Brief note to pass along to you this Friday before heading into the weekend. Former Pittsburgh Steeler nose tackle Josh Frazier announced he’s walking away from the game, sharing the news in a tweet Thursday afternoon.
Frazier mentions some personal issues in his life that would make it tough to fully commit to football. Drafted in the 7th round last year, the team took a flier on him and his connection to defensive line coach Karl Dunbar, who coached him at Alabama. He had limited production and never made an official start though following the draft, Dunbar noted that was because of injury and all the talent the Crimson Tide d-line boasted.
“He was a five-star kid out of Arkansas,” Dunbar said last May. “He played a lot his freshman year until he got hurt”, Dunbar said of Frazier. “The second year, that’s when Da’Ron Payne came in and took over that job. It’s the luck of the draw sometimes when you go to a team that has a lot of talent. It’s almost like what some people say, the Wally Pip story. He took a day off and never got his job back”.
Unfortunately, Frazier’s time in Pittsburgh was brief and uneventful. He struggled to get reps and make notable plays in practice. Here’s what we wrote in our end-of-camp recap.
“A very quiet camp. Someone who did show what was reported in college. A quick first step and strong punch. You saw it in small quantities, maybe one rep in team drills, a little more in 1v1 when it’s easier to see these things, but his performance felt like nothing more than a practice squad contender. That’s where his best odds are of ending up though if you read my latest roster prediction, I don’t discount cutting him outright. Three nose tackles is sorta like carrying two fullbacks. In this era, you don’t need it.”
And that’s what happened. Frazier was released outright and as far as I’m aware, didn’t land on anyone else’s roster last year. He briefly played for the Birmingham Iron in the AAF before the league folded.
We certainly wish Frazier the best in his career. As his tweet indicates, he got to be part of something special at Alabama and hey, got drafted and into the NFL. Something most guys, even ones who played college ball, can’t claim.
