Something new we’ll do daily for Steelers Depot. A quick hit of some Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers-related stories that may not require a complete and dedicated article but nuggets worth mentioning and passing on to you guys. The same as our recent Depot Daily but now late at night to better capture the news of the day.
Your Depot After Dark for Sept. 20th.
J.J. Watt Makes Bold Comparison
Making his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, J.J. Watt praised the Steelers’ duo of Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt. He made a pretty big comparison about the two.
“It’s a little similar to something that you’ve seen before in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis,” Watt told the show. “That one-two-punch combo.”
In their prime, Freeney and Mathis were the NFL’s best pass-rushing duo for the Indianapolis Colts. Freeney had 107.5 sacks in his Colts’ career while Mathis had 123, all coming with Indy. Watt and Highsmith haven’t reached those stats but, of course, haven’t played as long. In the moment, those two are impacting the game off the edges as well as any pair in football.
They played key roles in picking up Pittsburgh’s first win of the season. Highsmith had a pick-six and fourth quarter strip-sack fumble that T.J. Watt returned for a touchdown while Watt had that score and a sack, becoming the Steelers’ all-time sack leader. Highsmith was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week earlier today.
Steelers Rookies Visit Children’s Hospital
Every Tuesday, the players’ off day, the team gets out in the community. Tuesday, the Steelers’ rookie class visited UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Click here to scroll through the photos of the day as Pittsburgh’s players interacted with the kids who are there. Playing games, saying hello, and signing autographs. A big boost to everyone’s spirits.
Omar Khan Issues Statement
Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan released a statement Wednesday morning following the death of revered and longtime college coach Buddy Teevens. In it, Khan expressed his condolences to the Teevens family and credited Teevens for jumpstarting his career.
Khan has told the story before, but it was Coach Teevens, then at Tulane, who helped get Khan his first football job. One day, Khan walked into Teevens’ office to ask how he could help. From Tulane, Khan got hired by the New Orleans Saints before the Steelers came calling in 2001. The rest is history.
Teevens coached in college from 1979 until 2022. He was at Tulane from 1992-96 and had been the longtime coach at Dartmouth, holding the head coaching job there since 2005. In addition to being a head coach, he is best-known for his efforts to make the game safer, focusing in on technique and limiting full-contact practices. He also coached for the Manning Football Academy for the past 25 years.
In February, he was severely injured when a truck hit him while riding his bike. Those injuries led to his death Tuesday. He was 66.
