First Call: Jets sign ex-Steelers LB; update on Najee Harris; Duquesne president wants hoops City Game back
Tuesday’s “First Call” brings us back from the Labor Day weekend with news about three linebackers who used to be Pittsburgh Steelers. There is an update on Najee Harris. The Pirates face two tough opponents back-to-back at PNC Park.
And Duquesne’s president wants the Pitt basketball rivalry back after Saturday’s football game crowd.
See you soon
A pair of former Steelers linebackers are in the news with upcoming opponents.
Robert Spillane has been named a captain with the New England Patriots. This honor comes in Spillane’s first year with the club.
The leaders ???? pic.twitter.com/3p2fjomqhY
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 1, 2025
The Steelers visit New England in Week 3. Spillane signed with the Pats to play under former Steeler and Patriot Mike Vrabel this offseason.
Prior to his arrival in Foxborough, Spillane was a Tennessee Titan in 2018. Then he was in Pittsburgh from 2019-22. The Raiders signed him in free agency after that, and he played in Las Vegas for two seasons before coming back east.
A month ago, Spillane talked about how he was still “hurt” over how his time in Pittsburgh ended.
Meanwhile, the Steelers’ Week 1 opponent, the New York Jets, just signed linebacker Mykal Walker to the practice squad. He was a Steeler in 2023. Since then, he’s been with Arizona and Washington.
Also, the New Orleans Saints are signing edge rusher Eku Leota to their practice squad. He worked out in New Orleans on Monday. That’s according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. The Steelers waived him last week.
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• Steelers name 2025 captains with 55 NFL seasons, 13 All-Pro nods between them
Set to go
It appears Najee Harris should be OK to suit up for the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday when they play the Kansas City Chiefs as part of the NFL’s opening weekend of activity.
The Chiefs are preparing that way at least. That’s according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Harris went through three straight practices last week and got cleared for contact Friday. Chiefs are preparing for him. https://t.co/BneXdiWMth
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 1, 2025
During a press briefing Monday, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh stated that Harris has been cleared for contact and there’s a “possibility” he plays against Kansas City.
Harris’s Game 1 availability has been a question throughout training camp since he suffered an eye injury during a fireworks incident on the Fourth of July.
Harris left the Steelers to join Los Angeles in free agency this offseason.
Doesn’t get easier
After taking two of three on the road from one of the best teams in the American League, the Pirates now return home to play six games in a row against two of the National League’s best.
The Los Angeles Dodgers come in at 78-59 (.569), good for first place atop the National League West. On Sunday they got a bottom of the ninth pinch hit homer from Will Smith to salvage one game from the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-4, after dropping the first two of that series.
The @Dodgers have hit 4 pinch-hit walk-off home runs since 2019.
Will Smith has hit ALL FOUR ???? pic.twitter.com/AdpVDZWH3V
— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2025
Like the Bucs, L.A. was off yesterday. According to MLB.com, Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 3.06 ERA), Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 4.18) and Blake Snell (3-3, 2.41) will pitch for the Dodgers against the Pirates.
Pittsburgh counters with Carmen Mlodzinski (3-7, 3.86), Braxton Ashcraft (4-2, 2.45) and Paul Skenes (9-9, 2.05). All the games start at 6:40 p.m.
Skenes was dominant with 6⅓ shutout innings, nine strikeouts and no walks when the teams met in L.A. in April. The Pirates won that game 3-0. The Dodgers took the other two contests in the series, 8-4 and 9-2.
After Los Angeles leaves town, Milwaukee comes into PNC Park for the weekend. They swept the Pirates in Wisconsin last month. The Brewers are 85-54. That’s the best record in Major League Baseball.
Run it back
Duquesne president Ken Gormley is pushing for a return of the City Game — on the basketball court.
Pitt and Duquesne drew 53,006 to Acrisure Stadium for the renewal of the long-dormant intracity football rivalry on Saturday. So Gormley is using that platform as leverage to reboot the men’s basketball rivalry too.
“My view is, ‘Look, we’re here. We’re not afraid to play this game.’ So let’s get back to having the City Game, which is an institution in Pittsburgh. We’re ready to play anytime,” Gormley said during halftime of the Dukes Football Network Radio broadcast. “Hashtag: Bring back the City Game.”
Gormley says he has been leaving it up to the athletic directors — Dave Harper at Duquesne and new Pitt AD Allen Greene — to work it out without direct presidential involvement. But he insists that the Pitt basketball fans he knows want the game to return as well.
“We played it (87) times. It’s time to bring it back,” Gormley continued. “I went to Pitt undergrad (1977). My friends from Pitt all want to see that City Game. You look out into the stands (Saturday), and you look out into the parking lots, this is a signature event for the city of Pittsburgh.”
Pitt holds a 55-32 edge in the hoops series. The Panthers won the last two meetings before the rivalry went dark in 2018. Duquesne last won an edition of the City Game in 2016, 64-55.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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