Just about every player the Steelers pick gets acquainted to coach Mike Tomlin through the pre-draft process, then has a more formal introduction by way of the phone call they’d been dreaming of — that “Are you ready to come to Pittsburgh?” call.
But rookie minicamp is their first real taste of what Tomlin is all about — the personality, the cliches, the standard.
“I would say one thing I’ve taken away so far from him is he’s really a people’s person,” first-round pick Najee Harris said Saturday, after two practices under the watchful eye of Tomlin. “He really takes time out of his day to really get to know the players that he’s drafted, and who he has. He really just looks out and really cares for the players. You can tell. He even comes to the locker room and chops it up with people. He’s really a ball of energy and a lot of people feed off of that. He’s easy to want to play for because he’s just such a likable person.”
That’s generally how players around the league — current, former or never-were Steelers — speak of Tomlin and his aura. Of course, the rookies who think they know him now will have a whole different perspective by the time training camp comes around and the harder coaching comes out.
At this point, they’re still in the orientation phase of learning what being a Pittsburgh Steeler entails — or at least what it’s supposed to entail in a perfect world. We all know that hasn’t always been the case here over the last several seasons.
In addition to learning and teaching the basics, this past weekend was focused on “getting to know us as individuals, us as an organization in terms of some of the things we hold near and dear — some cultural things,” Tomlin said.
“To foster some togetherness, to acknowledge this is the ultimate team game, and expose them to some of the things we hold near and dear in terms of team development or team cohesion.”
As for what’s next, it’s not as simple in 2021 as it was as recently as 2019. Pre-pandemic, it was a sure bet that most everyone on the 90-man offseason roster would be in attendance for organized team activities a couple weeks after rookie camp.
But as the NFL Players’ Association bucks back against the tradition of in-person, on-site workouts, there will be something of a roll call happening across the league next week. Reports indicated that the Jets had more than 80-plus players show up to their practice facility Monday, the Broncos had more than 70 and the Giants had at least 40.
“By rule, we’ll be able to continue with these guys on Monday, so that’s our level of expectation and we look forward to it,” Tomlin said Saturday of getting more time with the rookies.
Numbers game
Reading between the lines, it doesn’t seem the Steelers were in any hurry to start dishing out unusual numbers to newcomers despite relaxed rules around the league.
Now that the NFL is allowing more position groups to wear more jersey numbers — single-digits for more than just quarterbacks and specialists, for one — a flood of rookies are rushing to choose those options fresh out of college, where they could wear whatever they wanted. Fourth overall pick Kyle Pitts, star tight end from Florida, will wear No. 8 for the Falcons. Wideout Ja’Marr Chase, who was drafted one spot later, will wear No. 1 for the Bengals.
But in Pittsburgh, there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Sixth-round pick Quincy Roche, an outside linebacker, wore a single digit during his time at Temple and Miami, but will step into No. 48 as a Steeler — and it’s not to try to make anyone forget about Bud Dupree.
“I didn't really pick the number,” Roche said. “It was just kind of one of the best numbers available.”
Fourth-round pick Buddy Johnson wore No. 1 the past three years at Texas A&M despite playing linebacker, but the Steelers haven’t issued that jersey since 1997, so Johnson will wear a more traditional No. 51. Seventh-round pick Tre Norwood wore No. 13 at Oklahoma, but he, too, is sticking to the normal range for an NFL defensive back with No. 21.
“Just from the options that were presented to me, I felt like 21 was the best,” Norwood said. “It’s something new. It doesn’t have quite the significance my college or high school number had, but it will definitely have significance here in the future.”
While players are thrilled to have more choices, not everyone likes the change from the NFL. None other than Tom Brady complained that it will make life more difficult for offenses.
"Good luck trying to block the right people now!" Brady posted last month on Instagram. “Going to make for a lot of bad football.”
Guess that won’t be a problem for Brady if he meets the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
The other guys
The lone quarterback at rookie camp was Roland Rivers III, one year removed from a Harlon Hill-winning season at Slippery Rock as the Division II player of the year. Rivers was one of five prospects there on a tryout basis and might never don a Steelers jersey again, but that’s also how Devlin Hodges earned his way onto the roster once upon a time, and it can't hurt to be in the team’s virtual rolodex should any depth issues arise in the future.
Hey, at least the Steelers thought enough of him to have him there at all. The Detroit Lions made some headlines under new head coach Dan Campbell by not using any of their limited roster spots on a quarterback — not even as a tryout player like Rivers — and instead using assistant coaches to throw passes in drills.
One of the assistants on Campbell’s staff who got in on the action was former Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, a college quarterback at Indiana. He’s also 1 for 1 for 43 yards and a touchdown all time in Super Bowls.
Other non-rookie players at the minicamp included five holdovers from last year’s Steelers practice squad: offensive tackle Jarron Jones, long-snapper Christian Kuntz, defensive end Calvin Taylor, offensive tackle Brandon Walton and wide receiver Cody White. Kuntz, a standout pass-rusher at Duquesne via Chartiers Valley High School, is now listed only as a long-snapper and will try to challenge veteran Kameron Canaday as his path to the active roster.
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: May 17, 2021, 8:15 p.m.
