For Alex Highsmith, his first dose of NFL reality coincided with his first NFL loss. From a football standpoint, the Pittsburgh Steelers were riding high in 2020, making the most out of a difficult pandemic-shaped year. The last undefeated team at 11-0, they fell to the Washington Commanders, then the Football Team, that marked the beginning of the end of their season.
For Highsmith, it was his first NFL start, replacing Bud Dupree after suffering a season-ending ACL tear days earlier. The first start and first loss came with his “this ain’t like college” moment. Appearing on the Christian Kuntz podcast, Highsmith shared his story.
“It was a tight end chip…we were running a game,” Highsmith told the show. “I was going to run inside. Take a quick step upfield and run inside. I didn’t even see him. He literally chip blocked me. Took out Cam and Tuitt. So he took out three people in one play because of me. It was bad.”
And because we have that kind of time on our hands, we went to find the play. It came early in the loss, mid-way through the first quarter. Highsmith is the ROLB trying to loop inside before getting ear-holed by TE Logan Thomas that sends Heyward, Tuitt, and Highsmith to the ground. We actually noted it all the way back in 2020, treating it as Highsmith’s welcome to the NFL moment.
Fortunately, it was 3rd and 11 and the Steelers’ coverage forced QB Alex Smith to check the ball down short of the sticks, forcing a punt and saving a bit of face from the disaster up front.
As Highsmith and Kuntz discussed, chip blocks can be among the most violent hits on the football field. An unsuspecting edge rusher focused on the snap and flying off the ball that gets smacked by a tight end or running back before they release into their route. Highsmith can take comfort it happens to the NFL’s best, including teammate T.J. Watt. Here’s Travis Kelce slabbing him in 2018.
“You gotta be aware, especially the running backs. You’re like, stay low and then they’ll come up to you and try to take out your ribs.”
Highsmith would finish the year as the starter and continue that role in 2021 as Dupree left for the Tennessee Titans. Still manning that right side next to Cam Heyward, they’ll continue to run games and twists in 2024. Hopefully with everyone staying on their feet.
Check out the whole episode below.
