It wouldn’t matter if WR Calvin Austin III was the only receiver on the field or if 10 Jerry Rice’s made up the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room. His mindset remains the same. Stay humble, stay hungry, keep working. Speaking with reporters following Tuesday’s OTA session, Austin discussed his mentality as he battles for a roster spot and role.
“I would be like that if they told me I had a guaranteed starting spot,” Austin said via 93.7 The Fan. “If they brought in nobody, if they brought in everybody. I’m a walk-on. I literally always have that mindset. Nothing can change it. It’s just business as usual.”
For Austin, “walk-on” isn’t a phrase or cliché. It’s his reality. A zero-star recruit out of high school, he walked onto Memphis. Redshirting as a freshman, he slowly climbed the ladder. By 2020, he broke out to lead the Tigers in all major receiving categories while topping the American Athletic Conference in yards and touchdowns that year. He also excelled on special teams with two punt return scores.
Despite only two years of starting, he left Memphis ranking top five in receptions, yards, and touchdowns in school history. His 22 receiving scores are tied for second-most, only trailing Anthony Miller’s 37.
“I came to Memphis as a walk-on, focused on getting what I wanted. It wasn’t easy, and nothing was handed to me,” he wrote in a feature piece for Behind The Stripes during his career. “I had to earn it day in and day out.”
A fast 40 and good tape made him the Steelers’ fourth-round pick in 2022. A camp foot injury followed by a fall setback wiped out his rookie season. But he returned healthy in 2023, still fast as ever, and made one splash play with a 72-yard touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3.
But after Diontae Johnson returned, Austin’s role diminished, and his production fell off. He still served as the team’s starting punt returner but had more rushes than receptions over the second half of the regular season. If there was any silver lining to the season, Austin found the end zone again for the Steelers’ final touchdown of the year, a late score in the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills.
With Pittsburgh drafting Roman Wilson and collecting a trio of veteran free agents, Calvin Austin enters this season on the roster bubble. Perhaps on the inside looking out but the Steelers are likely to only keep two of himself, Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, and Scotty Miller. The team will let the best men win in camp. Whoever makes the most consistent number of plays will earn a roster spot in the hopes of making a regular-season impact, though playing time could be irregular. But Austin is taking the correct workmanlike approach needed to stand out this summer.
