Cameron Heyward has glommed up quite a bit of the spotlight this offseason in the midst of a contract staredown. He wants to play three more seasons, and he wants to earn what he believes his play is worth. But as a 35-year-old defensive lineman coming off injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers are reasonably hesitant.
It got to the surprising point that Heyward actually skipped the first two weeks of OTAs. While he said they are now talking, he knows a deal is not imminent. And then it got a little silly.
The Athletic reporter Mark Kaboly penned a story about Heyward accepting the reality that he may not finish his career in Pittsburgh. In it, he quoted Heyward as saying about the possibility of playing for the Brown, “I still have family in Cleveland … my wife is from Cleveland”. Kaboly then blamed aggregators for not sufficiently contextualizing this as a joke, despite the fact that his own writing does not do that.
The mere suggestion that he might sign with the Browns left a distaste in the mouths of Steelers fans. Many have already begun to wear thin from his numerous comments about his contract, so this was a last straw. But, as it turns out, the notion was just as distasteful to Heyward and family.
He took some time to answer questions from fans on social media yesterday, and as you might imagine, the subject of the Browns came up. One fan told Heyward not to sign with the Browns. “Bro I ain’t going to Cleveland”, he responded. “My wife about threw up when she saw the report. It was a joke in passing”.
Despite his best efforts to deflect blame, Kaboly bears responsibility. He did not present his quotation with sufficient context to clearly identify it as a joke. He subsequently did so on multiple radio interview appearances, but that doesn’t alter the text as written.
Still, this is not the first time Cameron Heyward has addressed the topic, albeit indirectly. Last year when former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco signed with the Browns, he compared it to the betrayal of Darth Vader. “If I ever saw any of my teammates go to Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and Baltimore willingly I think I’d have a problem with it”, he said.
Yet he had no problem embracing former Browns, Bengals, and Ravens as teammates in Pittsburgh. Defensive linemate Larry Ogunjobi played for both Cleveland and Cincinnati. Patrick Queen and his green grass was a Ravens first-round pick, and Chris Wormley is another Raven who relocated here.
