For college football players, their path to the pros normally comes via the NFL Draft, selected by one of the League's 32 teams.
But for college students searching for a career in professional football, or professional sports in general, the path isn't always as clear.
And that is why the Steelers are doing their part to share advice and experience with college students who hope to one day embark on a career in the pros.
The Steelers communications department has offered a Student Summit for the past eight years, which has also been implemented by other professional sports team, including the New York Yankees.
This year, the summit has been expanded in the organization, now including communications, marketing and sales and gameday experience staff.
The idea of the summit is to share the day-to-day roles across different departments, help guide the students on a path to success in the industry and share ways to find success in the action-packed industry.
"When I look back to when I was the age of the students, there weren't a whole lot of opportunities like this," said Michael Bertsch, the Steelers assistant director of communications. "It seemed like there was such a massive gap to even connect with people that already work in the profession. You felt like you were on your own.
"The thing that we've done now, after eight years of it just being the communications department, is bring other parts of the organization in and have more eyes on everything we're doing, not just communications. And to see a lot of other sports organizations follow suit and mimic what we've done has been great."
The summit had two aspects to it, with 300 attending in person at Acrisure Stadium, while another 500 registered for the virtual aspect. And it's proven to be a success for the communications department over the years, with five former attendees landing internship roles with the team.
"One thing we talk about after the fact is it feels like from one year to the next, the students are more prepared for the jobs than maybe we were in our time," said Bertsch. "But this also gives them an understanding that you don't have to have a million things on your resume at 20 years old. This is an opportunity to not only engage with us, but also to network with each other and others in the profession."
The format included group sessions including one that highlighted the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on April 23-26, with Jim Sacco, the Steelers Senior Vice President of Stadium Operations and Management, Ryan Huzjak, the Senior Vice President of Business Operations, and Burt Lauten the Senior Director of Communications, giving an overview of planning, the Steelers involvement with the NFL-driven event, and what to expect.
"It took a lot of planning and the key thing is it's about our team and the teams that visit Pittsburgh," said Sacco. "One of the strongest commitments was getting everyone on board, the state, county, city, to the surrounding municipalities, because we're also making this a Western Pennsylvania football experience. All the legends that have come out of Pittsburgh that are either in the Hall of Fame or were drafted in the NFL.
"So, the research was really in depth. It's about everybody being involved and everybody being on board and carrying their weight."
The students were encouraged to experience the Draft in person, which they can do along with all other fans by downloading the NFL's One Pass app.
"The great part about the Draft that sets it apart from a lot of other major events is that it's largely free," said Huzjak. "It's more like a festival than it is a high end or ticketed event. So, the opportunity exists to really show casual fans, fans from out of market, fans from our market who may not be our avid fan, but just expose them to the sport of football at all levels. There'll be some interactive elements and a really open environment to attract football fans and get people excited about football at all ages."
Lauten broke down how the NFL Draft is run with the host committee and the hometown team, with the NFL steering the ship.
"A lot of people think the Pittsburgh Steelers are hosting this Draft," said Lauten. "It's actually in collaboration with visitPITTSBURGH, our local tourism agency, and also the NFL. So, my role is working collaboratively with the NFL and VisitPITTSBURGH to ensure that the messages that we want to get across to the media, the international media, the local media, media from around the country, those sorts of things. We want to show off Pittsburgh. We want to show off the region. We want to show off Western PA."
Before and after the NFL Draft portion, the breakout sessions were focused on communications, marketing and sales and gameday experience.
One of the guest speakers for communications was former General Manager Kevin Colbert, who shared with the students that his career started in sports information at Robert Morris College.
Colbert encouraged the students to take advantage of any opportunity they can, even if it isn't what they think their path will be.
"I was a sports information director," said Colbert. "I didn't want to do that coming out of college. I had some connections in the personnel world, but that was my only open door at that moment. So, take any door that's open and walk into it. And as you're doing the job that you're hired to do, don't be afraid to meet other people in other departments so that you can take care of your work, but also say, I'm interested in player personnel, can maybe I stop by and visit when I'm done with my work.
"Don't be afraid to do something that's not your ultimate goal. But if it gets you in that door, you never know who you're going to meet as you try to progress in your careers."
The summit included students from 160 schools, 40 states and three countries, including Brazil, Canada and New Zealand.
"We wanted to give more college students the behind the scenes look at what it's like to work for the Steelers," said Nicole Bauer, the Steelers growth and outlook marketing manager. "We want them to walk away with the understanding of all of the different career paths available, whether it's, marketing, communication, something with gameday and feel inspired to pursue that.
"On the other side of things, it is creating that talent pipeline of upcoming professionals. You are now connecting them to people and opportunities to help them move forward in their career."
The addition of marketing and sales and gameday experience flowed from the Steelers desire to connect more with the college audience, something they have done the last few years through the Student Rush program.
"The last several years, we've made great strides with connecting with college students through the Student Rush program and campus activations," said Bauer. "We want to position ourselves as a resource in their lives. We also want them to know we are paying attention to them. They are important. They are going to be filling our stadiums in the next couple of decades. We want to be a resource for them."
The summit included local students, to ones from all over the country, with the interests ranging far and wide for what they see for their future in sports.
"We are continuing to grow our footprint with our college community," said Justin Mitchell, the Steelers director of marketing who served as a moderator for much of the summit. "We're already active in colleges. We've been interacting with them but wanted to do it in a more intentional way and meet them where they are in their lives of trying to get a job. It made a lot of sense to grow that, so we talked with Burt (Lauten) and worked to broaden the great concept they had and reach some more students on that front.
"We have all worked in sports for a varying level of time. At one point in our lives, we asked how we do it, how do we get into sports. People want to work in sports. We get hundreds and hundreds of applications every single time we post an associate or internship role. This is a pathway where they can talk with us, hear stories from us, and have direct interaction.
"In addition, we are showing this side of our brand, and I think that is important in building the next generation of fans. The future of our fan base is dependent on our authenticity and connection to that audience."
