Steelers teammates, coaches, loved ones pay respects at Dwayne Haskins' memorial service

Dozens of friends and teammates joined the wife of late Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins and packed Allegheny Center Alliance Church for a private service Friday that celebrated the 24-year-old’s life.

The memorial service was preceded by a two-hour public viewing session at the North Side church.

Most of the current Steelers roster, including quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, attended the 90-minute ceremony.

Haskins was in south Florida as part of a workout and bonding session orchestrated by Trubisky when he was struck and killed in the early morning of April 9 as he walked along an interstate near Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

Among those in attendance Friday were Steelers team president Art Rooney II, general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin. Haskins’ former college coaches at Ohio State — Urban Meyer and Ryan Day — also were on hand.

Haskins’ parents, though, were not.

In a statement released through a public relations firm on behalf of Dwayne Haskins Sr., Tamara and Tamia Haskins, the family said it would attend services Saturday in New Jersey and Sunday in Maryland.

“We have never met or spoken to the wife, and we didn’t want our son’s funeral service to be the place we met her for the first time,” Haskins’ parents said in the statement.

Dwayne and Kalabrya were married March 19, 2021.

Haskins’ funeral service will be held in Rockaway, N.J., where he grew up. A vigil will be held Sunday in Potomac, Md. The Haskins family moved there when he was in ninth grade, and he played football at Bullis School before enrolling at Ohio State.

Inside Allegheny Center Alliance Church, Haskins’ closed casket sat on the altar flanked by glass-encased jerseys from high school, college and the pros. To the left of the casket were Haskins’ No. 7 jerseys from Bullis School and Ohio State. To the right sat his No. 7 jersey from Washington and his No. 3 with the Steelers.

The eulogy was provided by Steelers chaplain and pastor, Kent Chevalier.

Speakers included Kalabrya Haskins; Tomlin; Haskins’ agent, Cedric Saunders, childhood friends Mohamed Jabbie and Mykel Traylor-Bennett; and wide receiver Steven Sims, who played with Haskins in Washington and with the Steelers.

After about 70 minutes, the ceremony moved outdoors to the steps of the church. Guests were handed yellow roses as they exited the church, and the casket was carried to the sidewalk. Kalabrya Haskins draped herself over the casket as a Whitney Houston song played.

Pallbearers were Stanford Becton, Grant Gondrezick II, Eric Hegamin, Davaris Turner, Jabbie and Traylor-Bennet.

At the conclusion of the service, three white doves were released into the air.

Haskins spent just a year with the Steelers before his death. He was expected to compete for the starting quarterback job this season, a position that became open by Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement.

According to 911 calls, Haskins’ car had run out of gas, and he was trying to obtain some after the vehicle had become disabled. He was struck by a dump truck and another vehicle at 6:37 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.