Steelers' Cameron Heyward keeps making progress with play, charitable work

Since he established his charitable foundation in 2015, Cameron Heyward has set a modest goal, one that also could serve as his motto on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Each year,” he said, “we’ve challenged ourselves to do a little more.”

Heyward hopes incremental success — individually as a defensive tackle and collectively for the Steelers — will lead to a Super Bowl championship. In terms of his charitable work, it would mean an equally lofty accomplishment.

Heyward, 30, has been nominated as the Steelers representative for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award three times in the past four years. Yet, much like a Super Bowl appearance that eluded Heyward in his first eight NFL seasons, he aspires to win the national Walter Payton Award, which no Steelers player has done since Jerome Bettis in 2001.

In the three years Heyward was nominated, the national award was won by Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (2015), Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (2017) and Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long (2018).

“I would love to win it, but I know there are a lot of great contestants,” Heyward said. “There are a lot of great guys around the league that are deserving of it as well.”

The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is given annually to a player on each of the 32 teams for his accomplishments on the field and his charitable contributions off it. Considering the continuation of charity work the Heyward House Foundation has done this year, there is no reason to think that Heyward won’t be nominated for a fourth time.

Nominees typically are announced in the first week of December.

“To be nominated for that award, I take a lot of pride in that,” Heyward said. “It’s a testament to the people I have around me, the people I am surrounded with, my teammates. For them to participate, to give back their time and help out, that’s one I live for.”

As the holiday season approaches, and with the 6-5 Steelers chasing a playoff berth, Heyward will take time to expand his charity work in the community. He has held a turkey drive for needy families in recent years and will do so again Dec. 17 at South Side Market House.

The first time Heyward was nominated for the Walter Payton award, it coincided with the opening of The Heyward House, which is located in Highland Park. As a child with a severe asthma condition and someone who lost his father — former Pitt star and NFL running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward — when he was in high school, Heyward wanted to find a way to help kids in need.

Among the projects affiliated with The Heyward House:

• Craig’s Closet: It’s an endeavor that provides high school boys with dress clothes for job interviews, internships and the prom.

“The idea came about because my dad had only one suit throughout high school and college,” Heyward said. “It was his idea to make sure everyone was taken care of. You want to look good when you play good.”

• Blessings in a Backpack: The program provides backpacks of food for children to take home for the weekend. It ensures that children on free or reduced lunch programs have meals when they are away from school.

“Kids don’t have to feel embarrassed for not having a lunch,” Heyward said.

• Cameron Heyward Birthday Club. The foundation, in conjunction with KidsVoice, provides gift cards with a personalized birthday card to more than 200 foster children per year.

The foundation also has raised money for cancer awareness with the sale of “Pittsburgh is Stronger than Cancer” T-shirts. The Heyward House also works with the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania and after-school fitness programs.

The foundation’s signature event, its Super Bowl if you will, is its annual gala, which was Nov. 4 at Carnegie Science Center.

“I have to keep setting goals each year because we keep growing,” Heyward said. “We have different sponsors, people that we touch. I just love our progression. … I just love giving back.”

Heyward’s on-field work with the Steelers has kept pace with his charitable contributions. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl two times and first-team All-Pro once.

Individual accolades started coming for Heyward in 2017, his seventh in the NFL. He became an All-Pro and was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in successive seasons while leading the Steelers with 12 sacks.

This season, with five games remaining, Heyward is third on the team with 6 1/2 sacks and eight tackles for loss and ranks second on the Steelers with 16 quarterback hits. Only two other NFL defensive tackles have more sacks or quarterback pressures.

Heyward also was named a defensive captain for the fifth year in a row.

“What you’re seeing is a guy late in his career get better and better, and that’s what you appreciate about him,” guard Ramon Foster said. “He’s not a guy who is falling off and you worry about him. He’s continually getting better. Chasing the ring is part of the process, but seeing him individually get a whole lot better, too, is awesome.”

Heyward’s growth as an NFL player has, in some ways, mirrored the growth of his charitable causes. Still, as much as Heyward would love to win the national Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, he is content with the recognition his foundation has received in his home city.

“It ranks up there with anything I’ve ever done,” he said. “To be recognized on the field is one thing. To be recognized off the field, it means you’re making a difference.”