First, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?
You know, to be honest, I took one year off after football. I sat back and relaxed for a year then started my own company – an AC company that was successful for 11 years. Then I got out of the business. I noticed I was losing my train of thought – I couldn’t remember things. Everything started changing.
What was behind that?
I started listening to the conversations people were having about concussions. It all started to make sense. I got a counselor and worked through things. I had some dark moments. I won’t say what some of the things other players did was stupid with what they were going through. I’ll just say I didn’t want to go that same route some of those others had that struggled. I gave up my business – I just couldn’t manage it anymore.
How did you get through it?
The biggest thing was my kids and fellow players that I spoke with. I talked to guys going through the same things – sometimes I ended up helping them because I knew what they were going through. We leaned on each other – it’s been a brotherhood. We can all relate to one another. A lot of people put players on a pedestal – like Superman – like nothing can hurt us. But we’re vulnerable. Some guys think they aren’t but I know they’re hurting.
So, my brothers helped carry me – they and my kids kept me alive. The weirdest thing is the guys I’ve bonded with most are former Steelers like Dwight Stone, Eric Green and Kenny Davidson.
I know you also do a lot of giving back now too?
My high school coach did so much for me – he was the reason I got to become an NFL player. I spoke to him – I wanted to do some things for him, but he told me to do for other kids what he did for me.
So, I started working with the Pop Warner League here for inner-city kids. I’ve been doing that for over 25 years now. I found that working with underprivileged kids – it’s tough to get money and people to help them out. To this day I’ve never gotten a big donation – it’s all been self-funded. I help about 150-to-200 kids every year and if I can really help even just one or two to keep them in school and not be a menace to society, that’s worth it.
Joe Greene was said to have been one of the big advocates for having the Steelers take you round one. Were you surprised by them taking you? And did Joe talk to you about what attracted him to you?
I was very surprised. I met with Marty Schottenheimer a few times and I thought Cleveland would draft me. Coach Greene told me he really liked me but wasn’t sure they’d take me. I’m not sure if they took me round one because they knew Cleveland wanted to take me!
The problem was I wasn’t built for the Steelers mold. I was 265 pounds and a good athlete. I think they wanted to put me in there as a Charles Haley type of guy but the move to outside linebacker was not something my heart was in. I wanted to be a defensive lineman. I never played linebacker and didn’t want to drop into coverage. It was too much for me – I had the athleticism I just didn’t enjoy it – it was too much of a learning curve.
Greg Lloyd didn’t like dropping into coverage either – if you notice they stopped doing that a lot with him. Now if they modified it like they did for him maybe it would have worked for me. But my heart wasn’t in it – I wasn’t able to do it as well as I could have.
Especially having had played just one year of football in high school did you consider yourself still a “raw” player? Did that play into it?
I felt very raw, yeah. I played in a 1AA school in college too. I had a great coach but I didn’t have the advantages of a division one coach or program. I’m not sure if I would have developed faster if I did. I will say though that God had me right where I was supposed to be in the end.
I was also a goofy kid in high school. The only reason I played football at all was because my head coach made me. I played basketball and thought I’d be the next Julius Erving. But I was only 6’5″. When I started playing football though I found out how competitive the sport was – and how competitive I was too. It was then that I fell in love with it.
You were one of only three players since 1988 drafted round one that wasn’t invited to the combine. Was that due to going to a smaller school like Eastern Kentucky?
I didn’t know anything about it at first. I found out later teams were trying to hide me – according to my agent. I went later in to what they called the injury combine – where you go so teams could just check you out for health reasons. But word got out on me I guess. Over 20 teams ended up coming for my pro day. The Raiders even came back and had me do a private workout. I ran a 4.65 40 and had an 11.5 broad jump – I thought they might take me too.
The thing is – I wanted to come to the team blazing that rookie year. I worked out before camp and about three weeks before camp hurt my back doing squats. I didn’t tell the team but I couldn’t work out for a while after that so I ended up coming into camp out of shape too. I already had a bullseye on my chest as a first round pick, so that didn’t help.
Who helped mentor you when you got there -and how so? On and off the field?
The number one guy was Keith Gary – Keith Willis helped too. The craziest thing was that Tunch Ilkin was the guy that maybe helped me the most. As an offensive linemen he showed me what linemen were trying to do to beat me. He was such a great technician.
And Keith – he taught me that teams don’t care what you do once your production goes down. You need production. He spoke this mind and could be just brutally honest. But that gave me the harsh reality of the NFL. If you can’t get it done they’ll bring someone in to replace you. “Look at me,” he said. He was injured and that’s what was happening then to him.
