He’s played in 211 games so far in his career, including 176 starts and counting, but for Pittsburgh Steelers’ All-Pro and team captain Cameron Heyward, one game out of those 211 in his career stands out to him.
In multiple ways, too, not just for his play on the field in that game but also because of how emotionally charged the game was.
That would be the Christmas Eve 2022 game against the Las Vegas Raiders at then-Heinz Field on a very cold night. For Heyward, who hosted the latest episode of his “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” podcast from Dublin, Ireland earlier in the week, that game was not only a great performance for him, but it was also an emotional one due to the death of Steelers’ franchise icon Franco Harris just four days prior, right before his No. 32 jersey was set to be retired by the franchise, becoming just the third number in Steelers’ history to be retired officially.
“Favorite game, but also saddest game? It was the game where Franco Harris had just passed away. And we were actually, we did a podcast with him a day before he passed away. …His family had actually asked me to run out of the tunnel last and hold the flag with 32 on it,” Heyward said, recalling the game, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “It was already gonna be a commemoration game, because it was the Immaculate Reception that happened [50 years ago]. But like, just the storyline of being able to play for Franco, I think I had like two sacks that game, a bunch of tackles.
“I just felt like I was on fire that game. It was one of those games where it was below zero, weren’t a lot of fans there, but it meant the world to just go out there and play.”
That night, it was 9 degrees, well below freezing. Temperatures were dangerous, and fans didn’t show up for the game on the night before Christmas, though attendance was announced at 64,761.
Adding to the challenges of the temperature was that Harris died on December 20, just four days before his jersey was to be retired at halftime against the Raiders, a team he made one of the greatest players in NFL history on December 23, 1972, defeating the then-Oakland Raiders, sending the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game.
That play was the birth of the Steelers and the dynastic 70s.
But the loss of Harris in stunning fashion just a few days before his jersey was to be retired put a pall over the game. It was an emotional night, and it started with Heyward running out of the tunnel with the black No. 32 flag, commemorating Harris, whom the show did a podcast with just days before he died.
That night, with the emotions of losing a franchise icon and a former player and franchise ambassador that Cameron Heyward became close with, the Steelers’ team captain went out and dominated.
He had seven tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and two quarterback hits. The Steelers’ great stated that at the time, coming off the 13-10 Steelers’ win, with everything going on, he vowed that he wasn’t going to lose the game.
“Personally, I just thought I was not gonna lose this game,” Heyward said on his show in 2022 after that game. “There’s too much of that stuff going on. I vowed to myself we weren’t gonna lose.”
Heyward turned in an all-time performance, wrecking the Raiders. He finished with a grade of 90.3 overall from Pro Football Focus, racking up seven pressures and adding one batted pass at the line of scrimmage.
His play matched the moment as Heyward rose up and met the challenge of leading his team in an emotional moment, making sure the Steelers didn’t lose on a night that Harris was honored.
For that, it should remain memorable for Cameron Heyward for the rest of his life. Steelers fans should also remember his performance and leadership in that moment. It was special.
Check out the full episode of “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” below.
