of
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: Honor weekend here at Accuture Stadium. Brian, this is a
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: great event that the organization does each and every year here.
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: Maybe you can fill me in. I know you're a
• 31:44
  Speaker 5: Steeler historian as well when it started. What, about maybe 10, 12.
• 31:48
  Speaker 4: Years ago now?
• 31:50
  Speaker 6: I'm no Bob Labriola. Don't don't put me in that
• 31:54
  Speaker 6: tier of of Steelers.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: We won't.
• 31:57
  Speaker 6: We won't. But yeah, I mean, the Steelers Hall of Honor,
• 32:00
  Speaker 6: when it was first founded, you know, and also, hey,
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: it's a big part of it, too, is that Hall
• 32:06
  Speaker 6: of Honor Museum.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 32:08
  Speaker 6: Down there at Accresure Stadium. If you've never got a
• 32:10
  Speaker 6: chance to check it out, you should absolutely do that.
• 32:12
  Speaker 6: It's I know there's a lot of great stuff to
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: see and observe and read. in the great hall down
• 32:18
  Speaker 6: on the 100 section, but so much more to it.
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: When you go to the museum itself, uh, they announced
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: the creation of it in 2017. And, um, you know,
• 32:28
  Speaker 6: a lot of the, the, the greatest legends were in
• 32:31
  Speaker 6: that inaugural 2017 class, but this is the Steelers we're
• 32:34
  Speaker 6: talking about and you don't run out of, uh, incredible players, coaches, contributors, uh,
• 32:42
  Speaker 6: to this organization's legacy, uh, anytime soon. So I guess
• 32:46
  Speaker 6: next year will be a decade in and 10 year anniversary.
• 32:49
  Speaker 6: You'll still be inducting and enshrining players who were paramount
• 32:54
  Speaker 6: in helping to, to hoist six Lombardi trophies and put
• 32:59
  Speaker 6: them in the case. And, you know, Kevin Colbert responsible
• 33:03
  Speaker 6: for building teams that, you know, brought home two of
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: those JT Thomas, obviously part four of those. And then
• 33:11
  Speaker 6: Craig Wolfley, in that in between era of the Steelers,
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: but someone who's still in measure, made an immeasurable impact
• 33:20
  Speaker 6: for the franchise while he was here.
• 33:22
  Speaker 5: You know, JT Thomas, you always, you tend to forget
• 33:25
  Speaker 5: about him sometimes as being part of that great Steeler
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: dynasty of the seventies. Cause when you think, when you
• 33:30
  Speaker 5: think Steelers corner, you always think Mel Blunt when you
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: think of the super seventies and defensive back for the
• 33:36
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh Steelers, you don't think too much about JT Thomas,
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: but you know, He was very good for those 70
• 33:42
  Speaker 5: Super Bowl teams opposite side of Mel Blunt. So it's
• 33:45
  Speaker 5: good to see him get the recognition this weekend as well,
• 33:47
  Speaker 5: entering the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor.
• 33:51
  Speaker 6: And if you don't have two good corners, you're probably
• 33:53
  Speaker 6: not winning one Super Bowl, let alone four of them.
• 33:55
  Speaker 6: Because if one of those guys is just some guy,
• 34:01
  Speaker 6: you're going to be giving up a lot of yards
• 34:03
  Speaker 6: on the other side. Mel Blunt can't cover everybody. Mel Blunt,
• 34:06
  Speaker 6: by the way, was at practice on Thursday. So we
• 34:10
  Speaker 6: know he's still in the area, but always great to
• 34:13
  Speaker 6: see him still with the big cowboy hat and making
• 34:17
  Speaker 6: his rounds. The players know him and respect him on site.
• 34:21
  Speaker 6: And I think it's just cool too. I mean, when
• 34:22
  Speaker 6: you have these kinds of weekends, maybe some players are
• 34:25
  Speaker 6: very well educated on Steelers history. Others, particularly newcomers, rookies,
• 34:30
  Speaker 6: they probably have some learning and some catching up to do.
