At this point in his Hall of Fame caliber career, Pittsburgh Steelers’ star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward has done just about everything possible on the field from a defensive lineman’s standpoint.
Heyward has the sacks (68.0), tackles for loss (101), forced fumbles (7), fumble recoveries (6), passes defensed (42), and even the interceptions (2) for a Hall of Fame resume.
One major thing is missing though, and it continues to drive Heyward to this day.
Appearing on the Mina Kimes Show Tuesday, Heyward discussed many facets of his career. However, there was one key part that stood out with Heyward, and it came down to a conversation about Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin. The pair has been together for 11 years, of which Heyward has been a true star dating back to the 2017 season, while also serving as a defensive captain for years.
Together, Heyward and Tomlin have laid a significant foundation for the Steelers on the defensive side of the football from a leadership and accountability perspective. The only thing that’s missing is a Super Bowl trophy, which Heyward is aiming to get before he calls it a career.
“Mike T’s my guy. I’d run through a wall for him, and I respect him so much that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for that guy,” Heyward said to Kimes on the podcast, according to audio from the show. “I wanna make sure I get him a Super Bowl ¸— I know he’s got Super Bowls — but I wanna be able to say I got my coach a Super Bowl, that I was able to deliver and make sure that I held him my end of the bargain.”
To date, that obviously hasn’t happened, and the Steelers’ honestly haven’t been that close to achieving that. Together, the Steelers — despite being in the playoffs seemingly every season — have just three playoff wins in Heyward’s career. That’s not going to cut it when it comes to competing for a Super Bowl trophy.
The closest Heyward has made it under Tomlin was the 2016 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, where the Steelers came up short 36-17, in large part due to injuries to Le’Veon Bell and Heyward himself, who missed all but seven games that season due to a torn pectoral muscle.
With the Steelers in a transition period at the moment, it will be a bit before they are truly ready to take the next step once again under Tomlin and compete for a Super Bowl trophy. For Heyward’s sake, hopefully the Steelers are able to get back to the mountaintop before he calls it a career.
