Earlier in the week, Pittsburgh Steelers newest linebacker Jarvis Jones was on SiriusXM NFL Radio talking about the upcoming draft and revealed that he has been working out with renown trainer Tom Shaw down in Florida at the Wide World of Sports complex.
Shaw, as many of you should be well aware of by now, has trained Steelers cornerbacks Ike Taylor and William Gay for years now. Fellow cornerback Cortez Allen is even a client now of Shaw\’s as well.
During his conference call with the Pittsburgh media following him being selected 17th overall by the Steelers in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft, Jones was asked about training alongside Taylor the last few months, and what the veteran cornerback had told him so far about the Steelers organization.
“Ike is one of my best mentors and we train together,” said Jones. “He just talked about how great the program is and what their defense means up there. It means a whole lot. They take pride in what they do. Everybody knows the Steel Curtain. It’s their thing, the defense in Pittsburgh. I’m just so happy to work hard for this organization.”
Taylor is not the only link that Jones has to the Steelers organization as he also revealed during the aforementioned interview on Sirius that former Steelers defensive lineman Brentson Buckner, who is now the defensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals, is also a mentor of his.
“Brentson Buckner, the defensive line coach for Arizona, has been a long-time mentor for me since I was in eighth grade,” said Jones. “Him and Tony Adams. Just having that group there, it just worked out tremendous for me, because they all knew what it takes and they know what I want. They know that I\’m just out here to just keep training and keep working to be the best.”
This is all great news to start with as Shaw really is the best in the business. Knowing that Buckner has been a mentor for Jones since he was in eighth grade is also refreshing to hear. As far as character goes, Jones seems to be past all of his hardships. Now all that he has to do is live up to the expectations of being a first-round draft pick for the Steelers.
One thing is for certain and that is he ought to show up for training camp in excellent shape.
