Steelers Daily News & Links: Harris Tops Yards after Contact, Duck’s Girl Wins Grammy

Steelers Daily News & Links: Your daily stop for all of the news and links from the Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL and around the Sports Now Group.

? Jason and Travis Kelce are doing a best NFL team name bracket for their New Heights podcast. The Steelers beat out the Titans to move onto the Final Four.

“Travis and I both agree, Steelers is too damn good, an homage to the men who built this country!!,” Jason Kelce wrote on X.

? Former Steelers quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges’ girlfriend Lainey Wilson won a Grammy for Best Country Album.

“DUCK YEAH!!! Come on with it !!! Proud BF!!!,” Hodges wrote on X.

The couple began dating in 2021 but didn’t go public with their relationship until two years later when Hodges accompanied Wilson to the ACM Awards in May 2023.

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? No running back had more yards after contact than Najee Harris in 2023, per Pro Football Reference.

1. Najee Harris – 617 YAC (255 carries)
2. Christian McCaffrey – 606 YAC (272 carries)
3. Derrick Henry – 601 YAC (280 carries)

Harris’ 2.4 yards after contact per carry was tied for third among qualified RBs.

? Tony Dungy gave a shoutout to Tom Moore, who is coming back for a 46th season of coaching in the NFL. The 85-year-old will be back with the Buccaneers coaching staff as an offensive consultant. Moore coached Dungy in college at Minnesota and was on the Steelers coaching staff when Dungy played for Pittsburgh. Moore was Dungy’s offensive coordinator for the Colts team that won Super Bowl XLI.

“Tom Moore was my QB coach when I was a freshman at the University Of Minnesota 51 years ago. He was our receiver coach with the Steelers when we won Super Bowl XIII. He was my OC for our Colts team that won Super Bowl XLI. He’s still an AMAZING coach!” Dungy wrote on X.

? Former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell disagrees with ex-Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s statement that he only played dirty against the Steelers. Bell wrote on X, “lol that’s ? .. he played dirty against errrrryyyyybody.”

? Steel City Star shared a clip from “America’s Game” when Joey Porter Sr. called Seahawks tight end Jeremy Stevens “soft” at Super Bowl XL media day. Porter got irked by Stevens’ comment that Jerome Bettis’ homecoming to Detroit was “a heartwarming story and all that, but it will be a sad day when he leaves without that trophy.”

“I’ve been asleep all week but now I got woke up,” Porter said. “I’ve got my first taste of blood and now I’m thirsty for more. Until now, it was ‘Watch what I say,’ ‘I can’t say this,’ ‘I can’t say that,’ ‘Don’t do anything silly,’ but I’m ready now. You look for the guys that say something that aren’t supposed to say nothing, and I feel like he definitely was out of pocket to say what he said. I’m going to make sure he owns up to those words.”

? On this day 18 years ago, the Steelers beat the Seahawks, 21-10, in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit. Steel City Star posted a mini-highlight reel of Hines Ward’s SB MVP performance. He had six touches for 141 yards and a touchdown.

? Happy Birthday to former Steelers tight end Chris Kolodziejski, born on February 5, 1961 in Augsburg, Germany. Kolodziejski, who played his college ball at Wyoming, was drafted in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Steelers. He played seven games in 1984 before suffering a career-ending knee injury.

? Historic Vids on X posted a throwback to when Jerome Bettis’s mom made dinner and hosted for more than 40 Steelers players before Super Bowl XL. The game was played in Bettis’ hometown of Detroit.

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