First, can you let us know what you’ve been doing since your time playing football?

The last few years we’ve had a lot of changes. It’s been a dynamic time. The ripple effect of 9/11 put my family’s business out of business. After that I went into a leadership role in commercial construction then got a job at a private Christian school, where I got to work on the intersection of leadership, athletics and ministry. I loved it, but after ffour years we realized that it just wasn’t a good fit. The parents wanted me to engineer success for their kids versus training them for success. That just wasn’t for me.

Since then I started my own business as a vendor cost auditor. And I love that – I enjoy being in business for myself.

Looking back – were you surprised to be drafted by the Steelers?

I was a little bit surprised. Other teams had talked to me about drafting me – the Cowboys and Lions and some others. When Pittsburgh called I was more than excited. I was renting a condo in the fourth floor of a building in Austin when they called and I was more than excited. I ended up having a great relationship with the coaches and organization.

Did anyone help mentor you when you got there?

Yes – and I can start off with a story that leads into that.

When I arrived in Pittsburgh, I met Coach Noll and Coach Blackledge at a restaurant in Mt. Washington. They welcomed me and I said “Hello Coach Noll. Hello Coach Blackledge.” Coach Blackledge said “Kirk, call me Ron.” I said “Ok Coach Blackledge.” He responded “Kirk, I need you to call me Ron ok?” It took me a while. He joked with me – “You guys from the South with your “Yes sirs and no sirs”.. He told me it was critical to call him Ron because we were going to have conversations.

What I learned was that his style of coaching was about relationships – it was two-way. It wasn’t command and control. He wanted to watch how you played and to get to know you so he could learn how best to work with you.

We’d be in meetings with vets like Webster, Larry Brown, Ilkin and Wolfley – Ron would discuss assignments and it would be a conversation. The vets would give their feedback. That’s when Ron’s words about it being a conversation became 3-D. As you got better he’d work with you to get the most out of you.

Any of the players help?

Jon Kolb – he jumped right in and helped with my work in the weight room – on technique and punch. It was such a great honor working with him.

When Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley arrived later in camp, those two were wonderful with me. The faith and honor – their attitudes were terrific. They told me I was a Steeler whether I made the team later or not, and what that meant. That unselfishness they showed to me in helping me perfect my craft was special. And that craft was more than just about technique. It was about what it meant to be a Steelers offensive lineman. I learned the ropes because of those two.

Was it hard to get reps and and opportunities to play?

It was all well-organized – we all got reps and chances to prove yourself. Noll was brilliant. One time I was in line for a rep and was about to go up against a veteran defensive lineman – Willis, Goodman or Dunn – someone like that. But Chuck said no – not yet. They didn’t want rookies early in camp going up against veterans and getting humiliated. We were still learning the techniques and they didn’t want us getting discouraged. He wanted to make sure we maintained our confidence. I thought that was brilliant. It wouldn’t have been good for anybody to get humiliated in front of everyone.

Any good stories from your time there?

I have a couple yes.

When I think of the first one – it’s why I really miss the locker room comradery. Gary Dunn was sneaky funny. He used to have this contraption – it was a box with a towel over it. He told the rookies that there was a mongoose in it. He used it for catching snakes – that they used to bring them in to Florida to catch snakes and now there were too many of them in Florida. They’d look at the box and talk about how dangerous it was.

Well, the vets would sit around and play cards or dominos and he’d have the box there. And he’d just lure guys in. The rookies would hang around, watching the vets, trying to be accepted by them…. They’d start asking questions about the box and start getting closer to it. And Gary was just so sneaky. Finally someone would ask to see it, and Gary would act disturbed and put off by it. The vets – they all knew what was going on. Finally he’d pick up the box and tell them it was dark so they had to stand up and look inside. He told them they had to look real close to see inside, meanwhile he ran his right hand under the box where there was a hole and a sock-puppet thing in there that he’d slip his hand into. Then when the rookie was standing over the box he’d use his left hand to rip the towel off and with his right hand he’d push the puppet right at the rookie. I’ve never seen a 250 pound man jump to the ceiling before and run out of a room so fast! Meanwhile all the vets are in tears, laughing.

Any others?

I also remember Walter Abercrombie – he was musically gifted. He’d bring in his keyboard and do a perfect Stevie Wonder imitation – the body movements and everything. Just watching the card games and domino games – walking by Abercrombie as he played his keyboard – those were some great takes.

And a good one with Lambert. Our assistant offensive line coach was new. And we were in the film room watching tape and he stopped the film and started talking to us about what he saw on the scrimmage film. He told us that when we get downfield we needed to go low on the linebackers. That was our job. Now, it was an unspoken rule that you didn’t go low on your own players and we knew that. But, a hand from the hallway reached into the room and turned the lights on. Lambert walked in and stood in the doorway, pointed at the coach and said “If any son of a bitch here goes low on me, I’m kicking your ass.”  Then he left….

I also wanted to talk to you about your faith. Having written a book around your faith and knowing how important it’s been to you, what impact do you feel it’s had on how you approached the game?

That’s a good question. In college, my identity and self-worth were all about football. When I was a Sophomore, I broke my foot and was in the hospital. I fell off the depth chart and was worried that I couldn’t come back – that I wouldn’t heal. I felt the weight of the approval of others on me – I was severely depressed. I started thinking – there has to be more than this. My worth can’t be around football and influence. Life can’t be that shallow. I thought I was religious but I started thinking more about the bible and about what everlasting peace meant. I read the bible but I never really translated it into complete faith. It was in realizing that that I accepted Jesus not only as my savior but as my Lord. That difference was in how it directed all parts of my life. My self-worth wasn’t about football. It was about how I would glorify God by how I played and lived my life. No matter what happens in football, with conflict – I needed to handle my life in a way that glorified God.

So as it related to football, in camp, there is so much that is out of your control. Knowing that I would go in and play to glorify God by giving my all – that is what I could control. It made it easier to deal with the camp pressure.

What happened during that first season?

I got hurt my second week of camp – I hurt my knee and couldn’t play. Chuck was great about it – he told me they wanted to keep me. That they’d put me on IR but not to worry. That I should just get well and they’d look forward to having me back next year. That meant everything to me.

During that time, Tony Dungy had Bible study groups at his house. Me, Wolfley, Kolb, Weegie, Ilkin, my roommate Randy Rasmussen, we all had a fellowship. For me as a rookie – that was really special. To have those as models – to know we were there to work for God’s glory – that was significant. If not for those, I probably would have been a drunk, insecure mess.

But you came back next season…

I did, but in a scrimmage I was running downfield after a touchdown and a lineman knocked a defender into my leg. He ended up rolling my ankle and I had a severe MCL sprain – torn ligaments. It was a mess. Trashed. I did five weeks of rehab and came back, but it was just too weak. Anyone was able to bullrush me then. I had an open conversation with Chuck and Ron and we all agreed it was a career-ending injury. They said that maybe I could come back in a year and try and play tight end for another team. But I decided at that point that my football days were done.

Your health is ok now?

It is. My ankle has healed to the point where I can do things – I can play pickle ball. It is pretty arthritic now, but I can use it ok.

Help Us Out!

Help keep these free interviews coming! If you can, please donate as little (or as much!) as you like by contributing to Steelers Takeaways here:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/pittsburghsports

Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades.  To order, just click on the book: