As the Steelers continue their quest for what they hope is their seventh championship, a former player is taking fans on a week-by-week journey through the history of their sixth.
Bryant McFadden, a cornerback on the last Super Bowl team, is marking 10 years since that victory with a serial podcast about it. “The Season: 2008 Steelers” is a product of CBS Sports Digital, where McFadden serves as a football analyst and features chats with key members including players Hines Ward, Ike Taylor, LaMarr Woodley, Nate Washington and Deshea Townsend, as well as coaches Dick Lebeau and Bruce Arians.
There will be a healthy dose of reminiscing.
“You get behind-the-scene stories; locker room stories, traveling stories, game stories,” McFadden said. In fact, he teased that the podcast will visit “something we probably shouldn’t have done,” the night before the Super Bowl. “It was not a big deal because we won the ball game, but it wasn’t like a normal night before the game.”
Hmm.
The series won’t be all buddies swapping war stories, though. McFadden and his guests will also break down the memorable plays in each game, starting in Week 11 and continuing weekly on the entire road to the big game in Tampa, Fla. The schedule corresponds with the weeks of the current NFL season.
The initial episodes are already on iTunes and include an introduction featuring Taylor and game recaps for Weeks 11 and 12 featuring Ward and Woodley, respectively. Downloads are free, and the podcast currently has a five-star user rating.
McFadden has finished production on the regular-season episodes and has moved on to recording about the playoffs. He said he’s enjoyed all of the conversations, but mentioned the AFC championship recap with Ryan Clark as one that’s stood out so far.
“That was a very, very fun and entertaining episode,” he said.
He also hopes it can add to the experience of watching a present-day team that he feels has potential to win another title.
Citing a lack of distractions and improved play from the defense in recent weeks, McFadden said he’s seeing the pieces starting to come together. As a former defensive back, he’s taken particular notice of growth in the secondary.
“I’m seeing guys match coverage real well,” he said. “Early in the year we were seeing guys running scot-free, not being covered accordingly. Now guys are communicating a lot better, and I think because of that, you have guys in position to make plays like they’re supposed to make the plays.”
He credits first-year defensive backs coach Tom Bradley for figuring out his personnel quickly and getting them on the same page after lackluster performances in losses to Baltimore and Kansas City, and he praised corner Joe Haden for playing “lights out.”
He has hope for the guys at the much-maligned opposite corner spot, too. He said the recently benched Artie Burns still has potential if he can regain his confidence. In the meantime, he believes Coty Sensabaugh will do, drawing a favorable comparison between the veteran’s game and those of his Super teammates of the past.
“He’s seen a lot more football, and because of that, he’s able to be where he needs to be when he’s supposed to be,” McFadden said. “The experience that he provides puts him in position to be successful. It’s not about just making the big-time plays, but just being where you’re supposed to be is something we always relied on in the secondary.”
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: November 21, 2018, 2:20 p.m.
