Exclusive with Former Steelers Quarterback Kurt Kittner, 2004

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First off, what have you been up to since your time playing football?

Now I’m a senior manager at a publicly traded global real estate company. I’m a tenant rep and broker here in Chicago – working on commercial real estate on behalf of my clients. It keeps me on my toes.

Was the post-NFL transition diffcult?

It was difficult. I wanted my career to be longer – I didn’t want to give it up. I was cut from a lot of tams over my three years in the NFL – but I was also one of 96 guys at my position those years. Competing after that against a bunch of kids who just graduated college for jobs was humbling. I had to show that my experience as a quarterback was valuable – all those kids did was go to school. I got a finance degree from Illinois as well – I didn’t go to Illinois for my grades. I had to work hard to compete in the classroom and win games.

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Exclusive with Former Pitt/Steelers WR Tre Tipton

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First off, how did you get started as a coach now?

I got started because I fell in love with wanting to help kids become the best version of themselves. That’s why I started my organization L.O.V.E, or Living Out Victoriously Everyday – to help kids get better every day – by doing it the proper way.

What does that mean – the proper way?

We teach them how to watch film the right way. A lot of kids don’t know how to watch football – they are smart but aren’t taught how to watch film in high school. Some schools do it better than others – like Pine-Richland, Woodland Hills, Thomas Jefferson… but it doesn’t happen everywhere in the WPIAL. We used to be dogs in this state but not as much now. We have a lot of good guys coming through the state – we want to help them take that next step.

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Exclusive with Executive Chef for Pittsburgh Sports Stadiums, Gabor Kovats

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First off, what got you interesting in being a chef – even as a kid in Hungary?

My grandmother was a chef in Hungary – I grew up in a tough, Communist country and had to take care of my siblings. I was the oldest of three and cooked at home a lot for myself and siblings. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and cooked with her – she was a professional chef and I learned a lot from her.

I’ve been cooking since I was five – I never went to culinary school. I went to university for business.  I’ve always enjoyed cooking for others – I hosted events in high school and college and eventually dropped out of college to be a chef.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Thaddeus Gibson, 2010

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First off-  what have you been up to since football?

Well – I have a 10 year-old daughter – I love working with her. She’s really become great at tennis and when she’s with me I really have a goos time working with her and seeing her get better!

For me – after the NFL I went to the CFL for a bit then I found my niche. I’m working with kids – I started with after school programs, helping others utilize my knowledge while I realized that I have a great passion for working with people. I started that 10-12 years ago.

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Exclusive with Pittsburgh-Born Musician William Fitzsimmons

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First off, what are you up to now – what new projects should we be looking for?

I’ve been doing this for a minute now – I lost count of the number of records and songs I’ve done. I just finished my third covers album – I never thought I’d be doing those when I started. But I reached a point where I didn’t feel like I had much more to write about. When I started I wasn’t thinking about writing songs – the Beatles already existed. But when I do the covers I like being ironic and doing pop songs in my style. Continue reading “Exclusive with Pittsburgh-Born Musician William Fitzsimmons”

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Eric Taylor, 2004-2005

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First off, what are you up to now since your football days?

I run a gym here in my hometown and am a sports performance coach. I work with kids, adults and teams who want help.

I learned from a lot of my coaches about hard work and dedication to the craft. That was the biggest thing for me – I was a good player but I didn’t understand how important that side of things was when you got to the NFL. In college it was line up, beat your man and make a play. In the NFL you had to know what the linebacker, safety, other defensive linemen all were doing. I try to instill that in the kids I work with now – put the time in and go get it.

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Exclusive with Former NFL Agent Packers VP, Author and Analyst Andrew Brandt

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First, you have a lot going on – MySunday7, media analyst, the new book Smarter About Sports: My Life Navigating Athletes, Agents, Media, and the Business , NIL work, teaching….how are you juggling it all and what projects do you want everyone to be most aware of?

I’ve been teaching law full-time for the last 12 years – now my current project I want to work on is writing a sports law textbook.  A real textbook weaving in my case law experience  – that’s a concurrent project I have now.

That jives with the book – it covers the long, winding road through my career – the stops along the way and the lessons learned and gleaned – how to negotiate and operate through the sports business world.

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Exclusive with Former Pitt Soccer Coach, Pittsburgh Miner and Pittsburgh Spirit Player Joe Luxbacher

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First off, what are you up to now?

I’m retired but in name only! I’m involved in youth and high school soccer in Western, PA. I coached for 30 years at Pitt and retired 10 years ago. But when people know you are still around they call you! Now I can pick and choose what I want to do and enjoy working with the kids.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Keavon Milton, 2016-2017

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First off, what have you been up to since your playing days?

I’m currently in law enforcement – I’ve been here for six years now. After I was done playing with the Steelers I went to the CFL for a bit and played for the B.C. Lions, then I applied to the police academy.  I had my degree in criminal justice and knew that while I was still able-bodied, I wanted to do something that wasn’t sitting behind a desk.

As an offensive lineman I was used to blocking and protecting people – so I knew I wanted to do something either with the police or fire department. I wanted to use my size for a good calling. God blessed me with this size for a reason! I’ve been loving it since I applied in 2019.

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Exclusive with Pittsburgh/Penn State Quarterback Chuck Fusina

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First off, how did playing in Western PA influence you as a quarterback?

It had a big impact. I grew up in McKees Rocks. It was a working-class, tough town that loved Friday night football. I was an only child – my dad died young. My mother was wonderful – she let me do what I wanted and play the game I loved. I had a lot of support from the city and have great memories from growing up. I was lucky to have the chance to play in front of so many people and college coaches and to sign with Penn State.

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