Pittsburgh Steelers DL Cameron Heyward appeared on Hot Ones today, and host Sean Evans asked him about some of his memorable pre-draft interview experiences. Heyward shared two interviews that stuck out to him, one with the Denver Broncos and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of the 2011 NFL Draft.
“I went into the Denver meeting and tried to tell a joke, nobody laughed. And then they were like ‘Go up on the board, show us some plays.’ And then the marker drops behind the board and I’m like ‘Oh my God, this how people feel on their job interviews. This is embarrassing,'” Heyward said. “And the other time, I’m sitting next to, I think it was someone from Tampa Bay, and he’s like ‘What’s your vice?’ And I’m like, ‘Vice? I don’t have a vice.’ He’s like ‘Everybody’s got a vice, women, drinking, you tell me.’ I’m like, ‘Nah, I don’t really have anything.’ And then I had to make up something. I was like, ‘Maybe I play video games too much.’ I think he left pretty dejected after that. That whole process was crazy.”
In the 2011 draft, Tampa Bay held the No. 20 pick and selected DE Adrian Clayborn, who pled guilty to assault in college, so it seems like the Buccaneers really were looking for a player with a vice, although he did go on to record 40 sacks in his NFL career and 13 in four seasons for Tampa Bay.
As for the Broncos, they held the No. 2 overall pick and selected OLB Von Miller, who had a successful career in Denver and is still in the league with the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers were able to snag Heyward at No. 31 overall, and he’s gone on to become a 10-time team captain and a four-time All-Pro during his time in Pittsburgh.
Heyward has gone on to become one of the faces of the Steelers’ franchise, and while he didn’t share any stories about his pre-draft process in Pittsburgh, it’s always interesting to get a peek behind the curtain of how teams conduct business leading up to the draft and how they try to get a read on guys.
It can be a grueling process for players, as they meet with a lot of people in a short window and try to represent themselves as best as they can to try to fulfill their dream of being drafted in the NFL. Teams are trying to make the most informed decisions possible when it comes to drafting the players who can be the future of their franchise. And the Steelers got a good one in Heyward, who just earned his fourth NFL contract with a three-year, $45 million extension he signed earlier this week.
Hopefully, Heyward continues to excel in Pittsburgh, and the Steelers should be happy his interviews with Denver and Tampa Bay didn’t seemingly go too well because they got one of the best defensive linemen of the last decade late in the first round.
