First off, what have you been up to since your playing days?
I was fortunate to be able to use the programs afforded to us by the NFL to go back to school and get my MBA. Afterwards I worked for a non-profit doing consulting in the healthcare industry. I helped hospitals with their buying habits and surgeons with new techniques. I did that for 10-to-12 years.
On the side I also would sell homes and create passive income that way. Buying homes and creating value – you can make positive financial gains. I did that for eight years. I did that in San Antonio and sold homes for the highest price per square foot.
That work interested me because it allowed me to spend more time with my wife and four daughters. I married an orthopedic surgeon – so you can say I had the inside track on healthcare! Only six percent of orthopedic surgeons are women – it was easy to talk about ailments. There was no off switch.
We try to encourage our daughters now to be leaders like their mother – to take their own paths not traditionally taken by women.
Are you still doing that now?
There is a correlation between coaching and managing. Coaching was volatile – I got into managing teams and sales folks. I found myself in a unique non-compete for a couple of years – that enabled me to get into commercial real estate full-time. We develop office spaces and multi-home units – tax credit stuff to help provide affordable housing to better communities.
How did you end up in Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent?
That was Mike Tomlin’s rookie class. When I got the call from Pittsburgh originally, it was around the fifth round. I was the best division II receiver then – it came down to them drafting me or a kid from a larger program – Dallas Baker. Dallas had the pedigree – I was a wild card.
The asked me what I thought about being a Pittsburgh Steeler and I answered honestly. I told them that it would be an honor and privilege to work for the program and I hope they picked me. I think more polished kids from bigger schools would have laid it on thicker – they would have been more prepared.
I remember media days in Pittsburgh – I’d see the guys from bigger schools – they were just more prepared versus my honest banter.
I went to Grand Valley State because that’s where my brother went and I wanted to be just like him. They had a winning tradition there but it was often filled with division I and JUCO transfers still trying to figure things out socially or maturity wise.
Did guys take you under their wing at all and help?
I was lucky – I came from a small town and went to a small school but I was good socially. My locker was next to Hines Ward’s. He joked to me one day about his own experience making the team. He said that he wasn’t getting any opportunities or playing time. In the last preseason game though he had an amazing play on a kickoff- he blew someone up. He said that helped him make the team. That he did nothing in camp but he had that one opportunity and made it stick.
That stuck with me – I remembered that. I was the only player Bruce Arians let take home the playbook – he wanted me to succeed. I just couldn’t stop making the mental mistakes that cost me a spot.
What were those – what happened?
You’d practice then go watch film for five-to-10 minutes to review what you did, then go back and work to eliminate any mistakes they pointed out. I was successful in college but we didn’t use a huddle. I got there in Pittsburgh and we were in huddles using 16-word cadences to know where to go. It was so different than what I knew. When we were in the no-huddle it was easy for me. I could play football as well as anyone. But those small things – the mental part of the game – that was the difference between being great or average.
In fact a guy I played with in Detroit told me the next season that Tomlin was telling stories about me to the next rookie class. He said that I was an example of a guy with promise who worked himself off the 53-man roster and off the practice squad. It comes down to trust and the mental errors kept drowning my play.
There was an article about me in the papers that said I was a dark horse to make the team – I was making one-handed catches in practice. But I learned from that experience and made sure I didn’t repeat those mistakes in St. Louis. Those are just some of those things that happen when you come from a smaller school. We did have Brian Kelly there as a coach though – so we had great coaching.
Are there good memories that stand out over your time there?
I have a special place in my heart for Pittsburgh. It was the safest city to walk around – we lived in the Allegheny Center and could walk to the parks. When I go back I try to go back to those same places.
I remember how surprised I was in the manner in which those guys played cards and socialized. The winners and losers got to pick rookies to go get after practice snacks. Those would vary in price depending on who won!
The veterans were great there. I knew it was a program that would win a Super Bowl. It had that same atmosphere we had in college. We were a close team in college and won championships four of the five years I was there. I knew what it was like to be on a well-prepared team.
What else do you remember about the locker rooms or on-field play?
Before mobility training was really a thing in the NFL we did that in Pittsburgh under John Norwig. I knew it would pay off. That as the best program – then I went to the worst in St. Louis! You could tell they needed work. Sure enough Pittsburgh won a Super Bowl that year too. Then after that I went to Detroit who went 0-16.
My story was about almosts. I almost made it in Pittsburgh and almost won a Super Bowl! But it all showed me what it was like to do things right.
I still owe a special thanks to Mike Tomlin and Bruce Arians – it was still a great experience being there.