With the contracts signed and the terms announced, we’ve reached the farewell-letters-in-the-Players Tribune portion of NFL free agency. And Bud Dupree would like you to know he really loved “Renegade.”
The linebacker signed a lucrative deal with Tennessee last week after six years of rushing the passer for the Steelers, and he wrote Wednesday that the Styx anthem — played at big moments for the defense — never failed to get him fired up.
“They play ‘Renegade,’ people go nuts, and then big things happen for the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Dupree wrote at the end of a long ode to the scoreboard feature. “That’s just how it goes. (Don’t even get me started about those Double Renegade games.) It’s legendary, man. I’ve never had more fun on a football field in my life. It’s just absolutely special.”
Dupree also reflected on not knowing much about Pittsburgh before arriving here in 2015, after he was chosen No. 22 overall out of Kentucky in the first round of that year’s NFL draft.
The legendary names, he says, were familiar to him. The team’s tradition and mentality were not, but he quickly adapted and learned to love both the organization and his teammates.
He gave special mention to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and defensive captain Cam Heyward for showing him what it meant to play here. And he saved his highest praise for coach Mike Tomlin.
“This is someone who is so much more than a coach,” Dupree wrote. “He’s a leader and a father figure for every guy in that locker room. I know words like that are thrown around a lot these days, but with Coach T, it’s really, really true. His thing is … he’s not just about football this and football that, he’s always sharing with us ways for us to be better men, better human beings. And he wants to know how our lives are going, how our kids are doing.”
The fans got a shoutout, too.
Dupree wrote that he never forgot their support during the early parts of his career, when injuries prevented him from living up to the lofty expectations of a first-round pick. Criticism was persistent, but so was encouragement.
He also loved how well they traveled to road games over the years, twice swamping Chargers fans in their home stadiums in both San Diego and Los Angeles.
And he’s looking forward to reuniting when the Steelers welcome the Titans to the Heinz Field this coming season, even if he’ll be on the receiving end of the home team’s pump-up video this time around.
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s definitely going to be weird to see that scoreboard go black at some point late in the game and to hear that heartbeat and that scream and … not be wearing black and gold,” he wrote.
Adam Bittner: abittner@post-gazetre.com and Twitter @fugimaster24.
First Published: March 24, 2021, 5:14 p.m.
