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Steelers OLB Eku Leota Keeping Focus on Football as Hometown Digs Out from Hurricane Helene

Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Eku Leota is trying to keep is focus on football as his hometown digs out from Hurricane Helene.

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Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Eku Leota
Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Eku Leota at practice on Oct. 10, 2024. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

PITTSBURGH โ€” On September 24, Eku Leota was released from the Carolina Panthers practice squad. Three days later, his world fell apart.ย 



Leota is originally from Falefa, Samoa, but he was raised in Asheville, North Carolina. On Sept. 27, Tropical Storm Helene, which had formerly been a Category Four hurricane before it made landfall near Tallahassee, Florida, dumped over 30 inches in of rain in parts of the Appalachian Mountains in Western North Carolina.

Communities like Asheville have been devastated. Massive flash floods ripped through the mountain valleys, wiping entire communities off the map. Hundreds of people have been cut off from the outside world due to flood waters and mudslides wiping out roads and bridges. A total of 92 deaths have been confirmed throughout North Carolina. In Ashevilleโ€™s Buncombe County alone, more than 200 residents remain unaccounted for.

Devastation in Asheville after Hurricane Helene. — Bill McMannis

The floodwaters were still subsiding on Oct. 1, when the Pittsburgh Steelers reached out to Leota with an opportunity to join their practice squad with Alex Highsmith expected to miss a few weeks with a groin injury. Despite the turmoil at home, Leota took the leap.

The following Sunday, two more Steelers edge rushers were injured against the Dallas Cowboys and now Leota is among the teamโ€™s top backup options at outside linebacker.

โ€œItโ€™s been pretty crazy,โ€ the soft-spoken Leota said, in possibly the understatement of all understatements.

Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Eku Leota

Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Eku Leota at practice on Oct. 10, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

โ€œI like being active. Being in practice, being in meetings has helped me mentally. Itโ€™s definitely something that traumatized my family. But this game has helped me block that out.โ€

With the Steelers, Leota walked into a locker room of 70 strangers and found a new family to help along this new journey. He already knew fellow Northwestern alum Dean Lowry and shares representation with Isaiahh Loudermilk.

Now, heโ€™s spending his days picking the brains of Highsmith and T.J. Watt, while trying to keep his mind off whatโ€™s been going on at home.

โ€œItโ€™s a family atmosphere here,โ€ Leota said. โ€œI feel like Iโ€™ve been able to get on pretty well just because Iโ€™ve got really good people around me like T.J. helping me feel like I belong in this locker room and just having me work out every day. Itโ€™s just been real good.โ€

At the end of the day, the NFL is a bottom-line business. While the Steelers try hard to foment that family atmosphere and have players around that will help lift up the newest among them, what makes for a long stay in a black and gold uniform is production.

Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Eku Leota

AUBURN, AL – October 01, 2022 – Auburn Edge Rusher Eku Leota (#55) during the game between the LSU Tigers and the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL.
Photo By Austin Perryman

Leota played in 10 games since the stat of last season with the Panthers. In eight games last season, he had just four tackles, but this year, he seemed to be turning a corner, with a sack and three tackles for loss in two games before his release.

The 6-foot-3, 263-pound edge rusher has solid size for his position. He had seven sacks in his redshirt junior season at Auburn before an injury held him to five games as a senior in 2022.ย 

Coming to the Steelers, Leota sees a defense that fits exactly what he needs to succeed at this level.

โ€œThey play a lot more freely here, I feel like,โ€ he said. โ€œLess reading and just more going.โ€

Like he said, he likes going.

Donations to help victims of Hurricane Helene can be directed to the Western North Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Copyright ยฉ 2024 National Hockey Now LLC / Steelers Now. We are a fully credentialed news organization covering the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. In no way affiliated with or endorsed by the Pittsburgh Steelers or NFL.

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