• 34:34
  Speaker 6: And with Mike McCarthy at the helm of things now,
• 34:37
  Speaker 6: I mean, you got to think more than ever, There's
• 34:40
  Speaker 6: just an ingrained sense of carrying on that legacy and
• 34:43
  Speaker 6: that standard. Mike Tomlin did a fantastic job of that, too.
• 34:47
  Speaker 6: Don't get me wrong, but he also was coming in
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: pretty cold back in 2007, but he was a football
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: historian and appreciated a lot of that. So I thought
• 34:57
  Speaker 6: it was interesting on Monday, I think Mike McCarthy told
• 35:00
  Speaker 6: us that he and Aaron Rodgers, when they have their
• 35:02
  Speaker 6: weekly Thursday night meeting to go through the game plan
• 35:06
  Speaker 6: and stuff, I mean, a lot of the football schematics
• 35:08
  Speaker 6: have already been figured out and decided upon for the week.
• 35:12
  Speaker 6: They're putting the finishing touches on that. So they tend
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: to talk a lot about football history and just the
• 35:17
  Speaker 6: personal side of things and catch up on life in general. So, yeah,
• 35:22
  Speaker 6: I imagine that they get plenty of time now on
• 35:24
  Speaker 6: these Thursday nights to talk either Packers players that they
• 35:28
  Speaker 6: worked with mutually or certainly those who came before them
• 35:33
  Speaker 6: in Steelers lore.
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: And of course, Craig Wolfley, who played for the Pittsburgh
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: Steelers in the 80s on that offensive line, with Tunch Ilken,
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: and of course they became best friends, did a lot
• 35:42
  Speaker 5: of good work in the community, were a big part
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: of the Steelers' audio network. And again, Brian, as I
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: said at the top of the show today, I walk
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: into the studio five days a week with you to
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: record here on the S & R Airwaves, a place
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: in which guys like Tunch Ilken and Craig Wolfley spent
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: a lot of their life and a lot of their
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: time post their NFL career with our broadcast team. And
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: we've been playing it all night. Show long, some wolfisms,
• 36:10
  Speaker 5: and here's some more for you.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Oh, great googly moogly. Was that a beautiful moment? Yeah, Zooks,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: let's just get after it. Oh, Kinger, I got to
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: tell you.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: As soon as he turned the corner and went wang
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: dang doodle down that sidelines, you knew nobody was going
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: to catch him.
• 36:27
  Speaker 5: Double B, I had a chance to meet back in
• 36:29
  Speaker 5: the day Craig Wolfley at Chalk Talk that he does
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: out on Tuesday nights in the Market District with my
• 36:34
  Speaker 5: two young sons. That was well before I was on
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: the airways here at SNR. And at the same time,
• 36:39
  Speaker 5: you know.
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: You felt like you knew him for life.
• 36:42
  Speaker 5: Every time you got in front of Wolf, even though
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: I didn't know him hardly at that time, he talked
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: to my kids, he talked to me, he talked to
• 36:48
  Speaker 5: my wife.
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: And, you know, we formed a friendship after that.
• 36:51
  Speaker 5: It was, you know, only for a few years, unfortunately,
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: before he passed away, but it was great to get
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: to know Wolf during that time.
• 36:56
  Speaker 6: A gentle and mellow soul, but as you heard there,
• 36:59
  Speaker 6: somebody who got very, very excited about football. And wang-dang-doodle,
• 37:04
  Speaker 6: you know, you can't just, not just anybody can bust
• 37:07
  Speaker 6: that phrase out.
• 37:08
  Speaker 5: Some good ones indeed. And again, had him on my
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: podcast a few times. And here are some of our
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: favorite clips from that. Last week when I was texting
• 37:16
  Speaker 5: with you to see if you'd be able to do
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: our show and you were gracious enough to do that,
• 37:20
  Speaker 5: you said, hey, got to go now. I have to
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: go see Tunch's mom. Got to check in. Got to
• 37:25
  Speaker 5: take care of family. And man, you almost got me
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: to tears. Talk about your relationship with Tunch. how special
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: it was and how special it still is even today.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: You know, the funny part is that we were drafted
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: together in 1980.
