Friday Take Five: Kenny Pickett on His Relationship with His Dad

PITTSBURGH — With Father’s Day falling in June, all of our Friday Take Fives will have a father theme (and I know it’s July 1, but we had too many good fathers stories to share!

So here’s our Friday Take Five with Kenny Pickett about his father Ken, what he’s like during games, his flow and more:

Steelers Now: What was your dad like as a youth football dad?

Kenny Pickett: He coached me from flag football, which is like a five, and then he coached me until eighth grade. After that, like high school, college, he always was like a coach to me that anything he saw on the field, he would always talk to me after the game or ask what I saw on certain plays. So it’s always been like, when you’re pretty much my best friend in life, can help me out through football, and help teach me as my career went on? He’s been huge.

SN: What is the most mad he ever got at you?

KP: Oh God. I don’t know. There’s plenty. But it helped me get me where I am now. So it all worked out.

SN: Last year, the camera would be on him during the game sometime. You don’t necessarily get to see that while you’re playing. What was your reaction to seeing him watching you?

KP: My mom would be way more nervous than he is. My mom probably doesn’t watch half the game. He’s more locked in than she is. He’s watching everything offense, he played defensive college. So he’s locked in on both sides of the ball. So I know he’s definitely a lot more intense than my mom is during the games.

SN: I saw a picture of him at Shippensburg and the thing that stood out the most to me was the haircut. Pretty different. You don’t take that from him at all, huh?

KP: He had longer hair when he was younger. So maybe that’s where I got it from. And then he went shorter. So I don’t know if I’ll go that short. But we’ll see what happens.

SN: How would you sum up your relationship with your dad.

KP: He’s just the guy I go to for everything, pretty much. I trust him, you know, 100% and I know he always has my best interests in mind. So everything I ever have in life, I always go to him and he always guides me in the right direction.