Welcome to Steelers Takeaways! – Page 51 – More than 1,000 interviews of Steelers players, coaches, front office staff, media and more with those that played in the 50’s through today’s current roster.

Steelers Players and Staff Comments on Kevin Colbert

Steelers PR Specialist Ryan Scarpino: “Kevin Colbert was an unbelievable person as well. He had that same mentality – blue collar, and treated everyone with respect. It didn’t matter who you were, his door was always open and you could go in and talk about anything. I used to go in and watch film with him – even as a PR guy he let me go in and would ask me what I saw. I’d tell him I saw guys getting to the second level or something and he’d laugh and tell me I should have been a scout!”

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Exclusive with Former Steelers WR Coach Dwain Painter, 1988-1991

First, can you let readers know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your coaching time in Pittsburgh?

I’m retired now for 10 years or so. I say retired, but I had some unique experiences as a part-time coaching assistant at the University of California and Duquesne. Those were fun times for for me. I hate to make the comment but it’s tough for coaches to leave the game.

I think now that if I knew what coaching was like, maybe I’d have tried to put an end to my coaching career sooner to do other things.

I had a great career. I coached for 45 years and I tell people I never went to work a day in my life. You move a lot and are hired to be fired. It’s a very volatile profession, but to stick it out you have to have it in your blood. That’s the way I was, since back in junior high school

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Exclusive with former Steelers Wide Receiver Malcolm Johnson, 1999-2000

First, can you let me know about your post-NFL career and how you got started?

Well, I always tell folks that having a long career in the NFL can be a blessing and a curse. I was blessed with three years in the NFL and one in the CFL. I retired at the age of 25 and lived a dream. Football was something I loved but not what I was put on this Earth to do.

After I retired I worked as a volunteer for the Pitt athletic department then decided to enroll at CMU for their MBA program. It was the best investment in myself I ever made. I gained insight into the world of finance and met some of the smartest people I had ever met in my life. It was as big of a learning experience as sitting in the Steelers locker room next to Bettis and Kordell.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Back Payton Williams, 2000-2001

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

I started my job here at Riverside City College as the Athletic Director in January of 2021. It’s a two-year community college with over 500 student athletes across 19 sports. My job is to serve our college by providing the best experience possible for the student-athletes, coaches and staff.

We don’t have athletic scholarships or massive crowds, so we are very proud of our transfer rates to four-year colleges for our student-athletes and our tradition of athletic success.

Currently, we have two former RCC players in the NFL (JC Jackson-New England and Travis Jonsen-Detroit), Jesse Chavez won a World Series this year in Atlanta, and we had a track athlete in the recent Tokyo Olympics.

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Exclusive with Former Browns and Ravens Kicker Matt Stover

First, tell me about the Players Philanthropy Fund and how you got started in that?

Well, a colleague of mine, Seth McDonnell, and I launched PPF after my experiences as an athlete doing charitable giving. We launched a simple way for athletes to get connected and give back.

We are a foundation that uses our status to help others create their own charitable funds – we act basically as their back office so they don’t have to do that work or risk damage to their own brand. We have 148 accounts now, 65% of which are athletes. It’s exciting for me as an entrepreneur who has invested and did well through those investments. I was able because of that to give back the right way, and I’m happy to help other people do the same through PPF.

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Exclusive with Former Ravens, Browns Linebacker Paul Kruger

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

Since I’ve been done playing, the majority of my work feeding my family now has been in commercial real estate in Arizona and Utah. We’ve been spending our time between these two areas.

We need to bunker down now though. My kids are four and one – they are getting to be school age. So we need to settle on one area. I’ve also been involved in some start-up companies. Just trying to stay busy and active.

Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult for you?

I think it is a struggle, yes. It is difficult. For me, the challenge came with the fact my identity was as a football player and that association with that world. Being a part of a billion dollar business, doing interviews and having thousands of fans care about what you are doing – you get a sense of importance.

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Exclusive with Former Browns Offensive Lineman Cody Risien

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

I got my degree in building construction from Texas A&M. In the offseason in ’89 Art Modell offered us all a chance to take career counseling which was great – I took advantage of that and it was extremely helpful. My interest in drafting and engineering was supported by that – my dad picked a good major for me – he knew who I was.

1989 was my last season in the NFL. I took a year off and volunteered at an Episcopal church as a youth leader but, while it was a good experience, I never felt that calling. I got an internship later for a Shermur Construction which turned out to be the same company that did the work on Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I thought that was pretty cool.

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Exclusive with Former Cleveland Browns Defensive Lineman Jerry Sherk

First, tell us about what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?

I’m in the youth and adult mentoring business – I’ve been doing that for 25 years now. I played for 12 years before I retired – started a photography business after I retired but that was only for a short while.

The transition was wasn’t easy. It’s never easy for players – so I ended up also helping to consult with other players to help them. I went back to school after I retired and studied psychology because of the transition difficulty then worked with schools and helped consult for the state of California.

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Exclusive with Browns Cornerback Hanford Dixon

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

Well right now I’m doing the pregame show for the Browns TV network, We do an hour-and-a-half live show from the field on gamedays and in the studio for away games.

I’ve also been a real estate broker in the Cleveland area for 16 years and love it. And, I’m affiliated with the JACK Casino here in Cleveland as well.

Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?

It hasn’t been tough really. All NFL players should know you have to give it up eventually – it doesn’t last a lifetime. It’s not forever. The average playing time is four years – I played nine years and knew while I played that I wanted to jump into real estate when I was done. That and radio and TV.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Punter Drew Butler, 2012-2013

First, I know you’ve been very involved in the media business even while you played, and especially now. How did that start for you?

Certainly. I always had a real passion for broadcasting. I got my journalism degree at Georgia which is one of the best schools for that in the country. I wanted to get a degree in broadcast journalism but playing football required a lot of my time and I couldn’t get the broadcasting credit hours I’d need to do that while I played, so I became a telecommunications major – focusing on the business side of the media business.

As a player I always had a lot of respect for media guys, but I knew as a punter I had to deal with the stigma of having to prove my worth, and that held true. I met with my agent while I was in Pittsburgh and he told me I should get involved and do radio before I retired – so I did that, writing – all to help give me the chances I have now.

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