The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
JASON GODFREY FROM ENOREE, SC: I remember an episode of "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger" where he talked about Heath Miller helping him get the correct play called. Is that an expectation from a tight end to know the offense that way? Or was Heath just that guy?
ANSWER: Throughout his career with the Steelers, Heath Miller was just that guy. During his 11 NFL seasons, Miller played in 168 of a possible 176 regular season games, and in one accounting of the 8 in which he didn't appear only 5 were because of injury. He was voted to 2 Pro Bowls, but that small number had more to do with him not having a featured role in an offense that over the course of his career included players such as Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace, and Le'Veon Bell. I believe his teammates made a statement about Miller's value and the respect they all had for him in 2012 – Miller's 8th NFL season – when they voted him Steelers MVP. The Steelers have voted for an MVP 56 times – starting with Chuck Noll's inaugural season of 1969 – and Heath Miller is the only tight end ever to have been so recognized.
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MARK WINSCHEL FROM AVON LAKE, OH: As we approach OTA sessions it is always a point of discussion whether an established veteran needs to attend. I will completely agree that those who have mastered their technique do not need the physical reps. Do you find value in those established players attending OTAs to pass on their mental insight to the younger players, who may find themselves lined up opposite of the T.J. Watts of the world?
ANSWER: Certainly there is value even to established players in attending OTAs, but I believe the sessions are much more valuable for young players and maybe the sessions close to critical for guys who are new to the NFL. And in that sense, the young/new players maybe can glean things from watching the way the veterans carry themselves in meetings and during practices, but there is a big difference between watching T.J. Watt going through a workday vs. having to line up across from him during a training camp practice in pads or during a backs-on-backers drill.
WILLIAM W. SONNIK FROM TRAFFORD, PA: The Steelers (as do all teams) invite possible draftees, free agents, and tryout players to visit with their staff. Does the NFL require a list of those visitors even if they do not sign with the team, and is that list made public?
ANSWER: The NFL likely requires teams to report the names of "possible draftees, free agents, and tryout players" who visit them, likely because there are rules governing those visits and the league office wants to make sure everybody is following them. And while those names of players have a way of leaking out – via social media, agents, the players themselves – the NFL does not publish those names because teams could consider that proprietary information. Because there is competition among teams to draft/sign players.
KURT WINEMAN FROM MEBANE, NC: I saw a blurb on TV the other day from an ESPN 30 for 30 episode with Tony Siragusa saying that the Ravens Super Bowl defense was the best defense of all time. I think some Steelers from 1978 might have a bone to pick with that statement, as well as William "Refrigerator" Perry from the 1985 Bears. Can you share your opinion on this topic please?
ANSWER: Of course Tony Siragusa is going to say the 2000 Ravens defense was the best Super Bowl defense of all time for no other reasons than he played DT for that team and always has loved nothing as much as the sound of his own voice. There is no way to definitively determine the best Super Bowl defense in NFL history, and it's pointless to even try. It's totally subjective based on the rooting interest of the individual making the argument.
GREG BRADLEY FROM HUBBARD, OH: With the announcement of the "Protector of the Year" award (which is long overdue in my opinion for the most unsung heroes of the league) do you think there's room for an award for the best of the most hated people in pro football – the officials. Perhaps an "official of the year" award that goes to the official with the most accurate percentage of non-missed calls.
ANSWER: I don't believe the NFL would be interested in picking one official and singling him/her out as having the "most accurate percentage of non-missed calls," because doing that could open up the issue of which were the calls that were missed and how did that percentage compare to the percentages of non-missed calls of other officials. There is a subtle way to determine the best officials, and that's to look at the crew working that season's Super Bowl. Those people generally are among the highest-graded officials in the league for that particular season.
STEVE GEORGE FROM OHIOVILLE, PA: Since the Steelers traded George Pickens would they consider looking at the UFL for a receiver? How does an NFL team sign a player from the UFL? I'm wondering if the Steelers would consider getting Deon Cain of the Birmingham Stallions.
ANSWER: The UFL typically releases players from their contracts once the season is over if they have a chance to earn a spot on an NFL roster. The Steelers assign scouts to comb through UFL game video and point out any players who might be worthy of being brought to training camp. As for WR Deon Cain, he already has a history with the Steelers. On Nov. 16, 2019, Cain was signed off the Indianapolis practice squad, and he caught 5 passes for 72 yards in six games that season. In 2020, he was waived after training camp and then signed to the practice squad, where he remained the rest of that season.
STEVEN REJDA FROM ROCHESTER, MI: I've heard a story about Joe Greene getting so frustrated that he hurled the football into stands. Apocryphal?
ANSWER: Factual. In 2000 when Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, part of his acceptance speech addressed that. "The first player to be assembled was Joe Greene. A man of intense determination to win. I remember the end of Joe's first year. Not a very successful season. Philadelphia had the lead and had just made a first down with less than two minutes to play. As the Eagles broke the huddle, Joe was so frustrated, he picked up the ball and threw it into the stands. Many of you remember that, I'm sure. He does. But I knew right then that things were going to be OK. He went on to dominate opposing lines for a decade."
In the Foreword of "A Different Way to Win" by Jim Rooney, Joe Greene wrote: "During my rookie season. I was a pretty bad actor on the field. I got thrown out of a few games, got into fights, and once against the Eagles, I grabbed a game ball before Philadelphia could snap it, heaved it into the stands, and stormed off the field. I was being held and the officials weren't calling it, so I was pretty mad. The officials were shocked. Flash forward 13 years: I'm back in (Dan Rooney's) office, telling him that I want to retire after so many great seasons with the Steelers. And he sits back and says, 'Joe, remember that game in your rookie year when you threw the ball into the stands?' And I thought, 'Oh, my goodness. Thirteen years have gone by and he never said a word about this.' And then he said, 'Joe, I felt the same way you did.'"