• 37:37
  Speaker 7: And as I always reminded him, I was the fifth
• 37:40
  Speaker 7: rounder and he was just merely the sixth rounder.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: So we came to, we came to training camp together.
• 37:46
  Speaker 7: And you know, I just, I was always just drawn
• 37:49
  Speaker 7: to this guy. The guy was just a fabulous dude,
• 37:52
  Speaker 7: you know, and you, you bonded, we bonded for over
• 37:55
  Speaker 7: 40 years as friends, you know, and, walking together, raising families, going,
• 38:00
  Speaker 7: getting married, raising families and, you know, suffering the ups
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: and downs of life together, you know, and we really
• 38:07
  Speaker 7: shared in all those things. We had a lot of fun,
• 38:10
  Speaker 7: tremendous fun over the years. He had a real, he
• 38:12
  Speaker 7: loved Jesus. He had a great heart for the homeless.
• 38:15
  Speaker 7: Got me involved in Light of Life, you know, down
• 38:18
  Speaker 7: on Northside. And I can't say enough good things about
• 38:22
  Speaker 7: my brother, Tunch. My mom, as my mom always says,
• 38:25
  Speaker 7: she thinks she's got four boys instead of just three.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: I can't give.
• 38:28
  Speaker 7: Anything to be down on the sidelines and him be
• 38:30
  Speaker 7: in the chair again, you know. It was so funny
• 38:33
  Speaker 7: because he used to refer to me as a sideline noncombatant.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: I mean, we had so much fun.
• 38:40
  Speaker 7: And that fun just existed over the years, you know,
• 38:43
  Speaker 7: whether it was with Myron, you know, and, you know,
• 38:46
  Speaker 7: there was just so many good things. I remember before
• 38:48
  Speaker 7: the Super Bowl 40, and we decided, you know what,
• 38:52
  Speaker 7: let's call Myron because, you know, he had just retired
• 38:56
  Speaker 7: the year before. And so we called him from the
• 38:58
  Speaker 7: booth like 90 minutes before kickoff. He talks to Billy Hillgrove,
• 39:01
  Speaker 7: then he talks to Tunch, you know.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: I get that on the phone. I go, hey, Myron.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: He goes, ah, Wolfman. Don't screw anything. Oh, what's the point?
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: You will anyhow. Thank you for that vote of confidence, Byron.
• 39:15
  Speaker 7: Biggest game of my life, broadcasting-wise, and I get that
• 39:18
  Speaker 7: vote of confidence. I can remember my rookie year of
• 39:21
  Speaker 7: my first game at Three Rivers, and it was a
• 39:24
  Speaker 7: preseason game.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Now, it's 1980.
• 39:26
  Speaker 7: We come out of the locker room and make a right,
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: walk about 20 yards, and then make a left. And
• 39:30
  Speaker 7: you go right before you step out onto the turf.
• 39:32
  Speaker 7: I'm standing there and I can feel the whole stadium.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Vibrating, man. And I am just like so amped up
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: and jacked up, man. It's just like, great. And I'm there.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden you start to have those
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: moments like, am I ready for this? This is, well,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know.
• 39:49
  Speaker 7: And I look around and I see John Coleman, I
• 39:50
  Speaker 7: see Mike Webster, I see Terry Bradshaw, Joe Green, Jack Lambert,
• 39:54
  Speaker 7: Donnie Schell, Mel Blunt, Jack, yeah, I mean, all these
• 39:58
  Speaker 7: guys and Franco and Lynn Swan and all of a
• 40:01
  Speaker 7: sudden you go, I'm not going out there by myself.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: I'm okay. I'm surrounded by a lot of greatness, man.
