First, let me know what you are doing with yourself now?
I live in Greensburg now – I grew up in Latrobe and we had season tickets to the Steelers growing up. I’ve been going to games since I was eight years old- my dad has gone to seven of the last eight Steelers Super Bowls and I’ve been to the last three.
I worked in Steelers camp for three years while living in Latrobe – now I work as a sales rep for Pepsi.
How did you get the job in camp?
I had a friend in high school who worked there. I told him I was looking for a Summer job and he told me to fill out the paperwork and apply. Jack Kearney is the one that heads security for the team and he hired me. A real good guy.
I worked there for three years – two years – the first and third – in the parking lot under the pavilion and my second year near the hot tub next to the locker room. I’d see and talk to guys as they came in.
Any fun stories of your work there?
One that comes to mind is, my girlfriend at the time – now wife – she had a big crush on Shaun Suisham. He had a camper he parked in the lot and would hang out with Greg Warren and other guys under the pavilion where I worked.
I told him one day that my girlfriend had the biggest crush on him and asked him if I could call her and have him talk to her. Well he said yes so I called her and told her someone wanted to talk to her. My wife’s name is Kelsay – I called her Kelso for short. Shaun picked up the phone and said “Hey Kelso – this is Shaun Suisham!” She said “I’m talking to my crush!” He joked that he didn’t think his wife would feel it was appropriate to talk to women who were hitting on him!
Later on Shaun signed a Le’Veon Bell jersey I had – I couldn’t find a Suisham jersey unfortunately.
Any other stories?
Guys would come in under the pavilion and just hang out – they had a table and rolled dice and threw down hundreds of dollars like they were dollar bills! It was fun to see that comradery. Ike and those guys.
Heath Miller was a good guy too. He had two boys and his wife came up to see him and she was pregnant at the time. I asked if he was expecting another boy but they knew it was a girl this time, he said. I told him I wasn’t supposed to do this, but I let them have the pavilion to themselves for a bit to give them some peace and quiet. He ended up signing my hat too.
Any funny stories?
A couple. Keith Butler was the linebackers coach then and one day he locked his keys in his car. Me and another guard waited with him for a couple of hours while they got it opened. I just remember a lot of “Dag gums” in that Southern accent of his. And some guys gave him some fun grief as they walked by of course.
The last one is the year I worked near the hot tub and James Harrison jumped in the cold tub. He was freezing and called over to me – “Hey you. Can you grab me a towel?” He put it on after and told me “Hey – I appreciate you!” I’m not sure how many people he’s said that to!
I just loved my time there and meeting those guys. And Jack was great to work for.
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