Thirty years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted TE Mark Bruener out of the University of Washington. Three decades later, Carson Bruener sat in the same family cabin. He, like his father before him, waited to hear the phone ring.
Not just the same family cabin in Washington, though. Carson Bruener sat in the exact same chair that Mark was in when he got the call. That’s where Carson was when the Steelers called to make him the newest linebacker in Pittsburgh.
“Steelers seventh-round pick Carson Bruener said he’s at his family cabin in Washington sitting in the same exact seat where his dad was drafted by the Steelers 30 years ago,” wrote The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo on X/Twitter.
Steelers seventh-round pick Carson Bruener said he’s at his family cabin in Washington sitting in the same exact seat where his dad was drafted by the Steelers 30 years ago.
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) April 26, 2025
Carson Bruener has followed in his father’s footsteps his entire life. He struggled with that at times, but he embraced his last name and everything that comes with that while trying to forge his own path.
“I followed my dad’s legacy and that it was hard to do,” Bruener said in an exclusive interview with Steelers Depot’s Josh Carney at the East-West Shrine Bowl this year. “I mean, my dad was an All-American at the University of Washington and one of the best tight ends in the history [of the program]. He’s in the Huskies’ Hall of Fame. And me coming into that school, it was a lot of pressure, ’cause a lot of people, a lot of the interviews and articles that came out was Carson Bruener, Mark’s son. It was never about me. It was always combined with both of us. And that was my biggest challenge with myself, is creating my own legacy. But it’s something I felt like I was able to do really well and succeed at.”
It was only fitting that Carson Bruener followed in his father’s footsteps again, both literally and figuratively. He followed his father to Washington. Now, he will follow his father to Pittsburgh. Mark had a long career with the Steelers despite never hauling in more than three touchdowns in a season with the team. He played nine years in Pittsburgh with 137 catches for 1,197 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Mark Bruener may not be the same legend in Pittsburgh as he was at Washington, but you don’t play nine years for the same team by being a terrible player. Will Carson Bruener eclipse his dad’s career with the Steelers? We will have to wait and see, but he’s certainly got the opportunity now.
That opportunity came calling while Carson Bruener was sitting in the same chair in the same cabin in Washington, where Mark had received a phone call from the same place in Pittsburgh all those years before.
