While football is the main topic of conversation at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex during the three-day minicamp, there is also another topic on the mind of the players.
Golf.
The U.S. Open is being held at Oakmont Country Club in the Pittsburgh area, with multiple players planning on attending once minicamp wraps up.
And they will have someone with Steelers ties to root for in Lucas Glover.
Glover, who won the U.S. Open in 2009, has deep Steelers roots as his grandfather, Dick Hendley, played for the team in 1951 and he has had a love for the Steelers as long as he can remember.
"My grandfather played there in the 50s," said Glover. "So, I grew up watching them with him. He was drafted as a blocking back. Pittsburgh was the last team that ran the single wing formation that used the blocking backs. He had a place to play for a couple of years. Then they went to the T formation. He went back home to play baseball.
"So, I grew up watching them with him. I've been up here for a few games. I kept up with them since I could remember."
It was his grandfather who grew his interest in sports, never knowing where it would lead him.
"He's the one that got me started in sports," said Glover. "When it comes to football, it's one of my passions because of him also. He came up here and it's an easy organization to pull for, mainly because of him."
Like the U.S. Open, which is steeped in tradition, that is one of the draws Glover has to the Steelers, knowing it's an organization that shares the values he sees as being important.
"Tradition and model organization," said Glover. "And not a lot of turnover in coaching. You get to know the coaches, and a lot of times you get to the team. It just feels like family, the Rooney's kind of run it that way.
"It's just a model organization."
With multiple Steelers players on hand for the Open this weekend, Glover likes the fact that his ties to the team will have some of them out there supporting him and having an appreciation for the game they play as well.
"That will be awesome," said Glover. "Some of them are hard to recognize without all the gear on, but I'll be looking for them. Hopefully I get to meet a couple of them."
