LATROBE, Pa. -- Ryan Switzer joined the Steelers in 2018 just before the team's preseason finale against the Panthers, but he wasted no time in acclimating to his new surroundings.
From renting an ice-cream truck to provide a sweet treat to the team after practice at the Rooney Complex to hanging out with Ben Roethlisberger and his fellow receivers in Georgia and everything in between, Switzer has ingrained himself in the team's culture and fully bought into the "team-first" concept for 2019.
While this undoubtedly helped ease his transition to the Steelers, it also created deep bonds with his teammates and coaches. These were tested recently, when wide receivers coach Darryl Drake unexpectedly passed away Sunday, leaving the team mourning and struggling to move on.
Switzer is among those taking the loss to heart. Our Matt Sunday captured the raw emotion on display for the team at Saint Vincent College in the wake of that loss, and Dale Lolley reported that Switzer, along with JuJu Smith-Schuster and Donte Moncrief, declined to speak to the media Tuesday as they handled their grief. Wednesday, however, Switzer opened up to reporters, sharing his thoughts on Drake's passing and how he and his teammates will move on without Drake by their side.
"It's hard, man," Switzer was saying. "Football's been an outlet for me and everyone else who plays it, because it's kind of an escape from the real world. You get out there and all your problems are gone. But now we get out there and he's not there and it's hard, because he was just everywhere. It's hard to get back to the game you love because he's not out there telling you what to do. He's not out there yellin'.
"So it's hard, but it's part of our profession and it's something that we have to do and it's something that coach Drake would want us to do. Quite frankly, he'd be really p----d at me right now for taking it as hard as we are. But it is hard."
Beyond that, Switzer said he's never dealt with loss on this level. Whereas somebody like Alejandro Villanueva talked about his experiences in this realm, it's all new for Switzer. That makes an already tough situation even more difficult to navigate. But, Switzer noted, it also comes with some positives for the team.
"This is my first experience with [the] death of someone that I considered really close to me, and I'm figuring out that it does bring people together," he said. "I think it's going to be a part of the Steelers' story for 2019, 2020. As long as we keep Drake's legacy alive, it'll be a part of our story. [We] can't get through it alone, and that's something that us as a receiving room have been preaching, trying to stay together, and if each one of us can just be a little bit strong, then collectively as a group, we can be stronger together."
Fighting back tears, Switzer shared exactly how deep the connection with Drake ran for himself and his fellow receivers.
"Coach Drake always called us his sons," Switzer said. "He didn't have any boys, and he always called us his sons. I don't know, it just, we took that at the beginning of camp. He just called us his sons."
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