LATROBE, Pa. — “I wasn’t surprised at all,” Ryan Shazier insisted to reporters Monday when asked about the almost barbaric punishment being doled out in the Steelers’ annual backs-on-backers drill. “We’re a hard-nosed team. We’re in Pittsburgh, Ohio.”
He caught himself immediately and laughed a bit.
“Pittsburgh, P-A. I’m sorry about that. Went to Ohio State. We’re from Pittsburgh, P-A. We play dirty.”
Caught himself again.
“Not dirty, but hard-nosed.”
Nah, that last one was fine, actually. And the other one wasn’t all bad, either. The way Shazier competed Monday — in backs-and-backers and all that followed on the first day in full pads — I’m guessing no one would care which Pittsburgh he’s from, so long as it’s the only one in the world ending with an H.
I’ll say it yet again, Nation: You will love this kid.
There was skepticism, sure, when Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert drafted him 15th overall in June. Not so much because of Shazier’s pedigree — as Tomlin deftly put it that same night, a linebacker with a stature of 6 feet 1, 237 pounds who can run the 40 in 4.2 seconds is “rare air” — but because of positioning. Everyone wanted a wide receiver. I’m no different. I heard the names, saw the highlights and picture a bookend for Antonio Brown that would have launched the Steelers’ offense to some other level.
Well, let’s all get over it collectively. Because, as it turns out, Ryan Dean Shazier, son of a Fort Lauderdale ordained minister, might just be the right blessing at the right time.
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Tomlin habitually downplays drama, and yet lives for it in the right moments. He opened backs-on-backers by aligning LeGarrette Blount vs. Lawrence Timmons, just to get everyone’s attention. It worked. LB and LT collided with such force it might well have echoed off Saint Benedict Hall, high atop the hill overlooking Chuck Noll Field. The players whooped it up. The coaching staff barked encouragement. And Joey Porter, performing the Bizarro dual role of stand-in QB and psycho game-show host, bellowed out, “I see ya 9-4! I see ya!”
Tight end Rob Blanchflower and linebacker Vince Williams were the next to draw the hoots and hollers. Then little fireplug back Jordan Hall by leveling linebacker Terence Garvin. But none of it seemed enough to suit Tomlin, who mostly stood silently while Porter held bombastic court.
That’s when Tomlin lined up Blount and Shazier. The rest of us in the small circle near the south end zone — coaches, players and yeah, media, too, because drama doesn’t count if it isn’t witnessed — might not have known this would be the head coach’s marquee, but here’s betting he did.
First go-round was merely an opening act: Shazier, with one swift step and a strong fling of his left arm, blew through Blount and wrapped up Porter.
I would say that this excited Porter, but I could also tell you that the Browns will finish last.
“That’s it! That’s what I want! Speed is your asset! Use it! Speed is your asset!”
Tomlin wanted more.
Second go-round: Shazier used another burst, this time to Blount’s other side and was on Porter almost as quickly.
The players — except the other backers, of course — roared for this as if that had been Joe Flacco in Shazier’s grasp.
No way Tomlin would leave it at that, though. So he set up the same pins.
But before the snap, Porter had this to say in Shazier’s direction: “He don’t believe in you! He don’t believe! He don’t believe it’s real.”
Blount, he meant. Blount didn’t believe in Shazier. But whether or not that was the case soon proved moot.
Third go-round: BOOM!
If LB and LT were felt up the hill, then this collision had to have reverberated off the visible Laurel Highlands mountains several miles away. It was a seismic, almost sickening crash of helmets, pads, body parts and presumably senses.
Not even a boxing ref could state definitively who get the better of the actual moment, but it was instantly clear who got the worst of it when Shazier spun to his left, had a split-second awful glaze in his eyes, then collected himself before returning to his group.
There was no cheering this time, other than a couple backs giving it up for Blount. And really, no one needed to elaborate on what had just happened: The vet took his blows, then welcomed the rookie to the NFL.
“Obviously, I’m not as quick as he is,” Blount would say later. "He got my attention on the first couple. As a competitor, it’s in your nature to not lose. So I kept on going.”
How polite.
And Shazier’s reaction?
“I knew he was going to bring a punch on that last one.”
How respectful.
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Football diehards will remember this one, at least as best that’s possible without video being allowed. These are matchups, winners and losers alike, that live on in future camp lore.
To an extent, they’ll also be remembered by the men who matter most. At least if you took it seriously when Tomlin gushed like a kid on Christmas Eve the day before the pads were donned: "It’s not football-like. It’s football. I’m always excited about who ascends in those situations and who shrinks in those situations.”
Shrinks, the man said.
“That’s just the reality of it,” Tomlin continued to complete the thought.
Be that as it may, the fullest context must include actual football. And, in as close to that as we witnessed Monday, Shazier did anything but shrink.
On one play from scrimmage later in the session— again, full contact, 11 to a side — that fireplug Hall took a handoff and cut around left tackle with exceptional momentum. And once a healthy entourage of blockers arrived, it appeared he’d be on the way to a big gain.
Until he wasn’t.
The pack suddenly, violently began to move back with a collective flail. It wasn’t immediately clear why, only that it was. Back two yards, then three, then finally with poor Hall crushed under a mess of bodies.
As the players arose, one was left with his arms wrapped around Hall well after the tackle, gripping the back like a life preserver in shark-infested waters.
“I see ya 5-0!” came the shout from nearby. It was Porter, of course.
We’ll all see on the seventh of September.
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