Cameron Heyward doesn’t care that the San Francisco 49ers can tie the Pittsburgh Steelers’ six Super Bowl trophies on Sunday. He cares about adding to their own display case and how long it’s been since they have. There have been no new additions since 2008, and they haven’t even returned to the Super Bowl since 2010.
The Steelers drafted Heyward the following offseason—with the 31st pick, the Super Bowl loser’s slot. Pittsburgh picked 32nd in 2023, but only by technicality because the Miami Dolphins forfeited their first-round pick. Heyward wants to earn that 32nd spot and isn’t worrying about what other teams are doing.
He sat down with Scott Ferrall earlier this week on SportsGrid, who doesn’t hide his fandom. As he talked about hoping the 49ers lose the Super Bowl, so they don’t tie the Steelers, Heyward interjected. “The goal is not to stay at six, though,” he said. “The goal is to get to seven, right? You need 10, but you’ve got to start with getting one.”
Since the Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl in 2008, only two teams have had the opportunity to match them. The New England Patriots lost their first attempt to do so in 2017 but accomplished the task a year later. The San Francisco 49ers are on their third attempt, having previously lost in 2012 and 2019. They won their last, and fifth, Super Bowl in 1994.
Heyward has never come close to the Super Bowl since becoming a Steeler in 2011. They have only won three postseason games since then, one in 2015 and two in 2016. He was injured during their 2016 playoff run, so he has only experienced one victory firsthand.
There is little he has yet to accomplish. He has plenty of Pro Bowls and All-Pros. With over 80 sacks in his career, he is one of the most dominant defensive linemen in team history. He secured the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award on Thursday. There may even be a gold jacket in his future.
But what he doesn’t have is postseason success. The Steelers have only reached the conference finals once during his tenure—and, again, he didn’t play due to injury. They have gone seven seasons without a playoff win, losing five in a row.
Rooting against your rivals in matching your achievements is, frankly, the spirit of the loser. If you don’t like opponents dancing in your end zone, don’t let them score. If you don’t want other teams winning Super Bowls, you need to win them yourself.
Maybe a part of Heyward is secretly rooting for the 49ers to lose and not match the Steelers. But I think he said the right thing here. It’s not about the 49ers. It’s about the Steelers and Heyward coming up short on their own end. They should have had seven by now. Maybe even eight. That is their own standard they set for themselves. They have themselves to blame for falling short, not those who are catching up to them.
