As a seventh-round pick coming out of the University of Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie linebacker Carson Bruener knew that special teams would be his path to the NFL roster.
So, he leaned on a key figure in the special teams room to help him improve.
That would be Steelers special teams captain Miles Killebrew. During training camp practices at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Bruener went out of his way to make sure he got reps against Killebrew. Ultimately, that led to Bruener making improvement, showing out with a big preseason game in Jacksonville on special teams, and earning a Steelers roster spot.
Appearing on The Christian Kuntz Podcast that published Thursday morning, Bruener recalled going to Killebrew for extra work, and how that paid off in his preseason debut against the Jaguars.
“Knowing Miles and being a Steeler fan my whole life and seeing him go here, him going to a Pro Bowl, he’s an absolute stud on special teams. So, leaning on him, and even what you said about Latrobe, there was a time at practice where he was rushing on me and he beat me,” Bruener said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “He had a great little double hand swipe when I was set. And after that practice, I went to him and was like, ‘I need to work on this because if this is something where I wanna be here by the season. I wanna be on punt. I wanna be able to protect and that can’t happen to me. You’re the best of the best. I want you going against me.'”
Bruener couldn’t have found a better veteran to learn from, especially on special teams.
Since signing with the Steelers ahead of the 2021 season, Killebrew has been a special teams ace in all areas under coordinator Danny Smith. He’s earned two Pro Bowl nods and has a first-team All-Pro accolade on his resume, too. He’s a punt-block artist, and is great on kick and punt coverage as well.
So, that day in Latrobe, Killebrew essentially baptized Bruener in NFL special teams with that one rush. Bruener had the wherewithal to know that Killebrew is one of the best of the best and took the opportunity to learn from him. Not just in punt protection, but from a special teams aspect overall.
That extra work with Killebrew paid off right away in the Steelers’ preseason opener against Jacksonville in which Bruener had three tackles on special teams, including the tackle on the opening kickoff. That tackle, which came on Bruener’s first NFL action, was something he called beforehand.
“It was kind of one of those things, even that first preseason game, it was weird. This one, it just felt different. It felt like I was almost like, ‘Is this weird that I’m not getting really nervous for?'” Bruener said of his preseason debut. “It was something where yeah, I went to [Killebrew] ’cause it was just, you gotta be loose, you gotta be light on your feet. Like, enjoy the whole process. Because even though it was preseason, it’s still my first-ever NFL game I’m playing in.
“So something where, yeah, return came to me, ended up making a play. I get up, I’m like, ‘I told you.'”
That quiet confidence carried Bruener throughout training camp and the preseason, and it helped him earn a 53-man roster spot.
Through the first three games of the season, Bruener has played 50 snaps on special teams, marking 66% of the Steelers’ special teams snaps as a whole. He has three tackles on the season, and holds down key roles on punt and kick coverage, earning Smith’s trust.
Of course, it helps that Bruener had a great understanding of special teams coming into the NFL, having served as a key special teams player at Washington. But like the savvy young player who is the son of a former NFL player in Mark Bruener, Carson picked out the veteran who’s been around a long time and done it at a high level and learned from him.
The Steelers are better for it.
Check out the full episode of The Christian Kuntz Podcast with Bruener below.
