Ex-Steelers QB Josh Dobbs Said He’ll Remember Dwayne Haskins’ Selflessness: ‘He Loves Seeing His Teammates Succeed’

The relationship of Steelers quarterback Josh Dobbs and that of recently deceased teammate Dwyane Haskins went far beyond their one year together in the Pittsburgh quarterback room, Haskins said Monday.

“He was a tremendous young man,” said Dobbs in an interview on the Eric Ainge Show for the Knoxville, Tennessee based radio station 99.1 The Sports Animal. “He was really a joy to work with. He’s extremely selfless, as you guys know in this profession that’s hard to find. He loves seeing his teammates succeed, and I think that spoke the most of him as a person.”

Haskins died on Saturday while attempting to cross I-595 in Florida. He was struck by a dump truck at approximately 6:37 a.m. and died at the scene. The young quarterback was only 24 years old and was set to compete with Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph for the Steelers’ starting quarterback position.

The news hit the NFL world hard, especially those who had a chance to play with Haskins. Dobbs not only had that chance in the NFL, but was also his counselor at the Elite 11 quarterback camp while in college.

“Me and Dwyane go way (further) back to just being in the quarterback room last year together,” said Dobbs. “When I was going through my junior year in college, he was a senior in high school. I was actually his counselor at Elite 11. He was committed to Maryland at the time, but just like a skinny, string bean kid who could sling it. Just to see how far he came, as a player of course, he went to Ohio State and put up great numbers, drafted in the first round, but just being around him everyday and seeing who he was as a person. He was a tremendous young man.”

Haskins was drafted by the Washington Redskins with the 15th-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was expected to be the team’s franchise quarterback, but was cut after just one and a half seasons due to inconsistent play and off-the-field issues. In the interview with Dobbs, he spoke about how Haskins was trying to learn from his mistakes in Washington and grow as both a quarterback and as a person.

“He was young,” said Dobbs on his struggles in Washington. “We both know that when you’re young and you have the whole world in front of you, you have to learn. You have to grow into who you are as a person and he did that. He was making strides into improving, off-the-field, as we all saw, and on-the-field he was a tremendous talent. Ben (Roethlisberger) said it best, (Haskins) can throw a football through a car wash and it wouldn’t even get wet. That’s a feat right there. He was a tremendous young man, that’s for sure.”

Dobbs spent the entire 2021 season on the injured reserve list after suffering turf toe in training camp. He recently signed with the Cleveland Browns with the hopes of continuing his NFL career.