Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

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

I’m retired now. After football I worked in a bank for a few years and did real estate development at the same time. After a while I did the real estate development full time, developing single-family and multi-family homes, but mostly large apartment complexes. I ended up selling the business after a while and retired and moved to Florida.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Back Stan Smagala, 1992”

First off, can you let us know about the restaurant and what else you’ve been up to since football?

A group of friends and me opened up The Pit BBQ Grille here in Columbus together. One of my friends was my college roommate at Ohio State – Chimdi Chekwa – who was drafted by the Raiders and played for five or so years in the NFL. My other two friends – Mike Johnson and D’Andre Martin are also business partners.

We wanted to bring our Cleveland style of barbecue to Columbus. The recipes are from our family members and made from scratch – we even use our family members’ names on our menu.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Bryant Browning, 2013-2014”

First – how did your start go in Pittsburgh?

Well, starting with my season in Pittsburgh, I can say I had a unique experience in Pittsburgh. That was the year of the NFL strike and that year a lot of my fellow draftees, free agents, and veterans who were on the bubble reported to camp in July.

It was very intense – coming from a Lou Holtz coached team at NC State, we had much tougher practices, and even after practices we’d have more in-person work with the coaches. Playing for a pro team was like a dream – it was a very special place to be in and a very unique situation.

Were you surprised to be drafted by the Steelers?

I really was just hoping to be drafted by anyone and make it in the NFL. I got two-to-three calls from Dallas but I was in shock when I got the call from Mr. Rooney and him telling me I was drafted by the Steelers.

It took me and my family by surprise. There weren’t big draft parties then – no big TV draft events. It was just one lone phone call from Mr. Rooney.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Rick Druschel, 1974”

First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since playing football?

After I retired I got into flipping houses –  that was before the housing market died down. I’d go into bad neighborhoods and try to work on houses to make sure people had decent homes to live in there. Where you grow up often determines what kind of person you become, and I wanted to help parents give their kids the kind of homes they needed.

As a kid I remember being embarrassed when other kids came to my house. It wasn’t my mother’s fault – she did the best she could – but I still wanted a better experience – a house to be proud of. Well, I tried to help give that to people in those neighborhoods.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Vinson Smith, 1989”

First, tell me what you did after your time in Pittsburgh? What did you do afterwards?

After Pittsburgh I ended up in in the Army for two years.

Near the end of that season in Pittsburgh as I was leaving practice, the equipment manager called me into the general manger’s office and told me they were letting me go. I drove home to Connellsville – it was about a 40 minute drive.  When I got in the house my mother told me I had gotten a call and that Denver wanted me – that I should go back to the Steelers and pick up the plane ticket to go there.

I started driving there when it started to rain and another car swerved towards me and I got into an accident. A friend ended up having to take me home. When I got there I had gotten another call from the Eagles who wanted me to go play there.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Wilbert Scott, 1961”

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

I did some sales, teaching and coaching in Atlanta then got into construction information sales. When 911 happened I came to Pittsburgh and became the Chaplain for Pitt for their athletes.

How did that come about?

I backed up Jon Kolb in ’76. He was on the board of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes and I would sometimes talk to him when I sought some advice. He told me a chaplain position opened up with the Coalition for Christian Outreach and they and I met. They hired me as the chaplain and I worked with them for eight years – with all the athletes at Pitt until Dave Wannstedt got there. He brought in his own chaplain so I worked with all of the other teams except football that last year or so. I throughly enjoyed that work.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman, 1976, and Pittsburgh Passion Coach Ron Coder”

First, let me know what you’re doing with yourself now.

I’m working with athletes – helping them with their conditioning and fitness – training them and helping them prepare.

Before the pandemic I had a fitness company – we did a circuit training camp for large organizations like Yahoo and YouTube – we did group health and wellness programs for their employees.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Daryl Knox, 1987”