First, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your time in the NFL?

Well, I was in the commodities business for about 10 years, then I semi-retired. I haven’t been doing a ton of anything since – a few investments here and there, that’s about it.

We’ve been doing quite a bit of snowboarding now where we are in Montana. Some skiing and snowshoeing too.

Was the post-NFL transition difficult for you?

Not really. It didn’t really feel like it anyway. It was big that right away I had things to get involved in. I built and sold a couple of spec homes in Miami and split our time between here and the Florida Keys. We sold the house in Florida in 2006 and bought a sport fisherman boat and had some great experiences boating up and down the Keys, staying from island to island.

Stepping back, let’s talk about why you chose to sign with the Steelers in free agency?

I talked to my agent at the end of the ’94 season and told him that I played nine years in the league and had no surgeries and had no problem making and playing for the teams I was on. I told him there were four teams I would be interested in signing with – Dallas, San Francisco. Green Bay, or Pittsburgh. Those were the four teams I thought had the best chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

It’s funny, because those were the four teams that made it to the championship games that year. My agent joked with me that if we put $100,000 on those teams in Vegas I wouldn’t have had to play football!

Why did you ultimately land with the Steelers?

All four offered me a contract actually. But Cowher called me when I was in Miami and asked me to fly up and meet with him, and I did the next day. He took me to dinner then we went to a Pens game and talked. We watched a couple of periods of hockey and both looked at each other and said we both had kids, we should head home now. The Pens were up big anyway!

Well, he told me I’d sign with them the next day. And I did – and am very happy I made that decision.

How hard was the transition to the Steelers after being with another team for so long?

It was an easy transition at that age. It was my tenth year in the league. Jugs, Dermontti, Tomczak, Hayes – all those old veterans helped me. We’d get a beer together after practice on Tuesdays and after games. It was a super experience there.

You only stayed once year….

After the Super Bowl, we went to what they call the “Losers’ party”. They have parties set up for the winners and losers and you of course never know until after the game who goes where, but of course they have to have a party for both teams.

I was dancing at the party, and Cowher came up to me at the party and asked why I was dancing – that we lost the game. I told him that win or lose it was a great experience and we weren’t supposed to get this far. I told him then he needed to draft a guard because I was planning to retire. He reminded me that I had two years left on my contract, but I told him I promised myself I’d only play 10 years then  retire.

Back then guys got beat up even in practice. Bill was doing that less at that point than some other coaches were, but my body was at the end and I didn’t want to risk getting a bad injury.

What were some of your best memories of your time there?

Well the Super Bowl for sure. That was a great experience – those two weeks were fun. My family – brothers and sisters – they all came. I used up all of my tickets! We all had fun then.

And one other thing that sticks out is Greg Lloyd, who in practice would just put his head down every play and cause those big collisions. I’d tell him, “You know it’s not Sunday right?” But he had just one speed – they couldn’t get him to slow down. I had that experience daily!

Who were some of the toughest guys you faced as a lineman?

For some reason we seemed to play Philly a lot, and going against Jerome Brown was tough. He was a really good athlete. Now, he wouldn’t chase the ball if it was going the other way! But he was a great athlete.

They moved the defensive ends inside then and Reggie White was another guy that lined up over me now and then. He was such a great athlete too. And Bruce Smith too – he was incredible.

How do you handle guys like those?

You just have to do your technique and hope for help if you get into trouble. They are still people – they aren’t magic. If you keep good technique and don’t get too excited or nervous and make mistakes you can fare ok against them.

Do you watch the NFL now – any thoughts on the way the game has changed?

I do watch quite a bit. I think the tackling techniques had changed a lot – you don’t have those big bits on receivers running across the middle of the field anymore. Those were fun to watch for fans but they caused so many problems with concussions, so it’s a good thing they took those out of the game.

It’s a wide-open game now. As an offensive lineman you like to see more emphasis on the running game. But people seem to love the wide-open play. It’s a ratings thing more than anything I think.

Any last thoughts on your time in Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh really was a fun place to play – a super football town.  I thought they were going to draft me actually in the second round. They came to see me twice.  But then they drafted John Rienstra with the ninth overall pick and I knew they wouldn’t take me then.

It’s funny – John was my roommate at the combine. He was a super nice guy – he told me his father had a business so he wanted to play football for a bit, but wouldn’t mind then going into his father’s business.

I really enjoyed playing in Pittsburgh. I would have loved to have played for them my entire career – I would have loved that if that had happened!

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