During his 22-year tenure leading the Pittsburgh Steelers’ front office, former director of football operations and general manager Kevin Colbert came across some great players and even better people off the field.
Not being able to win a Super Bowl with all of those players still eats at him, especially one like former right tackle Flozell Adams.
Appearing on the North Catholic Athletics Podcast, Colbert spoke about how painful it was to not only lose Super Bowl XLV to the Green Bay Packers with that team, but also how painful it was to lose that game for Adams, who was at the end of his career.
“When you’re that close and you don’t win it, it stays with you the rest of your life. And you know, the person I felt the worst for was Flozell Adams,” Colbert said, according to the podcast’s page. “And you’re thinking, wait a minute, Flozell Adams? He was a one-year guy with the Steelers. We had picked him up when Willie Colon tore his Achilles and Flo was our right tackle that year and we knew it was his last year in the NFL.
“And he had played a great career with the Dallas Cowboys and we’re in Dallas and we lost that game. Sure, we all felt bad for ourselves, but I could still see Flozell and I knew his career was over and we came up short for him. And that’s something you don’t forget.”
That 2010 season was a trying one for the Steelers, especially in the offseason.
Colbert traded wide receiver and Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was hit with a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy (it was later reduced to four games). Then, in late June, projected starting right tackle Willie Colon tore his Achilles in an offseason workout away from the facility, ending his season before it even started.
That put the Steelers in a bit of scramble mode, leading to the signing of Adams to a two-year deal on July 29, early in training camp.
After spending the 1998-2009 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Adams was near the end of his career, but seeing an opportunity to chase a ring, Adams jumped at the chance to sign with the Steelers and quickly asserted himself as the starting right tackle.
That season, Adams made the move to right tackle after a career spent at left tackle in Dallas. He proceeded to start all 16 regular-season games and every game in the postseason, including Super Bowl XLV.
Adams made it look relatively easy, but it wasn’t an easy move overall.
“It was a challenge,” told ESPN on Media Day before the Steelers’ 2010 Super Bowl appearance. “I had some trouble adjusting with it and learning the scheme in the beginning. But I just stuck with it.”
He stuck with it and played well, earning the respect from his teammates in what was ultimately his last ride in the NFL.
Fittingly, Adams got to play in a Super Bowl in Dallas, returning to AT&T Stadium for Super Bowl XLV against the Packers. Much like the Steelers did in 2005 with Jerome Bettis, wearing his Notre Dame jerseys upon arrival, the Steelers did the same with Adams’ Michigan State jersey in a show of support for a guy at the end of his career.
Unfortunately, Adams didn’t have the storybook ending that Bettis enjoyed as the Steelers came up short against the Packers, 31-25.
The loss, and knowing it was the end of Adams’ career, still eats at Colbert. That’s the type of impact Adams had that season and just how strong of a relationship Colbert had with players throughout his tenure. That’s what makes the Steelers the Steelers.
