First, what are the next steps for you and your football career?
Well, first off, I’m hanging up my cleats. I’m currently retired – I just haven’t officially announced it yet.
I have a fee businesses – I’m working in real estate and all over the place really. That’s about it. I have three little kids and they’re a handful.
Why the decision to retire?
The last few years, it’s been tough. I was injured all over the place. Small and big injuries. Just a bunch of different situations and at the same time I had three little kids. I started to think about hanging up my cleats when I went to Philly. I told my wife then that if it didn’t work out there I would retire. I had a great camp in Philly, but I got more injuries and they released me. I already had some businesses in place so decided then to let it go.
Looking back on your start with the Steelers – were you surprised they drafted you?
I had no clue. I’m sure a lot of guys really don’t have a clue about when they’d be drafted. I was hoping to go earlier. I thought after my college success I’d go early round two or so. I thought I was that type of guy. I was sitting there watching guys go in round two and it was tough. I’d look at the guys taken and think I was better then that guy and that guy.
The Patriots I thought would take me in round two. Their wide receivers coach was high on me – he told me he’d put his nuts on the table to get me. But they ended up taking a different receiver. I was upset after that and stopped watching the draft.
I went to play basketball with my cousin and later on Pittsburgh called. It was crazy – a lot of my family were Pittsburgh fans. It got crazy in the house!
Did anyone help mentor you on and off the field – take you under their wing when you got there?
The wide receivers were a close knit group. AB, Sanders, and Cotchery – and myself and Justin Brown – we all talked in and out of meetings. On the football part, I latched on to Jerricho Cotchery. He was a veteran guy – he taught me the ropes. I’d watch him and AB and Sanders a lot.
What did he help you with most?
Everything, really. We’d watch film together and he showed me what to look for. How to set guys up and what to expect and not expect. He was in the league almost 10 years by then – he saw a lot of guys and schemes and knew what to expect.
At some point you became a mentor – former Steelers receiver CJ Goodwin talked to me about how you helped him. How did you adapt to being the veteran/ mentor?
It was fun to be the mentor. Being a rookie is like being a freshman in college. Then you become a senior – it’s like that. You grow fast – it’s so short – your stints are short in the NFL usually. Most don’t play 10 years. Once Jerricho left I stepped up in his place. I taught the young guys what he taught me. AB was the guy to show them more on-the-field stuff. But watching film and helping with the little things that are big things – I helped them with that.
It was a pretty loaded wide receiver group during your time in Pittsburgh. How did all of you handle fighting for reps and passes and how competitive was the group?
We’d compete every day – everything was a competition. We were driven by that – if you’re not you wouldn’t be in that room – or shouldn’t be in any room in the NFL really. We were all positive with each other and took criticism well. It was a lot of positive criticism – but we were happy with it and with each other.
How did Ben and the coaches help all of you with that?
A lot of it was done in practice – which is the way it should be. The guys who had the better practices got the ball more on weekends. That helped elevate the practices.
Whoever got the most catches in practice – we’d compete and talk about that and joked about it – but we were serious too. A great practice meant 90% of the time it would carry over on to Sundays. That helped us focus on the day-to-day not just on Sundays.
Any fun stories of your time in Pittsburgh?
I remember playing in a preseason game. It was the fourth game of the preseason and all of the vets were sitting. It was fun watching the young guys play while we were on the sidelines. I played in the first half and some of the second half and had just finished and took my pads off. I was excited to watch the young guys play.
Well, I’m sitting down next to Troy Polamalu and drinking water when Troy said “Hey Markus – want some of this ginger ale?” He had this green Gatorade bottle he was holding. He told me not to tell anyone he had it – we weren’t supposed to have that during games. Well I go to take a drink and the top comes off and the whole bottle spills on me. He unscrewed the top and it emptied out all over me. He laughed of course – the vets were playing pranks on guys all during the game on the young guys!
How hard was leaving Pittsburgh in free agency – what drove the decision?
It came down to providing for my family. My last season I got an opportunity to play in Chicago for a couple of dollars. I didn’t want to leave Pittsburgh – I loved it – it was like home. I had great relationships with the coaches, fans, and teammates, of course. But I got that opportunity for a couple of dollars in Chicago.
It all started well there but the injuries hit me. I had trouble staying healthy – it was extremely frustrating. The production wasn’t there even when I was healthy. I’m not sure if it was me or the system. There was a lot of frustration though. I had a lot of love and production in Pittsburgh and wanted to excel in Chicago and take off. But it didn’t happen. I was extremely frustrated and after that season, I was released. To be honest I expected it. The injuries aren’t an excuse – they are a reason. It’s just what happened.
In Philly, it was a small ticket. I went there hungry. I had something to prove and wanted to go get it in Philly. My production was insane during camp – I had my best camp of my career in the league. But I got bit in the butt by injuries again. For whatever reason, I couldn’t stop getting injured. I tried so many different things, but I couldn’t help getting injuried.
So it was a rough time after Pittsburgh trying to get to that next level?
I got through that. I got out and started those businesses and am doing well. I’m excited to put my time and energy to that and my kids. I got to spend Christmas with my kids for the firs time – we bought a tree together. There’s nothing like that.