First and 10: Steelers Leaning on Cam Heyward for Leadership

Alan Saunders |

Updated: May 25, 2022

When a team loses an 18-year veteran like Ben Roethlisberger, it would be natural for a football team to wonder who the vacant leadership roles will fall to going forward, but the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t need to have that conversation this offseason, as defensive tackle Cam Heyward is clearly the man for the job.

Heyward has had a heck of an offseason. He was honored with an honorary doctorate at Carlow College. He won The Chief Award and the PFWA Good Guy Award for his relationship with the pro football media. He was named the Steelers’ candidate for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Award for his charitable and humanitarian contributions.

He’s getting it done on the field, too. Heyward just turned 33, but he might have had his best season as a pro in 2021, when he was named a first-team Associated Press All-Pro selection for the third time in his career and attended his fifth straight Pro Bowl. Heyward had nine passes defended to lead NFL defensive linemen and had two takeaways for the first time in his career. He had 10 sacks and 15 tackles for a loss after recording four and seven in 2020.

On the field, in the locker room, at the podium, or in the community, No. 97 is a player the Steelers can always count on, and they’re lucky to have him.

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TODAY’S STEELERS SCHEDULE

The winner of the 2022 PFWA Horrigan Award will be announced at 1 p.m. Steelers general manger Kevin Colbert is a finalist, along with LA Rams COO Kevin Demoff, NFL VP Brian McCarthy, NFL SVP Michael Signora and LA Rams GM Les Snead. The award is given to the league or club official for helping pro football writers do their jobs. Saunders

The 2022 NFL schedule will be released at 8 p.m. on NFL Network. TBD