Let's get to it:
NICK MITCHELL FROM GLEN-LYON, PA: Do you remember the "Big Hit" that Donnie Shell put on Earl Campbell, and do you think it helped him get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Do today's fans know how great of a player he was?
ANSWER: Yes, I remember the hit that Donnie Shell put on Earl Campbell on Dec. 3, 1978, in the Astrodome, in a game the Steelers won, 13-3, to get to 12-2 on the way to a 14-2 regular season that included a win over the Oilers in the AFC Championship Game and a victory over Dallas in Super Bowl XIII. But in terms of Shell's resume for the Hall of Fame, while that play highlighted the physical nature with which he played, I believe what was far more significant were his 51 interceptions – the most of any strong safety in NFL history at the time of his retirement. And for any fans who might be too young to remember Shell's hit on Campbell, go to Youtube.com and type in "Donnie Shell hit on Earl Campbell" in the search box. Enjoy. One final point: In addition to being a Hall of Fame player, Shell always has been a class act off the field. Earlier this summer, Shell agreed to travel to Saint Vincent College to do a meet-and-greet with Steelers fans before a practice.
LENNY CIMADOMO FROM WILMINGTON, NC: I know you always are against switching players at positions, but why do the Steelers constantly do it? Why draft Troy Fautanu to play right tackle when he played 90 percent of the time at left tackle in college? Same for Broderick Jones. It makes no sense to take a player out of position.
ANSWER: First of all, those are not the kind of position switch suggestions that annoy me. I'm referring to the likes of "Ryan Shazier to safety," or "T.J. Watt to tight end," or any of the other inane suggestions I have received involving moving a player from offense to defense, or vice versa, especially when the player entered the league as a high draft pick in the first place. Taking an offensive tackle and trying him at both ends of the line of scrimmage is nothing more than looking to create some position flexibility. That happens all the time all over the NFL, and that is not in the same category as a "position switch."
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER FROM TEWKSBURY, MA: I recall that the Steelers once practiced at the fairgrounds at South Park. Was that true?
ANSWER: Yes. Before Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970, when the Steelers had no homefield, they played their games at either Forbes Field or Pitt Stadium at various times in their history, and their "practice facility" was at South Park. To say that was a sub-standard NFL-caliber facility is a gross understatement.
DANIEL DUNMYER FROM MORGANTOWN, WV: It has been a couple of weeks now. Do you believe the NFL is pleased with the new kickoff rule and will make it permanent or is it still too early to tell? Any particular feedback from the Steelers?
ANSWER: I understand that we now live in a microwave society where nobody wants to wait for anything, where social media has taught us that it's much better to be first with an analysis or a hot take than correct. But two weeks? And it's two weeks without a single regular season game? The NFL isn't even certain how it's going to officiate the new kickoff rule, let alone have any idea how kickoffs might be looking come Halloween, to say nothing of how teams might be employing and/or adjusting to it in the playoffs. And the Steelers are no different than any other team when it comes to the new kickoff rule: They realize the first thing that has to be done is teach the players the rules so those players can execute without having to think, because the new kickoff rules are counterintuitive to any kickoffs those players have seen on the field at any level of football they've ever played.
ANDY BALDONADO FROM ANNA, OH: With the new kickoff rule in play now, is the onside kick a thing of the past or is it still possible to do an onside kick?
ANSWER: Onside kicks are still permitted, but only in the fourth quarter of games. Here are the rest of the new rules pertaining to onside kicks:
• Trailing team must declare onside kick attempt to officials.
• If the attempt goes past setup zone (defined as the area between the receiving team's 30-35-yard lines) untouched, the kicking team is assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and receiving team gets the ball at the kicking team's 20-yard line.
• Outside of those changes, the previous years' rules for onside kicks apply.
JA McCULLOUGH FROM MAUMEE, OH: I love the rivalry between the Browns and the Steelers, especially since I am a Steelers fan living in Ohio. Who, in your opinion, was the best Steelers player acquired from the Cleveland Browns?
ANSWER: Off the top of my head, I would say the best player the Steelers ever had who previously played for the Browns was Joe Haden. But I don't know that it's accurate to say the Steelers "acquired" Haden, because all they did was sign him after the Browns foolishly cut him. The Steelers didn't actually give anything back to the Browns in the deal.
