INDIANAPOLIS - With Head Coach Mike McCarthy, the get-to-know-you dinners the Steelers have traditionally hosted with prospects while attending Pro Days will continue to be relied upon as information is sought during the pre-draft process.
"That's an important part of it for us to get to know those guys," General Manager Omar Khan maintained. "I want to find out if these guys are Steelers or not."
The Steelers came to the NFL Scouting Combine looking for medical information first and foremost. And for the right height-weight-speed combinations at the right positions. And for performances in on-filed drills and athletic testing that would confirm what they've seen on tape, or suggest what they've seen on tape needs to be studied again.
But what they're mostly looking for are a few good men.
"We're not looking for the other 31 teams," scout Zack Crockett emphasized. "We're looking for what a Steeler is.
"It's very different."
They know it when they see it, from the top of the organization on down.
"Part of what's great is Coach McCarthy understands and knows what a Steeler is," scout Jim Ward said. "He grew up here."
McCarthy grew up in Greenfield. Ward was raised in Munhall, in a family for which "every Sunday, when the Steelers played, was almost like a holiday."
He played at Slippery Rock and coached high school ball at South Allegheny and McKeesport.
So he gets what the Steelers are after.
"Somebody that's obsessed with football, a guy that's tough," Ward continued. "We've been blessed in Pittsburgh to see that over the course of time, some really strong Steelers, and you kinda know what those guys are. We can all probably describe them, all pick our favorite ones over the course of time.
"So when you come here (to the Combine) and you're going through the fall (visiting college campuses) and you're seeing the way these guys compete, their love for the game, their relationship with the game, their abilities to play through injuries and play with a level of toughness that maybe exceeds a lot of other players that we're seeing, they stand out. And that's kind of what the fabric of the Steelers has been made a long time ago.
"They're hard to find, there's not many. But the ones that we see, you gotta know and identify."
Crockett is from Pompano Beach, Fla., and played his college ball at Florida State.
His early exposure to what it means to be a Steeler occurred from the opposite side of the line of scrimmage as a rookie running back for the Colts in the 1995 AFC Championship Game at Three Rivers Stadium.
After a 13-year career as a player and now in his second act as a talent evaluator, Crockett understands.
"You're looking for a guy that has that heart," he explained. "A guy that's gritty. A guy that's gonna play for his brothers. A guy that loves it, that sleeps and eats it. And on top of that a guy that's great in the community, a guy that's his brother's keeper but on top of that he's about family.
"It doesn't get any better than that."
It doesn't for the Steelers because the prospects they seek, if things work out the way the Steelers anticipate, will grow into not just players capable of competing for championships but also leaders and examples for the next generation.
"Guys that believe in the organization but also believe in passing the torch to younger guys," Crockett said. "You can't beat that mentorship with guys that understand what this league is about and how to pass the torch and mentor younger guys so that same standard that the organization has, they understand what came before them, those younger guys.
"It's hard to find. You want the guy that, they're a freak of nature (athletically). But if he has our makeup, that solidifies it. We're looking for that bonafide rare dog that's out there. And that's what we're always gonna look for, that Steeler bonafide rare dog that's gonna wear it well."
For scouts such as Ward and Crockett, that's an ever-present prerequisite of the job.
"When you go in and you meet with different sources throughout a (football) building (on a college campus), and some of the ways those guys are described, you're hearing what you want to hear, it excites you and you want to go out and watch them play," Ward said. "Now, the play's gotta match what you're hearing. But when you start looking at intangible qualities and you're starting to look at their day-to-day approach, how they handle their business, the way that they compete, all those things matter.
"And obviously, the play's gotta back it up. And when you watch the play, you kinda know, 'This is a Steeler.'"
