Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

First, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

A little of this and a little of that. I and a partner opened upon some restaurants – in Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore. I’m also daddy-Uber – talkng my daughter to practices and school. I’m enjoying taking her to school and spending time with her while she’s still here.

How hard has the post-NFL adjustment been for you?

It was tough – it’s what you’ve been doing most of your life as a player –  since I was eight years old. Then you get into your early 30’s and all of the sudden you can’t do it anymore – it’s taken away from you. Some have the chance to retire when they want and plan for their retirement but I had to retire abruptly. It was different – I didn’t get the chance to plan for it. So it was a tough adjustment.

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First, what you have you been up to since football?

Now that I’m retired my three boys run me ragged. One’s a Freshman in college, one’s a Senior in high school and one’s an eighth-grader.

I have my farm I work on and do sports radio as well. It’s just two hours a day so that’s easy – I work on the farm in the mornings then go into town and do the radio show. I’m not very good but it’s just like talking about sports in a bar anyway. It’s like I’m sitting on a barstool talking sports, which I do anyway! I’m lucky and blessed to have all of this.

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First off, can you let me know what made you decide to get involved in professional wrestling?

Growing up wrestling was the number one bonding activity between my dad and I. He was a big-time fan and we used to go to live shows together, There are pictures if me with my wrestling figures growing up. So wrestling was important to me.

I wanted to ask about how much of a grind the WWE can be – how do you navigate that constant travel especially with a family and kids?

Very carefully! I can honestly say that I wish I would have done it better from the start – I’m reprioritizing my life now though. The grind never stops especially as we travel more and do more international shows. I always joke that we would all do the work for free – it’s the travel we get paid for. Dealing with the messed-up flights and hotel reservations – that happens all the time.

Continue reading “Exclusive with WWE Announcer and Pittsburgh Native Corey Graves”

First off, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

When my career was over I still felt like I could contribute to the game and help others. I wanted to be a mentor for others and help them reach their goals to play in the NFL. That has always been my mission – to help guys make it to the league. So I’ve been training young players now.

What do you focus on most with them, do you find?

I teach them that it’s all about choices. I did way too much partying when I played and you can’t do that if you want to be a top-tier athlete. I see kids today allowing social media to raise them and see them doing too much partying. That will catch up to you. It’s my job to teach them that.

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Fist off, why did you decide now to write this book?

After I wrote my book on Edgerrin James, I wanted another project to work on. I covered the Steelers as a journalist and wanted to do something on them, so I researched to see if there was a book on Tomlin and saw there wasn’t. I thought that would be a good topic to explore and that’s how I started with “Tomlin: The Soul of a Football Coach“.

I looked at what the best way would be to approach a guy people don’t know well. My chore was to discover who the real Mike Tomlin is – that was my challenge. He wouldn’t do an interview for the book, but there were plenty of people to talk to. Not doing the interview was pure Tomlin – he wouldn’t be in his own biography. So the challenge was to do the research and talk to those he coached, his former coaches, family members and everyone else he was close with.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Author John Harris, “Tomlin: The Soul of a Football Coach””

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

Well, in 1978, when I was still playing, I started a lumber business here in Ruston, Louisiana. I grew up around lumber and construction. My father was an NFL player – he started a lumber company of his own after he played, so it was something I knew and enjoyed. I always intended to go back to Ruston after football and enjoy life there after I was done with football – to go back to where I was raised.

How did the lumber business start?

My brother was on the track to becoming a partner at a law firm – he went to law school but was just a cowboy at heart. He figured once he made partner he’d never get out – I mean, he had an undergraduate degree in animal husbandry – that shows you how different he was from most people.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Colts Quarterback Bert Jones”