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: Some great moments with Wolf over the years from, again,
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: having him on my personal podcasts. And again, you talked
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: to You heard him there, Brian, talk about his playing
• 40:17
  Speaker 5: days as well as some other times throughout his Pittsburgh
• 40:20
  Speaker 5: Steelers career. Good friendship with Tunch Yolkin. We heard him
• 40:22
  Speaker 5: talk about Tunch there as well. Those guys were tight
• 40:25
  Speaker 5: and they're definitely missed. But as you said, you got
• 40:26
  Speaker 5: to keep it light because Wolf would have kept it
• 40:28
  Speaker 5: light going into this weekend. That's for sure.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, such a bummer.
• 40:32
  Speaker 6: You can't have him on the show again or we
• 40:35
  Speaker 6: can't have him on our show. And same goes for Tunch.
• 40:38
  Speaker 6: But it'd be great to have one more handshake with
• 40:41
  Speaker 6: those guys with their big, massive hands or one more breakfast, lunch,
• 40:47
  Speaker 6: whether it was at training camp or out at a
• 40:50
  Speaker 6: game somewhere. So, yeah, it's a bummer. But at the
• 40:54
  Speaker 6: same time, the old cliche, don't cry because it's over,
• 40:59
  Speaker 6: smile because it happened. And I think that's a good
• 41:00
  Speaker 6: way to feel about those guys.
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 41:03
  Speaker 5: And, again, those ceremonies taking place here tonight, Friday, and
• 41:07
  Speaker 5: also at halftime this upcoming week. And congratulations to JT Thomas,
• 41:12
  Speaker 5: Kevin Colbert, and, of course, the family.
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: Of Craig Wolfley. Brian, before we wrap.
• 41:16
  Speaker 5: Up the show for today and this week, let's once
• 41:18
  Speaker 5: more talk about Steelers-Bengals this upcoming Sunday. 2-0 Cincinnati, 1-1
• 41:25
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh Steelers. Before the season started, I go into the
• 41:28
  Speaker 5: archives here and I pull up our schedule maker and
• 41:31
  Speaker 5: at this point we were two for two we both
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: picked the Steelers ahead of this season to beat Atlanta
• 41:36
  Speaker 5: we both picked them to lose in New England but
• 41:38
  Speaker 5: this game was our first game of the season that
• 41:40
  Speaker 5: we went in two different directions before the season started
• 41:43
  Speaker 5: I had them winning this Sunday against the Bengals to
• 41:46
  Speaker 5: get to two and one you had them losing to
• 41:48
  Speaker 5: go to one and two on the season but again
• 41:51
  Speaker 5: as we say each and every week here on the
• 41:53
  Speaker 5: show we can alter those picks we Those are cemented.
• 41:56
  Speaker 5: We'll revisit those at the end of the season from
• 41:58
  Speaker 5: a record standpoint. But obviously, week to week here on
• 42:01
  Speaker 5: the show, we can make a new prediction.
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: If we want.
• 42:06
  Speaker 6: I'm going to stick with it, unfortunately. I mean, I
• 42:08
  Speaker 6: just think there are a lot of ways that the
• 42:12
  Speaker 6: Steelers can attack the Bengals and have success. So I
• 42:15
  Speaker 6: wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this is a
• 42:17
  Speaker 6: close game or even if the Steelers hold serve and
• 42:20
  Speaker 6: win this at home. But I think the Bengals are
• 42:21
  Speaker 6: a good team. I had them winning the division coming
• 42:24
  Speaker 6: into this season. I think they've got a talented roster
• 42:26
  Speaker 6: that they've added talent to in key areas of need.
