New series to fill out the rest of the offseason. Which is mercifully close to being over. Inspired by a Jerame Tuman name-drop on the last edition of The Terrible Podcast, and a “Forgettable Pirates” twitter account that I love, we’ll rattle off a few Pittsburgh Steelers that have fallen into the recesses of your mind.
Said I had a good one for today and hopefully this lives up to the bar I set. One of the first training camp lifers I can remember in my young life, wide receiver Walter Young.
After being drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 7th round of the 2003 draft, and appearing in seven games during that rookie season, he made annual trips to Saint Vincent College. Despite his size that made him a fan favorite, he carved out a home on the Steelers’ practice squad.
In 2006, he was shipped to NFL Europe and became the leading receiver for the Frankfurt Galaxy, hauling in 31 passes for three touchdowns. Late that year, he came back to the United States, appearing in two games for the Steelers. It was then he would catch his first – and only – pass. In Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns, Young caught a 17 yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger on 3rd and 9. It’s a play I remember just enough of; able to tell you what happened on the play but not well enough to remember exactly what it looked like.
He would come back to training camp in 2007 before being sent away for the final time. He now works in tradeshow operations for Chicagoland’s GCJ Management, according to The News Gazette.
Young joined an infamous group of post-merger Steelers’ wide receivers to record just one catch in their career: Tyler Grisham, Dallas Baker, Mike Adams (not that one), and Corey Holliday.
We’ll leave you with this play. An ancient Youtube clip of Brandon Lloyd throwing a TD pass to Young in the 2002 Sugar Bowl. As grainy footage as it gets but it’s appropriate for the most obscure players to have the most obscure video.
Favorite moment from that clip? Mike Tirico’s call. “Oh, good stuff!” You tell ’em, Mike.
