Joe Rutter stories, Page 41
Pittsburgh Maulers believe best of season to come in USFL championship game
CANTON, Ohio — Ray Horton can’t take credit for the inspirational words that have served as the Pittsburgh Maulers’ rallying cry late in the USFL season. The Maulers, coached by the former Steelers assistant and NFL defensive coordinator, have overcome a 2-6 start with three consecutive wins that improbably have...
Steelers sign 1st-round pick Broderick Jones, 2nd-rounder Keeanu Benton to rookie deals
After going more than a month without getting one of their three remaining unsigned draft picks under contract, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed first-round offensive tackle Broderick Jones and second-round defensive tackle Keeanu Benton to their rookie contracts Friday. Jones signed about an hour after the Steelers inked Benton to his...
Allen Robinson looking to use break as way to build connection with Steelers QB Kenny Pickett
As he enters his first full season as an NFL starting quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kenny Pickett looks to build on the on-field connection he has forged over the past year with wide receivers Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. The time Pickett has spent with veteran pass catcher Allen...
Sad day for Mike Tomlin as minicamp ends, summer break begins for Steelers players
If the worst day of the calendar year for coach Mike Tomlin is when the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ends, next on the list is when minicamp concludes. That means a six-week lull before Tomlin can resume football activities with his players. The early months of his offseason are occupied with...
Matt Canada: ‘Organizational plan’ for Steelers is to keep running the ball in 2023
Matt Canada doesn’t plan to deviate from the run-oriented offensive script that helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win seven of their final nine games in 2022. In fact, he has been told to dial up more of it this season. The third-year offensive coordinator said Wednesday that he will implement a...
In 2nd year as coordinator, Teryl Austin adjusting to new faces on Steelers defense
Teryl Austin was a young defensive backs coach with the Seattle Seahawks in 2005 when they faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. This was before the vaunted “Legion of Boom” years in Seattle, and Austin recalled the team undergoing considerable turnover on defense in a short time span....
Steelers’ Najee Harris ‘advocating’ for more respect, better pay for running back position
Saquon Barkley has an ally in Najee Harris. Harris is under contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers and not in a position to hold out like Barkley, the New York Giants star running back and Penn State product who isn’t attending minicamp while trying to negotiate a long-term contract. Still, Harris...
Alex Highsmith working at Steelers minicamp, confident in new deal
Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith arrived at mandatory minicamp Tuesday minus the long-term contract he has been seeking from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He took the practice field with the rest of his teammates and was a full participant in team as well as individual drills. That was a departure from prior...
Kenny Pickett’s freedom with offense among several questions facing Steelers at minicamp
Phase 3, the final stage of offseason workouts, takes place this week for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the form of a three-day minicamp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Like the nine organized team activities that preceded it, players will don shorts and helmets but no shoulder pads, and tackling is...
Safety Keanu Neal brings experience, versatility to ever-changing Steelers secondary
Two weeks into NFL free agency, and Keanu Neal was still looking for a home. A former first-round pick and eighth-year veteran, Neal was out of work and looking for a team that could use a hard-nosed safety and player capable of moving into a linebacker role in subpackage situations....
Practicing with his father watching is no big deal for Steelers rookie Joey Porter Jr.
With the Pittsburgh Steelers inviting alumni to watch organized team activities this week, former linebacker and assistant coach Joey Porter made the short drive from the North Hills to watch one player in particular Thursday morning. His son. Rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the team’s first pick of the second...
Jaylen Warren looking to keep growing in role as No. 2 running back for Steelers
In terms of distance traveled, Jaylen Warren relocated about 10 feet in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room. The distance traveled in his young NFL career over the past year, however, might be impossible to calculate. A year ago, Warren was among a handful of undrafted rookie prospects trying to earn...
Minkah Fitzpatrick’s advice to Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith on contract talks: ‘Be patient’
It was 51 weeks ago, after the Pittsburgh Steelers had entered their break prior to training camp, that they signed Minkah Fitzpatrick to a contract extension that made him the highest-paid free safety in the NFL. The signing was not unexpected because of Fitzpatrick’s value to the team. He was...
