Poison lead singer Bret Michaels is trying to convince the Pittsburgh Steelers of which quarterback they draft this year. A set of words you never thought would be strung together, let alone actually be true. And while Michaels will have zero impact on who the Steelers draft later this month, if they even draft a quarterback, he’s certainly giving it his best shot.
Ok, some context. Michaels, a die-hard Steelers’ fan, is a close family friend of Ole Miss’ QB prospect Matt Corral. Corral recently spoke with Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show and said Michaels is trying to get the Steelers to make him Ben Roethlisberger’s heir.
“I’ve talked to Bret throughout this process. He really wants me to land in Pittsburgh…I have the utmost respect for the Michaels family. What they’ve done for me is something I can never repay them for. They were there for me in tough times and helping me through and showing me guidance and being able to be there for me when I felt like nobody was.”
Corral met the Michaels’ family as a freshman in high school and quickly became friends. Over the years, Michaels has lobbied draft analysts and teams to take note, like this 2020 tweet.
Michaels’ prediction rang true. Corral is now considered a potential first-round pick and Pittsburgh has certainly done their homework. Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert attended his Pro Day and Corral is being brought in for a pre-draft visit.
Throughout Corral’s career, the two families have remained close. Michaels flew the Corral’s into Mississippi for their son’s final career home game, a 31-17 win over Vanderbilt.
Corral says Michaels has run a full-court press to get Pittsburgh interested.
“The Michaels’ family, Bret is really pushing Mr. Rooney for them to pick me…he used to live next to one of the owners of the Steelers. That was his neighbor. They used to talk a lot. I know he brought my name up.”
Michaels appeared on Eisen’s show several weeks ago and gushed about Corral’s skillset.
“I’m telling you, Matt Corral, I’ve seen him grow up…he’s got that heart of a lion. His guys would get hurt on the field, he’d run out and carry them off the field. Team player, quarterback. He has an unbroken fighting spirit.”
Corral displayed his toughness in school, battling two ankle injuries last season, hindering his play but never taking him out of the starting lineup. Of course, Michaels will have no sway over the decisions Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert make on April 28th. But we all know who he’s rooting for the team to draft.
