HEATH MILLER PRESS CONFERENCE FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2009
Art Rooney, II:Once again welcome. We are very pleased that this past week we were able to conclude a contract extension with Heath (Miller) and his representatives. Certainly, every offseason, our goal is to try to keep as many of our own players as we possibly can, and being able to get a contract extension done with Heath was one of the priorities of the offseason and being able to come into camp now knowing that Heath is going to be a Steeler for many years is very exciting and we appreciate the hard work that was put in to get this done. So, congratulations and thank you.
Heath Miller:Thank you very much. I feel very grateful to the Rooney family, Kevin Colbert, Omar (Khan) and Coach Tomlin for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the city of Pittsburgh for many years to come. I feel very fortunate to get drafted here I feel it's the best organization in sports and I'm lucky to be here for a few more years.
What is your mindset about not wanting a repeat of the 2006 season?
Well, hopefully we learned a lot of lessons from that first time around, and the thing that I have taken is that it has gotten a whole lot easier to go through it the second time is to win the first time and we realized that in 2006 so hopefully that will carry over and we have a greater focus and a greater desire to be better this year.
What do you think torpedoed it last time?
I don't know I think it's hard to put your finger on one thing. I don't think it was a lack of effort I think certain bounces far away early in the season then the records different so we just have to work hard this year to minimize the things we can control.
Are there any concerns this would get done?
You know, I kind of took the approach as kind of out of my hands to an extent, so I wasn't focused or concerned about it. I was hoping in the back of my mind that it didn't get done and fortunately it didn't until the season is going to start.
So it was a relief that it was done?
Yeah, just to have this part of it behind me, and now that before camp even starts my sole focus is on the season, not that it would have been, but this part is behind me now.
How big of a difference would it have been?
You know, you just can't allow yourself to focus on it. I think you know you have control over it to an extent, not a whole lot, not enough to worry about it.
Will you make demands for the ball?
No. I kind of negotiated with Dave (Lockett) for less media time.
Do you compare yourself with other players in the league?
I don't know. I don't really try to compare myself a lot. I try to learn from all the other guys. There's a lot of good tight ends in the league. I just try to be the best player I can be and hopefully be productive for this team.
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*Are you expecting a production increase?
You know it's always hard to tell. I think we have a lot of good candidates to step into that number three role and it's going to be fun to watch during training camp to see who steps up and makes the plays for us, because there is no doubt that they are capable.
Would you like to split out more?
I don't know. I think I get a good amount of opportunities here so I try to be the best that I can be at whatever job they ask me to do.If I'm asked to do that job then I'll work as hard as I can to be as good as I can be to get it.
