Throughout his NFL career and even in his post-playing days, former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback and current CBS analyst Bryant McFadden has been a buttoned-up guy.
No issues off the field, always on time, always prepared, etc.
Yet, in his rookie season he made a big mistake that nearly cost him leading up to the Super Bowl.
He was late to a team meeting after the AFC Championship Game win over the Denver Broncos.
Appearing on CBS Sports’ Fantasy Football show with hosts Adam Aizer and Dave Richard, McFadden detailed the reasoning behind why he was late to the team meeting, leading to a trip to head coach Bill Cowher’s office where the Hall of Fame coach nearly took away his Super Bowl tickets — all without knowing Cowher was going to make a surprise appearance on the show.
After the 34-17 win over the Denver Broncos that sent the Steelers to Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks, the flight home and the subsequent party into the wee hours for members of the Steelers defense was a fun one for McFadden. Until he overslept and was late to the team meeting the next day.
“We had just beat the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. We played in Denver, we flew home, and we partied all night long,” McFadden said, according to video via CBS Sports.
At that moment, that’s when Aizer and Richard brought Cowher onto the show to surprise McFadden. The former Steelers cornerback had the look of a child who was about to reveal something big to a parent unexpectedly. McFadden was caught completely off guard. Clearly, he still has a great deal of respect for Cowher, considering the way he was taken aback and had to compose himself telling the story.
“It’s my rookie year…Oh, that’s Coach Cowher!” McFadden said once he realized Cowher was on the show with them.
Cowher then implored McFadden to continue telling the story as to why he was late, which drew a laugh. To McFadden’s credit, he continued on, revealing that he was partying that night with the likes of Joey Porter, Troy Polamalu, Casey Hampton, Deshea Townsend, Chris Hope … pretty much every member of the defense that night.
The party then led to a big breakfast in the city. After that, McFadden went home to get some sleep, which proved costly.
“We partied on the plane, as you remember Coach, and when we got home to Pittsburgh, we partied and partied. …After breakfast I told Chris Hope, please call my phone,” McFadden said. “They didn’t listen to me. They got a missed assignment, an MA, and I was late. And that was the first time that Coach Cowher ever called me to his office.
“And Coach Cowher played one of the dirtiest pranks on rookie that you could play on a rookie. He was taking all of my Super Bowl tickets.”
Of course, Cowher didn’t do that to McFadden, who played quite well in Super Bowl XL. With tickets in hand for his family for Ford Field in Detroit, McFadden recorded two tackles and two key passes defensed in the 21-10 win, giving Pittsburgh its fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Though he was late to a meeting after the AFC Championship Game win due to a late night and early morning, the then-rookie didn’t let it affect his play on the field, turning in a strong performance overall as the Steelers lifted the Lombardi Trophy.
That’s what McFadden gets for relying on veterans to call his phone for a meeting though. A hard — but fun years removed — lesson to learn.
