First off, what are you doing now since you stopped playing football?
For a while I played football in Canada, but now I am coaching wide receivers at Ohio Northern University. I think it’s a natural fit for me and something I can be really good at.
Any coaches or coaching lessons influence the way you are approaching coaching?
As a player you take a lot from everything you’ve done. There are so many talented players and coaches I’ve been around over the years to learn from.
Tomlin – he was one of the greatest coaches I played for. I learned a lot from him. And guys like Big Ben – intelligent guys that you just watch and learn from.
Anything specific that stands out most?
It’s more just the information you get that you use as a coach now. As a coach you have to develop your own style and develop your own personal approach. So it’s really just about learning the game.
Were you surprised to be drafted by the Steelers?
The draft – it’s just one of those things that you never really know what’s going to happen. It’s usually the best player available. I thought I was going to the Patriots. I was shocked the Steelers took me.
Pittsburgh was a hard-working place though – so once you get there you have to prove who you are to the vets. The guys there are always competing. So, you learn from them through that and find your own way. You watch the other guys in front of you and see what they are doing.
I know you had a number of injuries that set you back – how much did those impact your career?
Injuries are always a part of the game. In high school I broke my ankle and fractured my foot after that. I got hurt in college. It all adds up and affected my ability to play. It wasn’t the little injuries – it was the big ones like the listfranc injury and they never fully healed. From high school to college and the pros.
Early on in Pittsburgh I made some plays and that got me excited about things. The injuries set me back again and I think it all got to me mentally. I was on fire that second season then I broke my hand. I was thinking “Here we go again.” The football side of the game was great, but the health side wasn’t for me. You can’t control it. I had a lot of previous injuries and they just all caught up with me.
What did the coaches say to you about the injuries?
You’re playing at the highest level – at some point the coaches don’t tell you much. It’s about who you are. The players would tell me that if I wasn’t healthy to not go out and play. But I’m a football guy and wouldn’t sit down. I think that set me back. The veterans would tell me to take a break but I kept trying to push through. I think it was ego – I wanted to play.
Ego or passion?
Both really. I hated sitting on the sidelines. Especially when you are starting to play and make plays and are doing good. So it’s ego wanting to keep doing it, but passion too because you love the game.
What about the Bryant tweets about you being drafted. What did that mean to you?
Guys just talk sometimes. I talked to Bryant all the time. For him that was just about his job; it wasn’t personal about me. It was just talk. I didn’t mind it.
Any fun memories that stand out most to you over your time there?
One fun one was in my first OTAs. Ben came out and tells me to run a go. He launches it 75 yards, then turned to the coaches and said “I thought you said this guy was fast!” That was a funny moment, him messing with me there.
Another one was the rookie dinner. Eight or nine of us went out for dinner and guys went crazy ordering food. Guys were ordering two steaks and bottles of Ace of Spades. At then end of the meal the waitress came over and handed me the bill and it was $10,000! I was like “Good God – wait a minute!” But it was a good group of guys and some pitched in so I only paid about $9,000.
So when you say only, you mean almost all!
Ha yeah – but they were a good group of guys. It was a good time.
After that second season you were traded to Cleveland – what spurred that on?
A lot of people don’t know it, but my son was just born a week-and-a-half before that. So I didn’t get to see him after the trade for months, since we still had our house in Pittsburgh and had to get re-settled.
I wasn’t expecting the trade. I was still hurt going into camp – I had three surgeries in the offseason. So for the Steelers it was a no-brainer to trade me and get something for me – to take advantage of it. I’m not mad at them for it. I broke my hand and couldn’t even practice when I was in Cleveland until the last preseason game. So I couldn’t really put my best foot forward there.
Any good-natured ribbing by the Browns coming in from a division rival?
It was bittersweet, the Cleveland trade. That year Cleveland was 0-16 and I didn’t play as much. I started to not like football. I knew I could contribute but didn’t get the chance. I didn’t know the guys there and got there late into camp, so didn’t have a lot of time to learn things either. I ended up getting stuck in a role as a special teams guy. I played well on special teams but I didn’t like getting stuck there.
Lastly, knowing the injury issues you had to deal with, is there anything you would have done differently looking back on it?
I would spend more time on the game – I don’t think I spent enough time doing that. You have to take advantage of every day.
I also could have taken care of my body better as well. Get into more of an every day routine. You have to know where you’re at. It’s the NFL – you have to invest in your body and remember why you’re there.
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