• 42:30
  Speaker 6: They've got the same head coach, so that continuity is
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: there on both sides of the ball. The rookies have
• 42:35
  Speaker 6: contributed already for them to some extent, and they might
• 42:39
  Speaker 6: just be a little bit further along at this point
• 42:41
  Speaker 6: in the season. I think the Steelers could get their
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: get back later in the year in Cincinnati if they
• 42:46
  Speaker 6: lose this one. The biggest hang-up for me, honestly, Ed,
• 42:49
  Speaker 6: is even though I take my chances and I give
• 42:54
  Speaker 6: the edge to Pat Friermuth and Darnell Washington against these
• 42:57
  Speaker 6: linebackers or even DK Metcalf and the Steelers receiving core
• 43:01
  Speaker 6: against some of these DBs. I think there could be
• 43:04
  Speaker 6: some moving parts on the Steelers offensive line. I don't
• 43:08
  Speaker 6: know really what to expect now from that unit and
• 43:10
  Speaker 6: that group after what we saw in New England. So
• 43:13
  Speaker 6: I think it's a close game, but I'm going to
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: go with the Bengals. I'm going to end the show
• 43:18
  Speaker 6: though on a higher note by thanking everyone for listening
• 43:21
  Speaker 6: this week. And thanks to our guests, you know, Jim Wexel,
• 43:24
  Speaker 6: Chris Carter, Ben Baby from ESPN. These guys are very busy.
• 43:29
  Speaker 6: They've got a lot going on, so I appreciate all
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: three of them taking some time out of their day
• 43:33
  Speaker 6: to talk some ball with us this week, and hopefully
• 43:35
  Speaker 6: people enjoyed it.
• 43:36
  Speaker 5: Absolutely, Double B, and we'll continue to do that each
• 43:38
  Speaker 5: and every week here on the Steelers Report, including next week.
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: We have a short week, so we'll do our best
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: to try to get some Browns guests in here. We
• 43:44
  Speaker 5: might have to start working on that here this weekend
• 43:46
  Speaker 5: between the two of us, but we'll make it happen.
• 43:48
  Speaker 5: I'm going to stick with my win against the Bengals.
• 43:50
  Speaker 5: I was going loss all week long until last night,
• 43:53
  Speaker 5: like we talked about earlier on the show, that Thursday
• 43:55
  Speaker 5: night game, the Falcons going into Green Bay and winning
• 43:59
  Speaker 5: that game convincingly last night. well but made me turn
• 44:02
  Speaker 5: my head a bit and think to myself well this
• 44:03
  Speaker 5: is the nfl there is any given sunday and i
• 44:06
  Speaker 5: think the steelers in a close game and i mean
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: close i'm talking like maybe 21 20 we don't predict
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: scores here on the show but i'm i'm saying like
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: a one point game maybe boss hits a game winner
• 44:16
  Speaker 5: right at the end i think it's going to come
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: down to the wire as a lot of these afc
• 44:20
  Speaker 5: north matchups do i'm going to stick with the.
• 44:22
  Speaker 6: Steelers and yeah you're right i mean all these results
• 44:26
  Speaker 6: so far through two weeks i I almost don't even
• 44:29
  Speaker 6: want to make predictions or pick games anymore, but we
• 44:32
  Speaker 6: know people love that and tune in for that. So
• 44:35
  Speaker 6: if I have to, I'll pick a close shave. Bengals
• 44:39
  Speaker 6: win because this is a Steelers team that has a
• 44:41
  Speaker 6: lot of new, and I think we always knew there
• 44:43
  Speaker 6: might be some hiccups or growing pains at the start,
• 44:46
  Speaker 6: and that it would be a team that gets better
• 44:48
  Speaker 6: and better and improves as the season goes along.
• 44:51
  Speaker 5: We shall see this upcoming Sunday, Bengals-Steelers. We will recap
• 44:55
  Speaker 5: it on Monday's show. Ahmed Shroop alongside Brian Bacco. Thanks
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: for listening to the Steelers Report. Up next, it's our
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: good friends Wes Shuler and Matt Williamson on SNR's The
• 45:06
  Speaker 5: Drive here on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers
• 45:09
  Speaker 5: Audio Network.