Tag: Steelers

Let’s start with football? I know you were a very good track athlete as well as football player in high school- why did you choose football?

It’s funny – I didn’t want to play football, really. I didn’t want to get tackled. I just wanted to do something that would get me out of the house. I was fast but not fast enough for the Olympics or anything like that. I was successful playing football so I stayed with that.

Were there coaches early on that helped you then?

I was a loner in high school, so I didn’t get much help. My mother would give me some advice on life – my uncle too. But I was really on my own. I stayed with my auntie and she didn’t really know I even played football then.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Running Back Eric Wilkerson, 1989”

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

I moved back to Wichita after I was done playing and taught high school algebra to teenagers. I did that for 10 years and started flipping houses in the Summer. That morphed into a house flipping business – I quit teaching and bought more homes and now that’s my business. Now I have 25-to-30 employees in Wichita and we manage our own rentals as well as that of 30 other investors.

The company is Goshen Property Management – we’ve been doing this for over 25 years now.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Tight End Russ Campbell, 1992”

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

After the Steelers released me, I had a unique opportunity to run track. I was an All-American in high school and ran track at Georgia. I ran track professionally after the Steelers. I barely missed the Olympic trials in the hurdles – by six-tenths of a second.

My wife was in medical school in Austin at the time I was training there in Austin. After a while I decided to get my Masters in Theological Studies while she was in school. I also became an assistant track coach for the women’s track team at Texas. My sister was on that team – she actually made the Olympic trials!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Cedric Goodman, 2009”

First off, can you let me know what you’re up to now and how the post-NFL transition went for you?

I last put on my pads in 2016. Now, I’m an admissions counselor at the University of Washington.

The first couple of years, the transition was a struggle – as it is for a lot of guys that go through injuries and who didn’t get a chance after the injury. I didn’t get picked up after my injury in Pittsburgh and that has an affect on you. Certainly I went though it.

Now I’m back in Seattle living my life – I’m married and have a little one on the way.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Micah Hatchie, 2015-2016”

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.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Sammie Coates, 2015-2016”

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

I hung up my cleats in 2014 – I was tired of all the tryouts after being on the Steelers practice squad. I went to college with the idea that I wanted to go into business – I had entrepreneurship on my mind even then. That’s what I was going to school for – football was always a platform.

So after football I got a job as a consultant. I was hired by Dan Feeley – a former NIU player I knew. He actually still owned the company – it was a small shop where I was able to learn how to do consulting. I was able to go in and help companies. I learned then that the work ethic that made me a good athlete was transferable in business.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Alan Baxter, 2013”

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

My wife and I started a business while I was playing in the NFL – it’s a furniture business that we’ve kept going over the years.

I also started coaching high school football when my son was in eighth grade. That was three years ago. The head coach is a guy I played with at Youngstown State and he asked me to help out as a coach. I moved up as my son did, from eighth grade, now to tenth. I coach the defensive line and do strength training as well.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Harry Deligianis, 1998”

First, can you let me know what you got involved with after your time in the NFL?

After my playing days I got my first job working at a juvenile detention center. It was very rewarding but very challenging working with young kids who had gone astray, trying to instill some values into them.

My friend who also played football in the NFL had worked there and mentioned it to me – that’s how I got started there.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Bob Gaddis, 1975-1976”

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

I grew up in what most would call poverty. I was a country kid – an at-risk kid, though I didn’t really know that at the time. That background gave me the desire to connect with at-risk kids as I got older. I ended up after football working with at-risk youth as a drug and alcohol counselor and social worker. I also worked for 25 years as the City of Decatur Director of Youth Services. I retired in 2020 – I was able to reach and help a lot of young people over that time.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Back Bruce Wayne Jones, 1987”