Larry Ogunjobi returned to Steelers because of ‘how they took care of me’ in 2022 season
It took three trips into free agency for Larry Ogunjobi to sign a long-term contract with an NFL team. Considering all he went through to get to that point and the way he was used last season, that made it an easy decision for the veteran defensive tackle to re-sign...
Steelers quarterbacks embrace ‘new concepts’ in Matt Canada’s offense
If anyone knows — or thought he knew — the ins and outs of Matt Canada’s offense, it’s Mason Rudolph. Rudolph, the No. 3 quarterback on the Pittsburgh Steelers depth chart, has known the offensive coordinator since 2020 when Canada spent one season as quarterbacks coach. Canada was promoted the...
As he learns Steelers system on ‘daily basis,’ Broderick Jones gaining 1st-team experience
With the third phase of the Pittsburgh Steelers offseason workouts halfway over, first-round draft pick Broderick Jones already is making his move toward becoming a starter. Dan Moore, who started at left tackle the past two seasons, confirmed this week that he has been taking snaps at right tackle. That’s...
Young cornerbacks catching Patrick Peterson’s eye as Steelers amp up offseason workouts
Patrick Peterson could be forgiven for thinking the calendar had taken a time jump two months ahead. Instead of it reading June 1, it seemed like August for Peterson. Not just because of the sweltering heat and temperature that reached 90 degrees. It also was because of the intensity he...
Jersey that Steelers’ James Harrison wore when getting 1st sack, touchdown in 2004 up for auction
The white road uniform that Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison wore when recording his first sack and also when scoring his first NFL touchdown are up for auction. Harrison’s uniform is part of the Lelands auction house spring focus 2023 collection. The jersey has been photo-matched to the games during...
Center Mason Cole: Steelers’ line should be motivated by record, not additions
Despite improved play by the offensive line in the second half of the 2022 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed three free agents and used two draft picks, including their first-rounder, to fortify the position room. Center Mason Cole, whose position was the only one on the line not addressed in...
Linebacker Mark Robinson takes interception of Steelers QB Kenny Pickett in stride
Mark Robinson didn’t have to be reminded the identity of the quarterback he intercepted late in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organized team activity session Tuesday. The second-year inside linebacker — a rare holdover at his position from his rookie season — picked off starting quarterback Kenny Pickett on an underthrown pass...
Newly signed Markus Golden accepting of role as No. 3 outside linebacker in Steelers defense
For the third year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers added a veteran outside linebacker on a one-year contract. Perhaps by bringing in Markus Golden during offseason workouts — as opposed to later in the summer — the organization can avoid the issues that arose in the previous two years....
New location at Steelers headquarters, but same determination for QB Mason Rudolph
If Mason Rudolph didn’t get the change of scenery he thought he might find in free agency after spending five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he certainly got it when he returned to the team’s practice facility for organized team activities. Rudolph’s locker, the one he had used every year...
Steelers hope marketing agreement leads to regular-season game in Ireland
The only time the Pittsburgh Steelers played a regular-season game outside the United States was in 2013 when they lost to the Minnesota Vikings at London’s Wembley Stadium. When that drought ends, Ireland would like to throw its hat into the ring as a host country. At a press conference...
T.J. Watt talks swimming pool slip, suiting up with new, old faces in Steelers’ position room
After missing the first day of organized team activities, T.J. Watt joined his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates for the two other scheduled workouts this week at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. That’s probably a good thing for the seventh-year veteran and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year. As Watt showed with...
After reflecting on 12th season with Steelers, Cameron Heyward ready to tackle another year of challenges
After completing his 12th NFL season in 2022, Cameron Heyward spent considerable time in the winter thinking about the “R” word. Just not the one that immediately springs to mind when it involves a 34-year-old defensive tackle who is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning....
