The Pittsburgh Steelers have had multiple new faces make plays on their defense this year, but none may have been more unexpected than Beanie Bishop Jr. As an undrafted rookie, Bishop was the team’s slot corner to start the year with Cam Sutton suspended. He took his lumps, but Bishop eventually settled in, recording multiple key interceptions. It sounds like Bishop wants to make a big statement if he records an interception on an opposing team’s field.
“The DB coach I was telling y’all about when I was at Western Kentucky, he used to always tell me, ‘Don’t be afraid to stand on the star,'” Bishop said recently on The Arthur Moats Experience with Deke while referencing one of his college stops. “You can quote me for later on, whenever I get an interception and a team has a logo in the middle of their field, do not be surprised if you see me standing on the logo in the middle of the field.
“I promise you; I’m not lying.”
Talking like that, it’s clear Bishop was born to play corner. Despite his background, he’s got the utmost confidence in himself. His playing time has decreased with Sutton returning, but he’s proven that he’s got a nose for the football. If Bishop finds himself with the ball again, he might really cement himself in Steelers lore.
Standing on another team’s logo is a sign of massive disrespect in the NFL. Maybe the most famous example is when receiver Terrell Owens stood on the Dallas Cowboys’ logo after catching a touchdown pass. He tried to do it a second time, but the Cowboys were not having it. That’s probably where Bishop’s college coach got that saying.
It takes real gumption celebrate on another team’s logo. And Bishop upped the ante on that dream.
“I really hope it’s one of the AFC North games, where we’re on the road. And I end the game and just be able to stand on the logo,” Bishop said. “It just means more in divisional games.”
Doing that against an AFC North rival would almost certainly guarantee their next meeting would be a bloodbath. The AFC North is physical as it is and doing that would be like throwing a lit match onto a pile of dynamite.
If Bishop makes an incredible play like that, though, then he’s got every right to celebrate however he wants. He just needs to make sure he makes the play if the opportunity presents itself to him.
Bishop only has one chance left to make that kind of play this year. The Steelers’ final divisional game on the road will come in Baltimore in a few weeks. That contest is likely going to have high stakes attached to it, and if the Steelers win, that might be reason enough to celebrate. If Bishop seals the game with an interception and stands on the Ravens’ logo? He’ll be cemented in this rivalry forever.
