First, can you let me know what you’re been up to since your playing days – and how difficult was the post-NFL adjustment for you?
I’m here in Houston working for Coca Cola as their Sales Manager. Learning what to do next after football was difficult at first. I knew the life skills and strengths that I had from playing football would help me afterwards, but I had to put it all together. I didn’t have those business skills.
I built my resume. The toughest part was that when you’re in the NFL you don’t get much of an opportunity to get those business skills. There aren’t any job fairs. It’s great you were an NFL player but even though I knew I had some of those skills they looked for in interviews I didn’t have the experience behind them.
But the NFLPA helped me out. I went through their programs and they put me through some work coops and helped me with the skills and experience I needed.
Looking back – what brought you to Pittsburgh as a free agent?
Bryant did! I watched him win two Super Bowls and he spoke so much about the culture in Pittsburgh. I wanted to mimic him – I looked up to him. When you see guys like Troy and Ike and Ryan – it was like a family – not just a business.
It was the best run organization I ever saw. I went there as a young man but left as a grown man with a family.
What made them so different?
They understood things differently. When they talked about goals, they meant them and held everyone accountable to them. You had to put in the work and value that part of it.
When you value something, it’s a cold day in hell if they try and take it away from you. We were expected to give it our all and because of that we valued it more. No one was happy in Pittsburgh when we didn’t win.
I had to learn all of that. In other places players make money first and play the game second. It was the opposite of that in Pittsburgh.
Did anyone help you most there to understand that – and what were the most difficult things to overcome?
First, the cold weather was a shock from someone from South Florida!
The second was – there wasn’t a lot of joking around. They were serious – you couldn’t tarnish the Steelers name. There wasn’t a lot of laughing – just a lot of life lessons and talking.
Who showed you those life lessons?
Ryan Clark and I talked a lot. But really everyone was there for you. Everyone was your guy.
Ryan was just always there with life lessons. And Larry Foote – his locker was across from mine. It wasn’t something he tried to do – but he just showed you the love. Maybe because he was bald and my hair was receding – we had deep conversations about that! But he just made you feel comfortable talking to him. And we had the bald thing!
Any fun memories stand out most to you of your time there?
Going up against AB and Emmanuel Sanders and working with them to get better. They were never too big to show you stuff and work with you.
And in camp I roomed with Myron Rolle. We had a lot of conversations – I learned a lot about anatomy! I questioned him a lot on why my muscles weren’t getting bigger!
He and I had similar goals and talked a lot about what was next. We talked a lot about our careers after football.
What did he tell you?
He knew what he wanted to do after football. Everyone has a plan, but he showed me how to get help from the NFLPA to make it happen. It was easier for me because of that – just seeing him be a model for that success too.
Any funny memories?
Me and Myron once sneaked out of camp to see the Batman movie – the one where they blew up the stadium! We figured we couldn’t get in trouble sneaking out to see a movie – it wasn’t like we were going to a bar.
We walked a mile and then got a cab so we wouldn’t be seen. But we didn’t realize how long the movie was. It was scary sitting there – it was getting late and we were so nervous about getting caught!
What happened after that season?
It was a tough decision I had to make. I spoke with Pittsburgh about coming back – they had given me an offer. But I thought, maybe I would be able to play for two or three more years. But I’d most likely be on the practice squad. We made good money on the practice squad – $100,000 or so. But for just three years or so – that wasn’t enough to take care of my family. I thought I could make that somewhere else over time and have a long-term career.
And I lost my love for the politics and business side of the game. I didn’t want to end up playing in Canada or something like that. I just had a son and I wanted the stability of a different opportunity. I could have gone back to Pittsburgh – I contemplated it – but I went with another opportunity instead that gave me a more long-term future.
I got called twice after that by Pittsburgh too. But I couldn’t leave the company – I didn’t know how to do that. I explored the idea of taking leave but I just didn’t want to lose the opportunity I had.
Once they called midseason and I had just closed a deal with Fanta Orange. I couldn’t leave that bonus! I would have been signed to the active squad that time too. But I looked at what I had now and decided to stay.
Mike Tomlin understood of course.
What was different about the other places you played and Pittsburgh, from your perspective?
With the Raiders if we lost we partied and if we won we celebrated. There were a lot of young players there then.
Cincinnati – it was like Pittsburgh in some ways but it was a lot of an “I do me” mentality. The coaches were trying to bring it all together but there were a lot of cliques and guys could be standoffish. It was all about the one, where in Pittsburgh everyone was together. It didn’t matter who you were or were talking to.
Did you get any fun grief about coming to Pittsburgh from a rival team in Cincinnati?
I think Bryant made some calls I didn’t know about! I think he saved me!
In Pittsburgh there were pranks – they’d pour cold water on guys and put rookies’ clothes in their car and had the cars towed. Things like that.
In Pittsburgh the pranks were funny. The Raiders – their pranks were things guys got in fights about. They were funny but they pissed people off. In Pittsburgh they thought about it more. “Would this guy get angry?” “Hey, we warned that guy 10 times to watch his car!” They were good pranks that made people laugh more than get upset. The Raiders – those pranks caused some fights. Practices could be uncomfortable!
Lastly, do you like the way the game has changed since you played?
I love it now more. They throw the ball more and defensive backs and wide receivers are more important now. You could see the game transitioning when I was there. Now defensive backs are so much more talented. Before it was a lot of bump and run and speed. Now it’s more about technique and precision. I learned a lot when I played from Al Harris and Ty Carter. Now it’s different. Routes were like route trees then. Now they are like cursive writing of someone’s name! They are so precise!
The game is so much faster and precise now. But still, I think it all comes back to studying plays and players.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
