Pittsburgh isn’t the most glamorous destination for professional football players, but once players get a taste of the Steel City, it’s hard for them to leave.
Peyton Bennett, host of the Willing to Fail podcast, interviewed former Steelers cornerback and current CBS football analyst Bryant McFadden to recount his football journey. Bennett asked McFadden about leaving the Steelers as a free agent for the Arizona Cardinals after the 2008 season.
“I was never supposed to leave Pittsburgh. When it came to the business, I felt like there was a better opportunity in Arizona, and eventually [I] came back full circle and said, ‘You know what it wasn’t’ because Pittsburgh wanted me to come back and I was okay returning because a lot of the guys I played with were still there,” McFadden said. “When I heard it could be a possibility once the [2010] offseason started, I was like, ‘It makes sense, I’m a Steeler most importantly, they drafted me, I won two Super Bowls with that organization.'”
McFadden’s reflection that he never should have left Pittsburgh seems to be a common occurrence in the NFL these days. Former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell apologized to Steelers fans last year, saying he never should have left Pittsburgh either. The loyalty and passion of the fans, the decades-long culture of “Steeler Football,” and the success of the team in the 21st century have led many former Steelers players to this same conclusion. McFadden was fortunate enough to make it back to Pittsburgh after just one season in Arizona, so he returned to the Super Bowl in the 2010 season, before retiring as a Steeler after the 2011 season. In six seasons with the Steelers, McFadden won two Super Bowls while starting at cornerback for one of the most dominant defenses in league history.
Bennett also asked McFadden about being drafted by the Steelers, and he expressed his initial mixed feelings.
“I was mad because I was going to Pittsburgh and the first thing I thought about when I came to Pittsburgh was gloomy, always cloudy, always cold, and I didn’t look at the football element,” McFadden said. “But that was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
Pittsburgh doesn’t have the major city aura like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. Nor does it have the beautiful weather appeal like Miami, but when it comes to football, there’s no better destination. McFadden realized how naive he was as a newly drafted player, frustrated with landing in Pittsburgh. Within his first season with the team, he realized how deeply ingrained the winning culture was, and how much football truly means to Yinzers.
In recent years, it’s felt like this sense of loyalty has died down a bit, with examples like Antonio Brown forcing his way out of Pittsburgh in the middle of his contract or the Steelers trading Pitt’s Kenny Pickett after just two seasons. Players seem to come and go from the Steelers much quicker than they used to, which can be attributed to the overall state of the NFL or to the Steelers perhaps losing a bit of their winning culture.
But this year, the Steelers once again drafted a handful of players this season who are more than familiar with the culture of Steelers football, such as West Virginia center Zach Frazier and even Washington tackle Troy Fautanu. Let’s hope that they carry out what McFadden said in his reflections, and that they never end up leaving Pittsburgh.
