Change late in a career for an NFL player can often be difficult due to learning a new playbook, getting comfortable with new teammates and learning a new city.
That might be the case for new Pittsburgh Steelers left guard Isaac Seumalo, but fortunately for the 29-year-old guard, who is making the move to Pittsburgh after six seasons in Philadelphia, he’s going from one organization centered around a family atmosphere and championship-level pedigree and aspirations to another.
Speaking with reporters Thursday following another Organized Team Activities session at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, Seumalo stated how comfortable he felt right away with the Steelers after signing his three-year, $24 million deal in free agency.
“It’s a family organization. It’s been run by the Rooneys for a long time. They embrace that. Guys reached out when I signed, which was really cool, and I’ve had nothing but warm welcomes from everybody on the team, in the front office,” Seumalo said to reporters, according to video via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review‘s Chris Adamski. “Talking to Andy and Casey Weidl, too, was great. But it’s definitely a family. Everybody wants to win, and everybody is hungry to win, so I’m happy about that, too.”
Seumalo, outside of Patrick Peterson, was the Steelers’ biggest signing of the offseason. It’s no surprise that members of the Steelers started reaching out right away as that’s how the Steelers tend to run things in the organization. It’s that family environment that trickles down from the front office, and it’s been that way for a long, long time due to the Rooneys and how they operate.
That had to be cool for Seumalo to experience, especially after coming over from Philadelphia, where the Eagles have become more of a family-oriented organization and have had great success in the last decade on the field.
However, that family feel and overall environment only goes so far. Winning is ultimately the most important thing, and while it had to be tough for Seumalo to leave a situation like the Eagles with whom he won a Super Bowl in 2018 and came up just short last season, landing in a spot like Pittsburgh with a good, young nucleus already in place was certainly appealing for the veteran guard.
“This is a Super Bowl organization, so there’s no doubting about that. The team is solid,” Seumalo said to 102.5 WDVE’s Mike Prisuta for Prisuta’s two-minute drill segment, via YouTube.
Seumalo knows a thing or two about Super Bowls, and while the Steelers haven’t had that success in roughly 15 years, that expectation and desire still remains.
The hunger, as Seumalo pointed out, is there with the players in the locker room in Pittsburgh. We’ll see if that hunger leads to the ultimate goal in the NFL. But for now, Seumalo is pleased with where he landed, which is a situation quite similar to Philadelphia in recent seasons.
