Over their last seven seasons together, outside linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive end Cameron Heyward have formed quite a pair for the Pittsburgh Steelers along the defensive front.
Together, the two have been game-wreckers for the Black and Gold, each earning multiple All-Pros and Pro Bowl accolades. On the field, that pairing is quite productive for the Steelers.
Off the field though, that’s where the relationship is truly formed for the two Steelers standouts.
Sitting down with NBC Sports’ Peter King coming off the Week 16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Watt stated that Heyward is his “professional brother.”
“He is. Obviously, I have brothers that have played in the NFL, but it’s different when you’re around someone in the building each and every day who you have that camaraderie with, who you can joke around with,” Watt told King regarding his relationship with Heyward. “And you can also, at the end of the day, focus on the work and the task at hand. And at the end of the day, that’s what we wanna do.
“We wanna win a Super Bowl, we wanna be the best football players we can be. But at the same time, we’re not gonna take everything so seriously.”
Of course, Watt has had two brothers play in the NFL, highlighted by future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt and former Steelers fullback Derek Watt.
But, as Watt pointed out, there’s nothing like sharing the same defensive meeting rooms, going through the same drills and preparing for the next opponent daily next to the same guys. That builds the camaraderie that Watt is talking about, and it’s very clear that he and Heyward have that strong bond, one that should last a lifetime.
For seven seasons, Watt and Heyward have done just that. And they’ve become pillars of the Steelers’ defense and the culture within the building. They are all about football and push each other to be the very best they can be, but they know when and how to keep it light-hearted and take a breather, too.
It’s so important to have that veteran leadership and that bond defensively. What the Steelers have in Watt and Heyward is special. It’s a similar bond to guys in years past, like Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel, James Farrior and Larry Foote, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, and more.
All successful Steelers teams have had that bond. The current Steelers have that bond, too. We’ll see how successful they can be.
