First of all, what have you been up to since your time playing ball? ive
When I retired in 2007 I got into fire service. I entered into the EMS and fire academy right after I retired -that was my plan – I was planning to do that the entire time. My dad was a firefighter – it was something I always wanted to pursue after football.
The great thing about football was the locker room mentality, and you have that in the firehouse too. You miss that as a player. The games and plays you make you get over, but you miss that comradery and ability to be with like-minded people. I’ve been fortunate to get into a second field that has that.
I’ve been doing this now for 15 years and am a captain now. Now I get to see my boys play football and they want to do the same thing when they’re done playing football. They have that same mentality. I talked about that with them and it was something they wanted on their own.
Were you surprised when Pittsburgh drafted you?
I always believed there was an opportunity to get drafted. I didn’t know how pro ball operated – I just knew I loved to play and gave maximum effort. I was excited to be drafted by the Steelers. The way they played – they played the way I thought the game should be played. Hard-nosed, slap you in the mouth style of play. That’s how I played.
It was a different time then. We didn’t have cell phones or social media. They called on the landline. I went to a small school in Southeast Missouri – there were few and far between times when teams came and showed interest.
Did any players take you under their wings and show you the ropes when you got there?
They all had paid their dues – I was expected to be no different. The vets helped sometimes but you needed to pay your dues. Joel Steed was outstanding to talk to – Oliver Gibson too. They were helpful. Oliver was confident in his ability – he wasn’t afraid to talk to rookies even if we played the same position. Nolan Harrison – I looked up to him. He was humble. I came in in the same class as Jeremy Staat – he was a higher pick and we stuck together.
Was there anything they helped you with most?
Many players on other teams over my career kept to themselves as a way to prolong their careers – they didn’t want to give away the tools that could cost them to lose their jobs. There was less of that in Pittsburgh. I watched the way Nolan carried himself and how he worked in practice and how Oliver Gibson was always accountable. Joel Steed was quiet but he talked to me a lot in the locker room. It was a fun, goofy group. They cracked jokes all day but were serious in games and gave us feedback when they saw us do something wrong. I was a bright-eyed rookie from a 1-A program. It was a big jump for me.
Any fun moments or poignant ones that stand out?
Jerome Bettis was a jokester. He used to talk like Scarface when Pete Gonzalez – Pistol Pete – was around. Pete was Hispanic like me and Bettis latched on to that and talked like Scarface whenever he was around. It was the same joke every time but everyone cracked up when he did it – I thought it was more funny that people laughed at the same joke every time!
What’s crazy is, fast-forward years later, and our sons are playing together at Notre Dame. It’s awesome how things have come full circle!
What happened that led to your trade?
I was new to the business of the game. I thought that if you gave your best and fell in line with the pecking order you were ok. I never thought about not being there. I had just gotten a place with Faneca and Staat during mini-camp. Then the team called me into the office and told me they had traded me to San Francisco. They told me they thought it was a good move for me – that San Francisco wanted me and they wanted to send me to a good opportunity rather than hold me on the roster where I wouldn’t get to play.
It was a different experience. But I grew up in California so if it had to happen that was a good place to go. I felt like Pittsburgh looked out for me.
What was it like rooming with Staat and Faneca?
Staat had ADHD and would talk and go on and Faneca would just be quiet the whole time and then say something at the end. One funny moment – the three of us were going somewhere in Faneca’s truck – I was in the back. I was singing to Jane Says – the Jane’s Addiction song – but I’m singing “Changes!” instead of “Jane Says”- I didn’t know the words. Alan turned the volume down and started laughing and told me I was singing the wrong lyrics.
You ended up playing for a number of teams over your career – how hard was that to bounce around like that?
It didn’t feel normal. In school you stayed until you graduated and I thought of the NFL the same way – you stayed through your contract and when that ended you go on to the next contract. It would have been awesome if I could have stayed in one place but that’s how the game went.
Congrats again on your son getting drafted by the Steelers. Did you have any feeling that could happen? Was it something you thought about?
Thank you! I thought about the possibility. I knew what Pittsburgh looked for and liked in linemen – but I didn’t share that with Gabe. He would ask for feedback when teams talked to him and I would help him decipher it. I had an idea Pittsburgh was on him. We spoke to his agent and he said it kept coming back to Pittsburgh. I thought “Wouldn’t it be something if 28 years later my son got drafted by them.” But that’s as far as I allowed that idea to go. I figured though it’d be around round seven – not earlier. I told him that it didn’t matter who talked to him though – that anything can happen in the draft. Any team can jump in that wants a stout, hard-working run-stopper.
Tell us about what to expect from Gabe – who is he as a person and player?
He’s a genuine individual. He is who he says he is – he’s loyal to a fault. Yes is yes with him and no is no. He’s a good soul until he gets on the field then he flips a switch – then he’s a madman.
I taught my kids at a young age to hustle – don’t stand around the pile – be in the pile. He hustles non-stop. He’s tall – 6’5″ – so he has to work on his leverage – to stay low, and to keep his hands inside. He chose his facemask because it’s a throwback facemask – that’s his mentality. He believes he will win every play.
He shows so much promise on tape – what happened that caused his reduced playing time in Notre Dame?
He was always on the cusp of breaking out. He was behind Riley Mills who’s with Seattle now and Howard Cross who’s with the Bengals. He could play all spots and techniques on the line except the end – all across the board. He was a great role player who was just waiting for his time. When Cross went down he stepped up. The same with Mills. He was stout against the run – he has a lot of power – when he can fully extend and disengage, he gets you on the ground.
But he battled through a lot of injuries. I felt his last year would be an announcement of his body of work. It started off well but then week six his own linebacker hit him on a play and blew out his elbow. He had surgery and two weeks before the playoffs he was ready to come back, but the team told him to wait and heal fully – they wanted him for the playoffs. He followed the gameplan, but then Notre Dame didn’t make the playoffs. He was livid. He put in the work but couldn’t play and now he didn’t have that body of work to show teams.
What did the Steelers say to him about what they saw in him – why they drafted him when so many didn’t really know a lot about him?
I’ll say this – Pittsburgh was Pittsburgh throughout the process. What I mean by that is, they did their homework. They went to his games, bowl games, Hula Bowl, his pro day and talked to his agent throughout the process. They felt that he was a Steelers type of player – that his play translated to the NFL. I’ve been through that process – I told him he needed to be prepared. That plans change during a draft – a guy they thought wouldn’t be there could fall to them. Just control what you can control and be positive in the interviews.
Lastly, as a former defensive lineman – do you like the way the game has changed and where it’s headed?
If you asked me four years ago I would have said “No”. But it’s cyclical. Now downhill running and ISO football where the fullback leads and they run up the middle is back. The game I played had gone away for a while with RPOs. But it’s all coming back again. When as a lineman you can play between the gaps instead of having to run sideline to sideline, that’s so much better. I’m excited now and enjoy the progress of the game and am excited for Gabe!