First off, can you let me know what you are up to now?
I learned I was no longer fast enough to play in the NFL! That’s when I retired. After that I coached the tight ends at Oregon State for a year. I never really told many people before, but I actually got a call from the Steelers during their fall camp after Jonathan Decker blew out his knee asking me to come back. They needed a viable third string tight end to backup Heath and Jerame.
I had the plane ticket for that 2009 season – I just didn’t feel good about it. I couldn’t sleep that night and ended up calling Kevin Colbert and told him I made a commitment to Coach Riley at Oregon State and couldn’t leave in the middle of camp there. My heart wasn’t into it – and when that’s the case it’s just more like physical abuse. So I made the decision to stay at Oregon State.
What did Kevin Colbert say to you?
We beat USC and Kevin was at that game. We talked and he told me he had never had anyone be that brutally honest with him before. Usually money drives players’ decisions. It would have been a guaranteed contract if I made the team. He was thankful and told me that if there was anything I ever needed, to let him know.
What was that coaching experience like for you?
I loved coaching – we went 9-3 – we lost to Penn State, Stanford and Oregon. It was a successful season. We had great playmakers – we had a Steelers-type of tight end situation. They were asked more to block.
It was a fun season – I learned how to be the lowest member of the coaching totem pole and learned the inner-workings of college football and how to lead people.
But you decided not to coach afterwards – why was that?
At the end of the season we had our second child – my wife and I talked about whether this would be my career or not. The coaching lifestyle is not great – you move every few years. So we decided to stay in Corvalis. I worked at Johnson & Johnson for six years and coached high school football and had fun with that. Then I decided to take a job at Edward Jones in finance – to work with people on their finances. I’d meet people and take my last season’s playbook from Arizona and talk to the people I met with about the preparation it took every week before a game and told them we need to put in just as much time in for the people we’re helping with their financial plans. It’s been nine years now and I am really enjoying it and have been active in my community and with clients all over the country.
What are some of the things you learned most from the coaches you played for and worked with?
All of my coaches had a different influence – we’re all really the sum of those parts. Michalczik at Oregon State, Coach Cozzetto and Coach Chryst – those were three very high-caliber coaches. In the NFL Frank Verducci in Buffalo and Mike Miller in Pittsburgh had a big impact on me. That’s when I started to really learn the craft of football. I was 198 pounds when I started at Oregon State – I wouldn’t have even been recruited today. I was just learning. But when I got to the NFL Tim Krumrie taught me hand drills – even though he was a defensive lineman he could show us a lot. And we did the Tunch Punch drills in Buffalo – I started learning all of those little things that make a big difference at that level.
Mike was key to buying me an extra couple of years in the NFL after my injury. After I was let go by New Orleans, I called Mike. Tuman was hurt so he told me he would call Russ and Whiz and they brought me in to Pittsburgh. I was blessed to continue my career and backfill off of Jerame Tuman.
I was there under Coach Cowher in the Spring then under Tomlin after. I learned more from Heath and Jerame then. Heath was so sound. I loved playing with those guys. It feels like a different lifetime now.
How did Cowher and Tomlin differ, if at all?
It was interesting. When I first came in I had one practice and one walk-through and had already displaced their fourth round pick. That doesn’t happen a lot in the NFL. We ran the same offense in Buffalo and when we played against Carolina in the preseason I played well and caught a couple of passes. I think the coaches saw that I had gas in the tank and believed in me. They saw I was plug-and-play. That was great leadership. They showed me that if a player has ability then they need them and will play them even over a draft pick, if that gave them a higher probability of winning.
Six weeks later though I was released – we had a number of linebacker injuries and they needed to bring in more guys. I went back to Corvallis after that. But that still counted as my vesting year, so I was grateful.
Kevin called me back then to come back to OTAs in the offseason and that’s when Tomlin was there. I respected Coach Tomlin. The NFL is so cutthroat – you’re only as useful as you are and some teams just treat you like a slab of meat. But that year they drafted Matt Spaeth and Coach Tomlin called me into his office. He told me they could keep me as an insurance policy in case something happened, but that Arizona expressed an interest in me. He told me I could stay there in Pittsburgh and have a slim shot to make the team or go to Arizona where I’d have a better chance. He gave me the choice.
That was such a huge display of leadership in my eyes. He did the right thing for people. He told me he knew that this was my livelihood and my wife was expecting – I don’t know how he knew that – I didn’t tell him. But it showed how invested he is in his players. I was an average NFL player but he looked at me as more than just as a serviceable backup tight end.
Any fun memories of your time there?
I had a chance to be part of a great organization. I remember when the driver picked me up from the airport late in the evening when I first flew to Pittsburgh. He said he was taking me to Primanti’s to get a welcome to Pittsburgh sandwich! We stayed at the Hilton and the van picked me up the next morning to take me to the facility and when I walked in, I saw all of those trophies. I understood how different that environment was. All of my gear was already set up and sized for me – they already spoke to Buffalo and got my size information and equipment ready.
The trainer – Ariko Iso – she taped up my ankles for me – she told me she’d take care of that. Then I got some good street cred with the players right out of the gate when Troy Polamalu walked up to me and said “Tim – it’s great to see you!” I hadn’t spoken to him since high school. We both were recruited together – we both were from small towns in Oregon. Having him come up to me and rekindling that friendship gave me instant street cred!
Any other memories stand out?
I remember one practice before our opening game against the Dolphins. Mr. Rooney was out there with a camera, taking pictures of practice with a telescopic lens. During a water break I went up and asked him what he was doing, and he told me he was taking pictures for the Steelers website. I asked him why he was doing it – they had people who could do that! He then said “Mr Euhus…” I was shocked he even knew my name. I don’t think Ralph Wilson in Buffalo ever learned my name. But he told me “The more you can do the more valuable you are.” He told me the photographer was sick so he was taking the pictures. That just showed me what an incredible leader he was. He is the most valuable person in the organization and he was still looking to see how he could add value to the team. That epitomizes the Steelers values.
It was a unique time there. The team gave the players dinner cards – we never paid for dinner. We could use those cards at just about any restaurant in Homestead, where most of the players lived.
It all made me start looking into the history of the city. It was a hard-working city that moved into the next century by adapting and investing in technology. I loved that about the city. Western Pa is a really cool place. If I didn’t live in Oregon I would definitely consider living there.
Mike Miller grew up in Plum and told me that when he was little they just thought the Steelers were fed protein and worked out in the locker room and then were let loose on Sundays to play football. Then he would see them in the community – at grocery stores – and would tell his mom “Mom – that’s so and so!” Seeing them in the community he realized that they were so much more than just players.
It’s funny – I had a similar experience in Oregon. My son came home one day and said “Dad, did you know that not everyone’s dad played football for the Beavers?” I told him “Yeah. What did you think when you didn’t see them there with us on the field or in the locker room on gamedays?” He never questioned it until then. Now that he’s in college he’s learning how much hard work it took to make it in the NFL and how lucky I was. That’s why I connect with Pittsburgh. I was never the fastest guy or best athlete, but I put in the work and time and am grateful for the opportunity I had in Pittsburgh.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
