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First Call: Return of a Heinz Field ketchup bottle; Twitter doubts Tom Brady's retirement; Calvin Austin III runs again | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

First Call: Return of a Heinz Field ketchup bottle; Twitter doubts Tom Brady's retirement; Calvin Austin III runs again

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Tribune-Review
A crew with Century Steel Erectors removes one of the Heinz ketchup bottle signs from Acrisure Stadium, formerly Heinz Field, on July 18, 2022.

Wednesday’s “First Call” features a return of an Acrisure Stadium favorite and a potential return to the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. Pitt and Penn State both have big games Wednesday night. Tuesday was an exciting evening in the Metropolitan Division.

And some fans are a bit dubious of Tom Brady’s latest retirement.

For real this time?

NFL legend Tom Brady has announced his retirement … again.

This time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB insists it’s going to stick. Brady said he was stepping away from the game last offseason, only to change his mind and play one more year with the Bucs.

Many who follow the NFL on Twitter seem skeptical.

From a Steelers perspective, if Brady really is done, at least their last game against him will go down as a victory. The Steelers beat Brady’s Bucs 20-18 at Acrisure Stadium in October.

They are back!

Well one of them anyway.

Yes, the old Heinz ketchup bottles from what used to be called Heinz Field may be making a return to the home stadium of the Steelers.

The memorable accoutrements were taken down from the open end of Acrisure Stadium before this season began once the building was renamed.

But now, via WPXI’s Jenna Harner, team owner Art Rooney II said one of the giant bottles is going to be displayed outside of Gate C. It’ll now be named the Heinz Gate.

“At least one of the ketchup bottles is going to reappear here at the new Heinz Gate, which is the old Gate C,” Rooney said. “The Heinz folks renamed that gate, and we’re working on having one of the ketchup bottles displayed over there.”

No word whether it’s going to light up in red outside the stadium every time the Steelers enter the red zone.

Related

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• Steelers' WR3 over the 2nd half of the season, Steven Sims makes case to keep role in '23
• First Call: Pat Freiermuth says Steelers offense 'didn't have hots'; Cam Sutton wants to stay

On the mend

Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin is running once again. That’s evident via a video he posted on his Instagram account.

Austin was a fourth-round draft choice last year. But he missed the whole season with a foot injury that needed surgery. The diminutive pass catcher had 2,541 receiving yards during four years at Memphis. He also racked up 27 total touchdowns.

The Steelers have an opening for a third receiver after trading Chase Claypool to Chicago. Steven Sims filled that role last year.

Carolina on their minds

The Pitt men’s basketball team was one of the “last four in” at Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology field for ESPN. They have a good chance to better that standing with a win Wednesday night at North Carolina.

The Panthers are 8-3 in conference play, good for third place in the ACC. The Tar Heels are in fourth place at 7-3. Neither team is currently ranked in the top 25.

Jeff Capel’s crew has won four of its last five games. The Panthers won the first meeting between the clubs at the Petersen Events Center 76-74 on Dec. 30. That’s when UNC was still ranked 25th in the country. Jamarius Burton had 31 points for the Panthers. Blake Hinson had 16.

North Carolina is an 8.5-point favorite according to Caesar’s.

Take ’em down

The Penn State men’s basketball team is on the road on Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions are visiting the best team in the country.

Top-ranked Purdue welcomes Micah Shrewsberry’s club for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. The Boilermakers are 21-1, and they sit atop the Big Ten with a 10-1 conference record. Penn State is 14-7 overall, with a 5-5 conference mark.

Penn State is 0-13 all-time against top-ranked teams. The Nittany Lions took No. 1 Indiana to double-overtime in an 88-84 loss in 1993. They fell by one point 50-49, at No.1 Temple in 1988. They dropped a 56-50 decision in overtime to top-ranked North Carolina in 1981.

Shrewsberry used to be an assistant on Purdue’s staff. Lunardi has PSU as one of its last four teams in the field of 68 with Pitt.

Squeeze ’em in

The Penguins are done playing before the All-Star break. In fact, they have been since Saturday. But some of their Metropolitan Division rivals are still going.

On Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes came back from three goals down to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4. Ex-Penguin Jordan Staal scored his 14th goal of the season as part of the comeback. Sebastian Aho got the game winner on a power play in overtime to give te Canes a sixth straight win.

Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals won in overtime as well, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 thanks to an Evgeny Kuznetsov goal.

The victory gives the Caps 60 points. They are three points in front of the Penguins for the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The Pens hold the second spot, one point better than the Buffalo Sabres (56). Buffalo hosts Carolina on Wednesday.

The Canes are atop the Metro with 74 points, six points in front of the second-place New Jersey Devils. The third-place New York Rangers have 62.

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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