While player are not allowed to converge at team facilities—at least not yet; there is a chance that at least some may able to do so by the end of this month—that doesn’t mean that some players haven’t found ways to keep in touch and get together. We have, of course, seen Ben Roethlisberger working with some of his skill position players. Mason Rudolph has worked out with different groups of players.
And we’ve also recently learned that several of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive linemen have also been getting together this offseason to do some workouts, as Tyson Alualu recently told Teresa Varley for an article about what his home life has been like under quarantine.
Noting that he has been “working out on a regular basis with Daniel McCullers and Cameron Heyward outside of the home, Varley wrote that it is something of an escape for all of them, to get to some sort of normality, to see teammates face-to-face.
“Working with the guys, it’s a lot different than staying confined and being in the house the whole time”, Alualu said. “It’s nice to go outside and get fresh air, be around people you would be around at this time of year, being able to compete and have that same competitive edge we would have back at the facility”.
He did talk about the fact that he has a proper setup at home, with the inclusion of some new racks to flesh out his gym, where he also spends time working out with his children. All athletes have been finding ways to adapt their routines to the times while gyms are closed and they don’t have access to the sort of equipment and resources they ordinarily would have.
Varley only mentioned two linemen that Alualu has been working with, but that shouldn’t be a great shock. Outside of Stephon Tuitt, who is still recovering from a season-ending injury, they are the only other veteran linemen who have been with the team. Isaiah Buggs is only going into his second year, and may not even yet live in the Pittsburgh area. Chris Wormley hasn’t even been in Pittsburgh yet since he was acquired via trade. And Carlos Davis, of course, is a rookie.
They all have the opportunity to ‘meet’, of course, online, over virtual Zoom meetings when the position group gets together. But for the most part, he has been taking advantage of this time to spend it with his family, as many of us have.
“The blessing in disguise is we get to spend this much time with them”, he told Varley. “We are trying our best to quarantine them and make the most of the time we get. Being around them so much more is special, because of our schedules being busy, and them being involved with school it was always on the go, from taking one person to practice, picking another one up, working out”.
I do hope that we all find some things that we can take away from the times of social distancing that we can apply to the permanent betterment of our lives.
