First, what have you been doing since your time in the NFL?
I’ve been coaching players who are leaving college to play in the NFL. Pre-draft coaching for Stars SoCal. Jason David runs it – he was the corner for the Saints and later won a Super Bowl. I knew him from the lockout year when we all ran big seven-on-seven practices together to stay in football shape. We did special trainings to keep us sharp then during the lockout.
He approached me once I was done with football to coach the linebackers and defensive linemen for Stars. It gave me a chance to stay close to football without having to spend all of that time that college and NFL coaches have to spend. I played for 20 years straight. So it was good to stay close to the game and kick back some knowledge to the younger guys.
How is your health since your time in the NFL?
I’ve had brain trauma issues. I didn’t know what was going on at first. I was at my godparent’s house playing video games and got up off the floor and went to the bathroom. I got dizzy and blacked out and banged my head on the tile floor and lost my front teeth.
Since then I’ve seen specialists who told me I had brain trauma issues. So I go into neurological health then. The wear and tear of football – playing it for years of my life – from a child until my early 30’s – took it’s toll. Besides the brain trauma I have had three surgeries on both my back and knees, and surgery also on my neck and shoulder.
What have you done about the neurological issues?
I found out that the stigma of players having to suck it up and tough it out hurt guys. No one was talking about their issues. They wanted to try and handle it on their own and tough it out. I did that – played with a blown out shoulder and hurt back. Playing with pain is commonplace.
I didn’t want it to happen to other guys like me. So I got on social media every time I had any work done – exams, surgeries…anything. I didn’t care. I wanted the guys to know that there’s help out there for them. I hit the ground running and it snowballed in a great way. Guys from middle school were calling me telling me about their issues. Depression, PTSD, anxiety – many didn’t even know they had those issues. There’s just a lot that goes on.
Also, given the stuff with concussion cases, a lot of guys didn’t want to come off like they were bashing the league. No one wants to be like, “The NFL did this and that to me!” We all saw the movie Concussion and we knew we lacked the information we needed from the NFL. But I didn’t want to vilify the NFL. They made costly mistakes but now it was time to fix the problems.
Anything else you do to help?
I got a lawyer for the concussion case. It’s a good idea for any player to do that. Just to get everything worked out the right way. I work with Sam Katz – I wanted someone who would be committed to me and my needs. And we formed a group called the Retired Players Program to help players with these issues. We want to let guys know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I didn’t expect it to be this big. But I had enough of hearing the stories of players suffering and dying. It just felt right to help players by getting them to talk about their issues.
Let’s talk a bit about getting drafted by Pittsburgh – where it all started professionally for you. Were you surprised?
I wasn’t contacted at all by Pittsburgh before that. No pre-draft workout. I played defensive line at UCLA and was second all-time at UCLA in sacks. But I knew they wanted to convert me to outside linebacker because of my frame. The first time I saw Tomlin was at the Senior Bowl when they called us to do one-on-ones in practice – pass rushers versus linemen. I was jogging to the practice and saw him there with the other coaches and for some reason he just stood out. I went up against Sam Baker first, who I played in college, and he won some and I won some.
I was a lean guy and the West Coast guys had a reputation for being finesse guys. They questioned our toughness. So my agent told me to go and dominate. The next guy I faced I faced I hit in the chin and told him we could go all day. We went back and forth and I just remember Tomlin watching us.
That 2008 was the first draft year where the first three rounds weren’t all on day one. The third was now on day two. I thought I’d get drafted in the second round due to my production. But the first day went by and I wasn’t drafted. I was pissed. I waited my entire life for this and my dad was there with me. It was a letdown, to be honest.
The next day I had hung out all night with my buddies the night before. It was a fellas thing with guys I played with and friends. It was six am West Coast time and the phone rang. it was a Pittsburgh number and I thought, I didn’t know anyone from Pittsburgh, so I let it ring. The guys yelled “It’s draft day! Pick it up!” I did and a voice on the line said hold on, this is the Pittsburgh Steelers and we’re about to pick you – so hold on for Mike Tomlin. Then a booming voice came on and said “Hey Bruce it’s Mike Tomlin. We’re picking you up!” I was so excited I almost dropped the phone, joining a legendary organization like that. I was blown way.
A few days later I got on the plane to go to Pittsburgh and it was a cloudy, bad weather day. Rainy. It was the worst plane trip I ever had. The turbulence was causing the plane to drop a lot, then we hit a really rough patch and people were screaming. I thought, “Holy shit. I worked my whole life to make it to the NFL and I’m going to die in a plane crash!” A guy next to me grabbed me and I grabbed his arm too. As the plane was falling we braced ourselves and then the pilot told us the turbulence would stop and they were on their way to land. We bust out laughing. he and I shook hands afterwards and hugged. It was my first experience with someone from Pittsburgh. He told me he was glad to have me in Pittsburgh.
Once you got there did anyone help you out to adjust to the 3-4?
It was a veteran group of guys. Harrison, Foote, Woodley, LeBeau as the coach. It was hard – being a veteran team it was hard finding my way in. Clark and Timmons helped me. But I was a 4-3 lineman in college with my hand in the dirt. It was hard getting used to standing up. You pick things up though by watching those veterans. Guys like Keisel, Aaron Smith, Hampton were monsters. My pops told me to watch those guys and learn.
And Tomlin had a knack for coaching up young guys too. He had a great way of connecting with you. I learned so much football in that first year.
And you went to a Super Bowl that rookie season.
It was bonkers, that experience. I grew up wearing my dad’s two Super Bowl rings. He told me when I was drafted it was a great team and I had a chance to go to the Super Bowl.
I remember media day – it was surreal. The game, noise, flashing bulbs…it was the most surreal thing. I was a guy from League City, Texas, where the town closed down for Friday night lights. It was a wonderful experience. It didn’t seem real. And I later found out that at the time my dad and I were just one of seven father-and-son duos to win a Super Bowl. Now there are eight after Chris Long won one – his father was Howie Long.
Any good memories of your time in Pittsburgh?
Oh yeah. Tomlin used to make sure all of the rookies were engaged. When I first got there he got into the habit of asking the rookies what the play was. I got so excited one time that he looked my way and before he said anything I yelled out the play. He yelled back at me that he wasn’t going to ask me! He told me he could see I was going to be that guy. He called me That Guy after that. From then on though I always stood next to the coaches to learn the signals. Mike would yell 80 yards downfield at me what the play was and I’d hand signal him the play in practice. “53. What’s the play?” he’d yell. Then he’d give the thumbs up when I got it right.
In the playoffs he actually had me stand with the coaches. They were thinking of using dummy signals and they trusted me to be the one to do them. But the defense played so well they never needed them! But I was excited to be trusted by the coaches that much. And it was all because some young kid got too excited and yelled out an answer when he wasn’t asked!
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
