A little over a year ago, last Nov. 3, Diontae Johnson and Deon Cain posed for a photo on the grass at Heinz Field after Johnson’s Steelers beat Cain’s Colts, 26-24. Both players shared it on Instagram, with Johnson writing, “Family.. since jitt days! Love you cuzzo” and Cain posting, “Turned our dreams into reality!”
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“Jitt” is a Florida slang term for youngster. They had no idea at the time that less than two weeks later, they’d be teammates, and a little more than nine months later, they’d add another childhood pal who’s more like a family member than a friend.
When Ray-Ray McCloud signed with the Steelers in August, it was a relatively minor transaction, a team with some injuries kicking the tires on a free agent. But for McCloud, Johnson and Cain, it was a major reunion, three young men from the same recruiting class in the same city with the same goals, all playing the same position for one of the NFL’s most storied franchises.
“It’s crazy to me, man,” Johnson said with a bright smile. “We all grew up with each other, played against each other in high school. It’s just fun to be able to play with your boys. I feel like it’s special for us three. It’s something we’ve all been dreaming of since we were kids, just being able to do it. We’re taking advantage of this opportunity and trying to win.”
Well, 9-0 isn’t bad for the three 24-year-old wide receivers from Tampa.
McCloud, the newest Steeler of the group, is providing a pop in the return game that Pittsburgh hasn’t seen since Antonio Brown, perhaps. Johnson is building on his impressive rookie season, ranking second in the team in catches (37), third in receiving yards (426) and third in touchdown grabs (3) for a balanced offense, while ceding his punt return job to McCloud. And after being signed last November, Cain has been on the practice squad for most of the season, although he was elevated to the active roster Week 6 and played against the Browns, because Johnson was hurt.
‘The ‘Tampa Boys’ is what we call them,” JuJu Smith-Schuster said this week. “Honestly, with them, it’s just so fun because they’re constantly around each other, hanging out outside of the practice facility, and inside. They’re really cool dudes, man. They’re awesome. I love them to death.”
This week, the Tampa Boys will play just a few hours from home when the Steelers face the Jaguars in Jacksonville. McCloud’s family plans to attend, their first time seeing him play in person with the Steelers.
Johnson, Cain and McCloud go way back, all the way to youth football, then 7-on-7 leagues for elite prospects in their area. The latter two won championships in little league, starting at 7 years old playing for the Town & Country Packers program. By the time they got to junior high, they met Johnson, matching up against him on the summer circuit, Johnson starring for “Team Tampa” and Cain and McCloud running with “Unsigned Preps.”
“Ever since then, we always stayed communicating, even when we were not together in the offseason,” McCloud recalled last month. “We always competed against each other.”
T&C Packers ????????
— Lisa McCloud (@LMaria_08) August 2, 2019
Just to name a few of the many ballers! @RMIII_34 @cainera1_ @2Bsanders0 @jordan_mccloud4 @iamvb_87 @J_black1210 @1Chrisoladokun0 @Devan_Barrett5 pic.twitter.com/WZv6XPaA4s
For two of them, that changed in a big way. Coming out of high school, Cain and McCloud were big-time, five-star prospects. Cain was rated as the 17th-best player in the country in the class of 2015 and the fourth-best wideout; McCloud was 23rd overall and ranked second in the “athlete” category. Both committed to play their college ball at Clemson.
Meanwhile, Johnson was flying under the radar as a two-star recruit. He ended up signing with Toledo in the Mid-American Conference, and while he was showing flashes of brilliance in relative obscurity, the other two were on the national stage. In 2016, Johnson redshirted due to injury at Toledo. Cain and McCloud’s Clemson team won the national title.
“Diontae, I always thought he was overlooked coming out of high school,” said Jordan McCloud, Ray-Ray’s younger brother.
Jordan McCloud is now a sophomore quarterback at South Florida, and this spring, he had a dream stable of receivers to work with. As NFL offseason programs shut down due to COVID-19, Johnson, Cain and the McCloud brothers would train together often, along with a few other NFL players either from or living in the Tampa area.
During quarantine times, Johnson was coming off a successful rookie year and Cain had carved out a bit of a role for himself as injuries ravaged the Steelers receiving corps. Ray-Ray McCloud, though, was a member of the Bills organization and was preparing to head back to Buffalo for training camp.
But just before camp started, he found out he’d be back in Tampa. The Bills cut him, and while McCloud claims he wasn’t worried about his NFL future, Jordan admits his older brother wasn’t happy — until Aug. 21.
“To be honest, he was frustrated that whole week,” Jordan said. “Even that day, he woke up really frustrated, so we just decided to go to church. He was frustrated all day in church and stuff like that, and soon as we got out of the service, it was them, so it was surreal.”
“Them” being the Pittsburgh Steelers, where Johnson was thriving as a third-round pick and Cain was hoping to make the team again out of training camp. Not only would McCloud get a chance to join a vaunted organization and catch passes from Ben Roethlisberger, but he’d be with two of his closest friends in the NFL.
It figured to be a brief reunion, but then something interesting happened. McCloud kept making plays in practice, and when it was time to make the call on the final roster, he got the nod over experienced slot receiver and return man Ryan Switzer. Now, there’s a whole lot of family atmosphere in the Steelers’ wideout room.
“These are all cool cats that I like being around,” Smith-Schuster said, “so definitely, the Florida boys are fun.”
And they do take pride in their 813 area code, on and off the field. When Johnson was scoring touchdowns last season as a rookie, McCloud was tweeting his congratulations. Johnson was the first of the trio to get to Pittsburgh, but he was the last to make it to the NFL, as Cain and McCloud entered the draft following their junior years at Clemson, while Johnson played four seasons at Toledo.
If you ask them, they’ll likely be quick to tell you there’s something in the water in Tampa. And they might be right. There have been just four kickoffs returned for touchdowns this season in the NFL, two of which came courtesy of Chiefs receiver Byron Pringle and Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers — Tampa natives who worked out with Johnson, Cain and McCloud in the offseason. It seems like only a matter of time until McCloud takes a punt or kick all the way home, right?
“He’s been really consistent in terms of being a potential-game breaker for us,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said after beating the Bengals last week. “We’re excited about his growth and development. We’ll just keep working and keep getting him to stadiums.”
If McCloud does break one, his hometown will celebrate him — a feeling that’s mutual. In late May, after some peaceful protests in the city turned destructive, Ray-Ray and Jordan McCloud organized a bunch of friends and football players in Tampa to help clean up an area not far from the USF campus where Jordan plays.
So beyond grateful and blessed for this experience with the mayor of Tampa @JaneCastor . It was so nice to sit down and discuss with you the positivity we can bring to the Tampa community! Can’t wait to take our ideas and put them into action. #baymade pic.twitter.com/6VGzYdp82S
— RayRay McCloud III (@RMIII_34) June 4, 2020
On Sundays, McCloud and Johnson — maybe Cain, too, eventually — will do their part to keep the Steelers rolling. It’s a little early to talk about the Super Bowl, but it’s being played at the same venue where McCloud and Cain claimed a national championship with Clemson’s win over Alabama in 2017.
That would be Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Buccaneers, site of the Steelers’ last Super Bowl victory, in 2009.
“Yup,” said Jordan McCloud, who’s allowed to look ahead more than anyone associated with the Steelers can, “Tampa, Florida.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: November 21, 2020, 10:00 a.m.