PITTSBURGH — On Tuesday, Markus Golden took the field for the first time as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, but for him, it felt like something that was coming for a long time.
Golden joins a talented group with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith already bookending the room. The team has had trouble finding consistent, stable players at the spot, but Golden believes he is up to the task to buck the trend. So, when the Melvin Ingram situation was naturally brought up, Golden shot down concerns about being willing to take a backseat to Highsmith and Watt overall.
“As I said, whatever this team wants me to come in and do, I’m going to be ready to hunt,” Golden said. “At the end of the day with any team, I’m all about winning. Whatever I have to do to help this team win, I’m going to come in and do my part.”
With Highsmith and Watt around, Golden is excited to get to work. From afar, he has watched those two go to work, and has a relationship with T.J. Watt’s brother, J.J., from their time in Arizona together. That all will come together, as Golden is excited to work with those two guys as well as Cam Heyward.
“Those guys are a lot man,” Golden said. “You know, you get those guys and watch them in the NFL, we play the same teams, so I watched those guys a lot. They are some dawgs. I fit right into that, right into this defensive line room. When it’s time, I’ll be out there and hunt with them.”
So, Markus Golden, who is close to Denzel Martin and Mike Tomlin, is ready to get out of the field and work with a team he has idolized from afar. The Steelers are hoping to find some stability behind Watt and Highsmith after Ingram and Malik Reed did not work out for very different reasons.