The move from linebacker to fullback turned out to be a great one for Roosevelt Nix in his NFL career, but when the moment Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin asked him to make the move, Nix couldn’t help but have some negative thoughts.
Appearing on the Arthur Moats Experience podcast Friday, Nix stated that while the move ended up being great for his career, he felt he was going down the same path he once was on with the Atlanta Falcons.
Coming out of college at Kent State, Nix was a defensive lineman at just 5-11, but in his first training camp with the Falcons in 2014, Nix got some work at fullback and eventually made the move there before getting cut at the end of camp.
Then, on Jan. 9, 2015, Nix signed a Reserve/Futures contract with the Steelers as an inside linebacker. Much like his time in Atlanta though, the Steelers asked him to change positions, this time early in the offseason. That left Nix in a bad spot mentally.
“I’m willing to do whatever I can to get on that field. I originally went to Pittsburgh as a linebacker. So I went there to play linebacker, and then probably like, bro, maybe a week or two before rookie mini-camp, Coach Tomlin pulled me to the side one day, and he said, ‘I wanna see you at that fullback spot. I heard you used to do that,'” Nix said to Moats, according to video via the show’s YouTube page.Â
During his time with the Falcons in 2014 training camp, Nix had some moments. But then, with the Falcons on HBO’s Hard Knocks that summer, Nix while cut was part of the show, at least putting him on the map.
After being cut, Roosevelt Nix became a substitute teacher before catching on with the Steelers, envisioning an opportunity to play linebacker and move back to the defensive side of the football where he had so much success in college.
The Steelers and Tomlin had other ideas.
“And in my head, I’m like,’ Man, here we go again. I’m finna go to the crib,'” Nix said regarding that position change with the Steelers.
It’s hard to blame Nix for thinking that way. He had just switched to fullback with the Falcons and was ultimately cut. Then he couldn’t latch on in the NFL for that 2014 season and was substitute teaching. After landing a Reserve/Futures deal with the Steelers, Nix thought he was going to work at linebacker, but then things changed.
For the better, too.
Nix converted to fullback that offseason and then stood out in training camp and the preseason in the summer of 2015. He made the team with stellar special teams play, blocking a punt against Carolina in the preseason finale, sealing his roster spot. He ultimately spent five seasons with the Steelers as an invaluable fullback and special teams ace, making a Pro Bowl in 2017.
“Coach T took his time with me and they had grace with the fullback, and we really grew that thing out,” Nix said. “It was a special time for me to be in the ‘Burgh and combine that with my special teams abilities. Man, it was a position that we definitely grew out and I’m appreciative of it, man. I really am.”
Steelers fans were appreciative of Nix, too, for his work as a lead blocker and pass-catching option at the fullback position combined with his stellar special teams abilities. He was the great developmental story that the Steelers have consistently hit on over the years.
Roosevelt Nix retired from the NFL in 2021 after spending some time with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020 before being cut.
That moment of being switched to fullback (again) might have been worrisome at the time for Nix, but in the end everything worked out for the better.
