Cincinnati Bengals WR Tyler Boyd was born in Clairton and played his football there before moving to the University of Pittsburgh. Since coming out of college, he’s had to play the Pittsburgh Steelers twice a year—not that that has ever seemed to be a problem for him.
For an area native whose collegiate home stadium was Heinz Field, he sure doesn’t take many opportunities to say anything nice about Pittsburgh’s professional football team. A recent interview for the Bengals’ website may reveal some insight into that.
On the cusp of passing T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the Bengals’ all-time receptions list on Saturday against the Steelers, he talked about what an honor that would be, recalling watching him play Pittsburgh. “I didn’t hate him”, he said, even when he stepped on the Terrible Towel. “It’s the heat of the battle. I wasn’t a big Steelers fan, anyway”.
Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly bowled over when I read that. I can hardly say I’m surprised. You’re not obliged to be a Steelers fan just because you grow up in the area. But I’m not sure how many Clairton kids who go on to play for the Panthers who are not Steelers fans.
Well, there’s at least one. And he’ll be trying to help the Bengals end the Steelers’ playoff hopes with a win tomorrow, bringing them to the precipice of their first losing season in two decades. Boyd was nine years old the last time that happened. He was 11 when they won their first Super Bowl since the 1970s, and 14 for the second. But did he have a Terrible Towel? He said he was a Chargers fan, by the way, in case you were wondering.
Boyd has a history of sticking his nose into Steelers affairs, actually. Just yesterday, he commented on the culture in their locker room and criticized WR George Pickens, saying “It just shows the lack of camaraderie that’s over there”.
A couple years back, he accused the Steelers of giving up at the end of their September matchup, a game in which the Bengals already had victory in hand. Around the same time, he said that former Steeler Mike Hilton, who’d signed with Cincinnati in free agency, felt unvalued by the team and insulted.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that he is set to pass the noted Steelers antagonizer, Houshmandzadeh, on the Bengals’ all-time receptions list, and to do it against the Steelers. I don’t think, at least, that he’ll be cleaning his cleats with anything resembling the yellow-gold color spectrum, though.
Of course, Boyd’s very first game as a Bengal in Heinz Field saw him take a vicious shot by former Steelers OLB James Harrison that caused him to fumble the football. It was questionable whether he was down before losing possession, but the call on the field stood. If he wasn’t much of a fan before that hit, Deebo surely didn’t help.
