The Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 training camp will likely get underway sometime in July and not surprisingly, it’s looking more and more likely by the day that they will not hold their annual summer practices at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Pete Yanity of WPSA-TV in Spartanburg, South Carolina, sources have indicated that the NFL will soon make an announcement telling NFL teams they must remain at their own facilities this summer for preseason camps. The NFL is expected to make the announcement official Tuesday afternoon, according to the report.
It’s hard to imagine that Yanity’s report isn’t true as it makes sense for the NFL to require all 32 teams to hold their respective training camps at their own facilities and not at remote locations like a few teams still do.
Last week, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin indicated that several options were on the table for the team’s annual training camp with one of those being remaining in Pittsburgh.
“You know, right now I think we’re looking at all options,” Tomlin said about 2020 training camp location possibilities a week ago Monday during his interview with Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari. “We’re looking at Saint Vincent, we’re looking at Pittsburgh and we’re looking at some other undisclosed sites. Because obviously the safety and the protocol is first and foremost and we’ve got to put these guys in a situation that best checks those boxes.”
The Steelers have held their annual training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA for over 50 years and it now looks like that streak is certain to end in 2020. This will also likely result in fans not being able to watch any practices that take place at the team’s facility.
Should the Steelers ultimately decide to hold a night practice or two at Heinz Field this summer, hopefully limited fan attendance will be permitted. For now, however, all we can do is sit and wait for both the NFL and the Steelers to make official announcements. Last year the Steelers 2019 training camp schedule was released on June 12 so we should have the announcement of the team’s 2020 schedule within the next two weeks.
