Ben DiNucci Returns to Face Hometown Steelers

PITTSBURGH — Former Pitt and Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci will have a full circle moment on Saturday night when the Buffalo Bills take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a preseason game at Acrisure Stadium.

It will be DiNucci’s first time playing in Pittsburgh as a pro. He expects at least 20 friends and family members to be at the game.

“It’s pretty cool, right. It’s one thing to be in college playing (at Acrisure Stadium), but playing here in the NFL, it’s a really cool full circle moment,” DiNucci said after the Steelers-Bills joint practice on Thursday. “(Growing) up, we had season tickets in (section) 114, row Y. So I spent a lot of days in here. A lot of Sundays. (It’s) cool to be on the other side and the city I grew up in. And just to be back in a locker room and playing again.”

Ben DiNucci won a WPIAL championship at Pine-Richland at then-Heinz Field in 2014, a 21-13 victory over Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who played at Pitt with DiNucci, was on that Central Catholic team.

“We did win, don’t bring that up to Damar Hamlin. He’s probably still salty about it,” DiNucci joked.

DiNucci could have been in the Black and Gold for tonight’s game, but the Steelers did not sign him after he worked out for the team on July 23.

“The first thing I did was call my parents,” DiNucci said. “My parents start hooting and hollering. I’m like, ‘Guys, relax. It’s just a workout. I’m not starting. They are not signing me to take Russ’ (Wilson) job or Justin’s (Fields) job.’ But (it was) really cool to work out for your home city. I think it’ll be a little better to come beat them here on Saturday. We’ll see how that one plays out.”

DiNucci signed with the Bills on Monday after Shane Buechele suffered a neck injury and was placed on injured reserve. It’s expected that DiNucci will replace Mitch Trubisky at some point in the second half against the Steelers. 

“At some point in the second half, third quarter,” DiNucci said when asked about playing time on Saturday. “I’ll be ready to roll. Have some fun with it. Joe (Brady’s) going to meet with me on Friday night (to) make sure I’m good with the base install for the game plan. And I’ll say, ‘Hey, I’m good with this stuff, not good with this stuff. And we’ll kind of formulate a plan when I’m in there and go from there.”

DiNucci, 27, spent the 2023 season on the practice squad of the Denver Broncos and did not play in a regular season game. In three preseason games, he finished 21 of 31 for 187 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and one sack. DiNucci was released by Denver in May.

DiNucci had originally been committed to Penn when coming out of Pine-Richland in 2015 before flipping his commitment to Pitt. After a redshirt year, DiNucci replaced an injured Nathan Peterman in Pitt’s Pinstripe Bowl loss in 2016 before becoming a part of a quarterback competition in 2017.

DiNucci initially lost out to USC transfer Max Browne, but replaced Browne multiple times. DiNucci took over as the starter after Browne was lost for the season to an injury at Syracuse on Oct. 7, but DiNucci himself lost the starting job to true freshman Kenny Pickett by the season finale against Miami. In 12 games over three seasons at Pitt, DiNucci threw 91 times, completing 167 for 1,107 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions.

After losing the job to Pickett, he transferred to James Madison at the FCS level, where he was a two-year starter, taking the Dukes to the FSC Championship Game as a redshirt senior. In two seasons at JMU, he completed 479 of 687 for 5,716 yards, 45 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He finished his career tied third in school history in completing and fourth in yards and touchdowns.

The Dallas Cowboys selected DiNucci in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and he spent two years as a backup in Dallas. He played in three games, all in 2022, completing 23 of 43 for 219 yards.

After he was released by the Cowboys, DiNucci played with the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL in 2023, leading the league in passing yards, attempts and completions, before landing back in the NFL with the Broncos.