You moved around a bit once you got there – moved from tackle to end to linebacker…how hard were those transitions and how did you go about them?
Hardy Nickerson, Greg Lloyd .. Greg was injured that year too. David Little and Gregg Carr too. They were all very helpful to me. They explained things. It was just overwhelming. I never played linebacker before. I could run with guys – I was athletic. I just had no knowledge or experience at the position and felt uncomfortable with it.
If I had more comfort with it – more of a desire to learn it – I would have succeeded at it.
You were there when the team transitioned from Noll to Cowher. How did you see Cowher implement that transition plan and was it a surprise? Was he accepted?
The toughest part was that we didn’t really have a lot of stability in the coaching staff then – they were transitioning out from Noll to another head coach.
When they brought Cowher in he was a fiery kind of guy – a young guy. The problem I had was that he was a very in-your-face coach and talked to me like I was a kid – but he wasn’t much older than me. I was used to older coaches like my high school coach and Coach Noll. And those weren’t in-your-face coaches.
I did see him bring a lot of passion to the team though. I knew that if he could get things going he’d be a very successful coach.
How did that transition affect you directly?
We had a few one-on-one talks and I just never felt comfortable there. There was never any assurance of going to a 4-3 front and I wanted to be a defensive lineman not a linebacker. Honestly I never understood why they drafted me in that defense.
I know the defense concept of a 3-4 is top-notch. It just didn’t fit me. That’s why I thought I’d end up going to the Browns or, later I learned, why the Vikings had a lot of interest in me.
What are some of the best memories you have of your time there?
I’ll tell you – training camp was a two-edged sword. They work they hell out of you, but being there with those fans was terrific. One lady and her daughter were there every year and knitted me something every year. I still have a doll with “97” on it from her.
The fans brought such joy. I never experienced that elsewhere, the way the Steelers set up camp and had that fan experience. It was different in Pittsburgh. I would stay late despite being tired and hungry – I loved staying there and signing autographs no matter how late it went.
I had one person on Facebook send me pictures of me and them – pictures from years ago. You’re treated like a movie star in camp. Latrobe was like my heartbeat for me.
One good story was the first game going against Bruce Matthews. Willis and the guys told me before the game I needed to use my best technique to beat him – that he was one of the strongest guys in the NFL. Well, I told myself I didn’t care about Bruce Matthews – I’d show them! Well, I ran into him and it was like running into a brick wall. I told myself then it was going to be a long day ahead!
I’ve gone up against Anthony Munoz who had great skills and technique. But the power Matthews had – he was the strongest offensive lineman I ever went against. It was just funny, going into that game thinking I was going to show them what I could do against Matthews!
Any others?
I remember playing the Giants and Phil Simms. I tackled Simms and as I was getting off of him said “Hey Aaron, how are you, follow OVC guy!” OVC was the Ohio Valley Conference – we both played in the OVC – there weren’t many of us in the NFL. I was just laughing because he clearly researched me, and in this big game he’s chatting me up, trying to get me to like him so I don’t hit him!
Leaving in free agency in ’93 – how hard was that for you and what were the Steelers telling you during that process?
Parcells told me he wanted to draft me before the draft – he just told they weren’t going to do it round one. They needed an offensive lineman first. But if I fell they’d take me.
So when free agency came about I traveled to New England and other teams. Minnesota had me come in and they didn’t want to let me leave without signing a contract. My agent wouldn’t let me though – he promised Parcells I’d come in for a visit.
When I got to New England they drove me to the practice field and I thought “You had to drive to the practice field?” I didn’t like that. They told me they were going through a transition and things would improve. I didn’t really like the idea of going to a team in transition.
But free agency is the craziest thing. Teams put me up in the Ritz Carlton and took me out – but it wasn’t about the glitz and glamour. I met with Parcells and he gave me the confidence in him I needed. He was brutally honest but I liked that. He rejuvenated my career. I was frustrated for a long time. Every time I was getting going injuries took a toll on me. Guys in the Steelers locker room told me I was injury prone and I started believing them.
I ended up lasting nine years. The Steelers offered me a contract to stay. In fact they tried to sign me the year before. The free agency contract was comparable to New England’s, but I thought I’d be a better fit in New England’s defense. They told me they were going to a 4-3. Of course, that didn’t end up happening! But I still enjoyed playing for Parcells.
The crazy thing is over those nine years I never ended up playing in a 4-3!
Any thoughts now looking back on it all?
I loved playing for Tony Dungy, Chuck Noll and Joe Greene. Joe and my heart – we touched. We connected – his passion for the game and the support he gave me was special. He is a great guy. Even today, the Steelers are still my number one team!
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