Former Pitt players making their moves with Steelers
PITTSBURGH – The building was the same and the practice fields sit adjacent to the ones they used at Pitt.
But the excitement level among tight end Scott Orndoff and running back James Conner was certainly different Friday as they took the practice field for the first time as members of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers opened their three-day rookie mini-camp at the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex they share with the University of Pittsburgh football team. Orndoff, a Waynesburg native, and Conner were two of four former Pitt players who took part in Friday’s workouts, joining safeties Reggie Mitchell and Terrish Webb.
With four former Pitt players taking part in the workouts, it wasn’t strange for Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and some of his staff to come out of their offices and check on the proceedings.
The familiarity makes the transition easier for the former Pitt players.
“With everyone on the team, but especially with them, we’re all in it together,” said Orndoff, a Waynesburg native who signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent.
“We’re all going through the same thing. So it’s nice to have guys you can confide with and relate to and help each other out through the whole thing.”
Conner has the highest profile of the former Pitt players. An All-American three years ago when he was the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Conner’s battle to return to the field last season after overcoming Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has been well documented.
The Steelers selected Conner in the third round of the draft last month and got their first look at that 6-2, 233-pound running back in a black and gold jersey.
“I got past all the emotions on draft night,” Conner said. “Just like (head coach Mike) Tomlin said, ‘It’s emotional. It’s a great feeling. He was happy for me and my family. But we have to get past that. We have work to do. I always say I am blessed. But I just came to work today.”
Orndoff, who is wearing No. 80 for the Steelers instead of the No. 83 he wore in college in honor of his favorite player, former Pittsburgh tight end Heath Miller, felt much the same way.
While the emotion of putting on a uniform of the team you grew up rooting is great, you still have a job to do if you want to continue to wear that jersey.
“It was surreal,” Orndoff said of putting on the jersey for the first time. “Even as a kid, I would say I wanted to be a professional football player in the NFL but I never really envisoned it realistically. It’s definitely an awesome experience. I want to keep it going as long as I can.
“There are a lot of moving parts. It’s what I was used to, but even more in depth. It’s on us to not make the same mistakes twice and learn the playbook so that we can be reliable with our assignments.”
That will be the task over the three days of this camp. Then, the Steleers will take a week off before resuming May 22, when the young players from this camp will be merged with the veteran players. After four weeks of optional OTAs, the Steelers will hold their mandatory mini-camp before beginning training camp at the end of July.
The key for the new players is not repeating mistakes. The coaching staff has little tolerance for the same mistakes being made over and over.
“It was all right,” Orndoff said of his first workout. “There was a lot of new stuff, a whole new offense. I’ve got to clean some stuff up, but I’ll come back and try to keep my head in the playbook. I felt good out there. It felt good to be running around again.
“Even through the draft process, I never dreamed I’d end up here. It’s an ideal situation for me. I’m blessed for the opportunity to play for a great organization that I’ve been watching and cheering for my whole life.”
Orndoff is one of four players with local ties in rookie camp. Taylorstown native Akil Blount, a first-year linebacker who went to training camp with Miami last year, was signed in the offseason. He is wearing No. 49. Former California University players Aaron Terry, a safety, and tight end Paul Butler are in camp receiving tryouts. … The Steelers released former West Virginia running back Dreamius Smith prior to practice to get down to the roster limit of 90 players.