KEITH MILLER FROM CANTON, NC: I'm sure the leadership of the Steelers isn't sitting beside the phone doing nothing but waiting for a call from the 49ers. To your knowledge, are they investigating other options? Is there a Plan B?
ANSWER: Plan B very well could end up being playing with the group they currently have.
RICHARD SNYDER FROM SAN PEDRO, CA: I noticed where Saint Vincent College has banners on campus stating Steelers training camp has been held there since 1966. However, many of the black-and-white photos from the 1950s and 1960s appear to be at an out-of-town location. Can you list what other places the Steelers practiced prior to 1966 and the history of how the move to Saint Vincent College came about?
ANSWER: Here is a complete list of sites and the years where the Steelers held their training camps: Moore Field, Pittsburgh, Pa. (1933-37); St. Francis College (1938-40); Hershey, Pa. (1941-42, 1945-46); Philadelphia, Pa. (1943); Waukesha, Wisconsin (1944); Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, Pa. (1947-51); St. Bonaventure College (1952-57); California State Teachers College (1958-60); Slippery Rock College (1961); West Liberty College in Wheeling, W.Va. (1962-63); University of Rhode Island (1964-66•); Saint Vincent College (1967-Present).
• In 1966, the Steelers held some practices at Saint Vincent College on their way back from the University of Rhode Island to Pittsburgh for the regular season opener, which was held on Sept. 11 against the New York Giants at Pitt Stadium. Then in 1967, the Steelers moved their training camp full-time to Saint Vincent College.
ROBERTO SPINELLI FROM SCOTTSDALE, AZ: With the recent talk about a trade for Brandon Aiyuk and the contract he may sign, can you please outline what the Steelers paid Antonio Brown?
ANSWER: Antonio Brown was a sixth-round pick (195th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft. That was before the Collective Bargaining Agreement of 2011 mandated that all rookies sign 4-year contracts, and so Brown entered the NFL with a 3-year contract worth $1.29 million and included a signing bonus of $73,075. Then in 2012, a year before he would've hit restricted free agency, the Steelers signed him to a 5-year contract worth $41.96 million and included a signing bonus of $8.5 million. In 2017, Brown signed a 4-year extension worth $68 million and included a signing bonus of $19 million. That contract averaged $17 million a year, but on March 10, 2019, Brown was traded to the Raiders.
STEPHEN CUPRZYNSKI FROM COCKEYSVILLE, MD: How many assistant coaches/coordinators did Chuck Noll have on his first Steelers coaching staff in 1969? How many does Mike Tomlin have today?
ANSWER: In 1969, Chuck Noll did not have any coordinators on his staff of assistants, and to be fair, coordinators were not a thing in the NFL in 1969. On Noll's staff, Max Coley was the offensive backfield coach; Bob Fry was the offensive line coach; and Dick Coury was the receivers coach. On defense, Walter Hackett was the defensive line coach; and Charlie Sumner was the defensive backfield coach. Louis Riecke was the strength coach.
In 2024, Mike Tomlin's staff includes Teryl Austin as the defensive coordinator, Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator, Danny Smith as the special teams coordinator, Tom Arth as the quarterbacks coach, Zach Azzanni as the wide receivers coach, Grady Brown as the secondary coach, Aaron Curry as the inside linebackers coach, Karl Dunbar as the defensive line coach, Eddie Faulkner as the running backs coach, Denzel Martin as the outside linebackers coach, Pat Meyer as the offensive line coach, Alfredo Roberts as the tight ends coach, Mike Sullivan as the senior offensive assistant, Matt Baker as an offensive assistant, Mateo Kambui as an offensive assistant, Anthony Midget as the assistant secondary coach, Isaac Williams as the assistant offensive line coach, Jason Brooks as the defensive quality control coach, Darrel Young as the director of player development, Phil Matusz as the head strength & conditioning coach, Justus Galac as the assistant strength and conditioning coach, Roderick Moore as the sports science coordinator/strength and conditioning, and Garrett Giemont as the senior conditioning coordinator.
