Get you a tight end who likes your team as much as Eric Ebron seems to like the Pittsburgh Steelers. And that appears to be quite a bit for a guy who has never even been the building yet and probably hasn’t even spoken to most of the coaching staff directly.
The six-year veteran former first-round pick since a two-year, $12 million contract to pair with Vance McDonald earlier this offseason, and since then—even before officially signing—he has been repping the black and gold and talking up his new teammates and coaches.
One of the big draws for coming to Pittsburgh, other than playing with Ben Roethlisberger, seems to be head coach Mike Tomlin, which isn’t exactly a surprise. A lot of players who come here from other organizations talk about Tomlin’s effect and his reputation as experienced in other locker rooms, which at times appears to be universally positive.
Said Ebron of his new head coach, “I have so much respect for Mike Tomlin and it’s because Mike Tomlin always takes all of the blame. It doesn’t matter, any situation, anything. He is the type of coach you want to play for”. Even if that means raising Hell, or claiming to, and then going limp.
“He isn’t going to sugar coat anything, he isn’t going to make excuses. He knows that whatever happens on the field is a product of he is allowing it or teaching it”, Ebron went on. “The team is always a representation of him. For him to want me to be a part of it, and me being a part of it, it’s an honor. I have always loved Mike Tomlin. I have talked to him after games, when we had joint practices (while with the Lions), because he is that cool guy you always have a connection with”.
During an interview with Missi Matthews, she played back a clip of Tomlin talking about him and the threat that he poses prior to the Steelers playing the Colts last season. “Honestly, coming from him, a guy that’s probably played against a lot of tight ends, it obviously means, he knows that I’m effective, he knows what I’m capable of, and he believed in me enough to do those things for this team”, he said of the praise. “I appreciate it. If that’s what he thinks of me—I’m gonna tell my wife about it right now!”.
Ebron is expected to add another dynamic to the Steelers’ passing game and open up the 12 personnel package for a team that hasn’t had a versatile version of that pretty much ever. While he is not much of a blocking tight end, the package is a more balanced run-pass look when both of your tight ends can be considered legitimate receiving threats.
