The Pittsburgh Steelers' teams of the mid-to-late 2010s were something special. Steelers went to the Super Bowl three times in six years in 2005, 2008 and 2010. They won in 2005 and 2008 but lost in 2010. The fans got used to a certain level of success and the players got used to being involved in a team with a winning record.
Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Retired Steelers veteran Roosevelt Nix during his playing days
Two of the players that were heavily involved with the team at that time and the subsequent request are Ramon Foster and Roosevelt Nix. Now the two of them discuss what it is like to be a part of the legacy of that team and question if being spoiled was so enjoyable that their staying ultimately hurt the team.
Steelers' Foster And Nix Discuss Being Part Of History
Foster now hosts a podcast on DK Pittsburgh Sports called The Ramon Foster Show, and he had Nix on as a guest recently. One topic they discussed was how lucky they were to have the group they had back then. The players, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, were smart, versatile and physical, which made them able to mix in a lot of no-huddle plays and other unique plays.
Foster, an offensive guard, played for the Steelers from 2009 to 2019 and Nix, a fullback, was in black and gold from 2015-2019. Foster had quite a bit to say about how privileged he felt to be a part of that group.
"Having them dudes with the flexibility they had was phenomenal, the way Ben could operate it (the offense)."
Nix agrees and says that he doesn't think fans always realize how special and unique it was.
"I think we were spoiled. I think we had some talent that kind of changed the game in all aspects. When you talk about being in shape, L Bell (Le'Veon Bell) never came out of the game. He stayed with that same consistency. That's tough, to get like that, that slant route that AB (Antonio Brown) is running is the same one in the fourth quarter. I think that we got spoiled in that way. It made it what we did."
AP
Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive players Ramon Foster and Maurkice Pouncey run out of the tunnel on the field pre-game.
He also feels that the Steelers are one of the few teams that use a fullback and use them effectively. And while he is always modest, he knows that he added a layer of benefit to the offense that gave them a boost.
"When you add me as an extension of the O, like it kinda flowed just enough to let Ben do his thing, the no-huddle. It was a real, good attack on every aspect. When we had Martavis (Bryant) going deep or (Markus) Wheaton. I think the offense that we were curating at that time it worked, and the game changed, and the players had to change too."
Foster agrees and said he made similar comments when it comes to his time playing with Roethlisberger and the offensive unit. He admits that the team may have held on to some of those players too long, trying to sustain the magic of what they had.
"I say this a lot, I honestly look at it now which is why I think we're going through this reset now, they held on to us. I can be real, I'm appreciative of the pay, but they held on to my group, that old line for probably a year or two too long. When you look at the breakdown of it, we got me, then we got old quick as far as the amount of talent that we had to go chase that ring. That's how special it was, that line you're talking about at that time, we need to click, it was clicking. It was the best line for maybe two or three years at a time. At one point like, two or three years it was probably a top-five line in the league."
They were in fact excellent during that time period. In 2016, PFF ranked them third overall. That same year Foster, again according to PFF, ranked fourth for pass blocking and sixth overall among all NFL guards. In their assessment, PFF spoke about how underrated this line was, with Foster allowing zero sacks and drawing just one penalty all season.
While the line struggled in 2017 due to injuries, they bounced back in 2018. The team as a whole dealt with a ton of drama (that's for a different article) but the offensive line was solid. PFF ranked them first overall for the season. They noted that the weakest line on the line that year still ranked 61st overall among all offensive linemen.
"That type of cohesion was unmatched around the NFL."
The Ramon Foster Show
Former Steelers Roosevelt Nix and Ramon Foster talk over the good old days.
However, the team did continue to keep some of those players despite injuries and age-related decline and that could well have been a factor in why it is taking so long to 'rebuild' that segment of the team now. Keeping veteran players and excellent ones at that, isn't cheap.
Do you agree with Foster? Do you think they kept the offensive linemen too long? Was there any specific player that you felt they kept longer than they should have? What do you think made the offensive line of that decade so great? Do you think the current line is getting anywhere near that line of old? Comment below.
#SteelerNation
