Pittsburgh Steelers P Corliss Waitman may be a surprise contender for the most interesting man in the world. Waitman has multiple gold plaques for his work as a rap producer under the name CorMill, is cousins with Florida State Hall of Famer Greg Allen, and is one of the few Dutch players to play in the NFL.
One may wonder how a kid who born in Belgium and raised in Amsterdam until the age of 15 chose to play football. On Real Talk, a Dutch podcast, Waitman shared how he discovered football when he moved to America as a high schooler.
“I had a period where I was just switching sports, trying to find what I liked,” said Waitman. “American football—I clicked with it right away. I had a bit of talent for it. One day I kicked a ball or something like that—we were just at a barbecue at home in the neighborhood and my uncle’s good friends with my high school coach back then, with football. And he said, “Hey, kick the ball—you’re a soccer player, kick the ball.” And I kicked it. He said, ‘Hey, wait a sec[ond]’ and he called the coach, like, ‘Hey, we’ve got somebody for you.’ And the coach said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to see.’ And he saw it and said, ‘Yeah, you’re on the team.’ The season had already started—usually they don’t do that. If the season’s started, you’ve got to wait until next year. Yeah, but they gave me a spot on the team right away. So that’s how fast it went, actually.”
It isn’t uncommon to see soccer players transition into kickers or punters. Steelers K Chris Boswell went from soccer player to kicker himself. Playing soccer doesn’t mean one will be a good kicker/punter. Waitman was though, as he was a three-star high school prospect, eventually committing to Southern Alabama.
As Waitman explained in the podcast, he was so good that his high school coach added him to the team midseason. According to Waitman’s South Alabama football bio, he made first team all-state his senior year as a punter and went 8/10 on field goals in high school.
Waitman has found success in football since he first kicked a football at the urging of his uncle. Although he has bounced around the NFL since his career began in 2020, he may have finally established himself this past season when he joined the Steelers after P Cameron Johnston tore his ACL in Week One. With Waitman at punter, Pittsburgh didn’t miss a beat.
Waitman had a strong season, averaging 46.4 yards per punt, and pinning the ball inside the 20-yard line 27 times. 41.5-percent of Waitman’s punts were downed inside the 20 yard line, per Pro Football Reference.
With both Waitman and Johnston under contract, a punting battle could unfold at training camp. However, Johnston is recovering from an ACL injury and he may not even be ready for training camp or the regular season. The good news for Pittsburgh is that they have Waitman in case Johnston isn’t ready, and even if Johnston is ready, a camp battle should bring the best out of both of them. The Steelers have two potentially good punters entering the 2025 season which is a sight for sore eyes, as in recent years Pittsburgh hasn’t even had one good punter.
If it wasn’t for a Waitman coming to America and kicking a football at the behest of his uncle during a family barbecue, the Steelers might still be searching for answers at punter.
