Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett grew up in Ocean Park, NJ cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles, so Donovan McNabb was his guy growing up. However, the second-year starter for the black and gold kept a close eye on the man he was eventually going to replace.
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Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.
Pickett highlighted watching the offense nicknamed the "Killer B's" with Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, and Martavis Bryant as a big part of his admiration for Ben Roethlisberger during an appearance on the Pivot Podcast with former Steelers safety, Ryan Clark.
The Pivot Podcast / YouTube
Steelers' Kenny Pickett on the Pivot Podcast talking about expectations, tips for rookies, and getting to the next level.
"I always watched Ben, the run he had with AB, Le'Veon, Heath Miller, Bryant," he said. "You watch those games and those guys were playing at a different level."
Pickett arrived at the University of Pittsburgh in 2017 during the final season that Bell played in Pittsburgh, but he was still able to absorb some things from Roethlisberger during his collegiate years that motivated him.
"You can sit on the side after workouts and just watch them," Pickett said. "Watch the timing like when the ball comes out before guys break. Way before I'm doing it and I'm like, 'Sh*t, I've got some work to do with my guys to get to that level.' I saw how it was supposed to be done at practice from Ben."
Steelers QB Not Rushing But Has Championships On His Mind
PHOTO CREDIT: JORDAN SCHOFIELD / STEELERNATION (TWITTER: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers Kenny Pickett
There's no questioning Pickett's drive and desire to bring the Super Bowl back to Pittsburgh, but the 25-year-old in June is not rushing the process to become a franchise legend like Roethlisberger or Terry Bradshaw who he said both congratulated him on being drafted by the franchise.
"Hopefully I can have half the success that they've had," Pickett said about the franchise icons. "It'd be a pretty good run. I have two great guys to chase, so I'm excited to get going."
The organization was pretty excited about Pickett passing Dan Marino in the Pitt Panthers record books when they drafted him in 2022, but he's tempering his expectations no matter who the legendary quarterback he's compared to.
"It's not going to happen in one season, it's not going to happen in two seasons, so I know there's such a long way to go where I'm kind of focusing on improving on X, Y, Z or I've got no shot at being a good NFL quarterback. So I just focus on what I can do to get better and how I can help us as a team."
Pickett said one of the biggest lessons he learned at Pitt was in his final year when the talent of the team matched the buy-in and that kind of mentality is what's needed. A big part of trying to get better and being a leader is building relationships with your teammates and Pickett setting up the group chat to have the team's receivers work out with him in Florida in March.
"Everyone in the NFL should have that want to, but then when it’s time to show you, see who’s really all in," he said. "To have everyone show up and be down here and ready to work, it's awesome to see. It kind of excites you as a quarterback that you’ve got guys with you on that same kind of level and drive that want to go out there and win a championship."
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