Humility Through Shaky Hands

Jordan DeFigio, @fidgenewton

SteelerNation.com

From the second he stepped foot in the Steel City and donned the storied black and gold colors, Eric Ebron has been outspoken on his excitement to be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The tight end was drafted in the first round in 2014 by the Detroit Lions. After being released in 2018, he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts and released shortly after earlier this year.

Not exactly a resume of Lombardi-chasers.

So of course, Ebron has been having a pretty good time.

But what happens when the good times start to get to your head? What happens when the lines blur and your confidence starts to transition to cockiness?

You go from having a pretty solid season (35 receptions on 56 targets for 359 yards and 4 touchdowns) to 14 receptions on 22 targets for 122 yards and no touchdowns across 4 games. Not to mention the drops.

All those damn drops.

Lions fans warned us, Colts fans warned us, and through the first 9 games of the regular season, we were able to turn a blind eye.

Ebron was passionate. Motivated. Hungry. And making big plays, looking like the tight end target Ben Roethlisberger had been missing since the departure of Heath Miller.

But he got arrogant. He got ahead of himself. And it's showing on and off the field.

Big oof. How about we lock up a playoff spot before we start talking red carpet Super Bowl treatment?

The loss the Steelers suffered at the hand of the Washington Football Team on Monday night was messy. Embarrassing. Rough. But one I think the entire team, Ebron especially, needed.

Humbling it was. All of the receivers (with the exception of James Washington) looked out of sorts. Drops everywhere. But none have been as outspoken on social media about the team's yellow brick road to their seventh championship as Ebron.

Maybe it was the 3 games in 12 days (unlikely). Maybe it was the way their schedule was thrown out of orbit by the Baltimore Ravens COVID outbreak. Maybe it was playing with an offensive line riddled with injuries and two backup running backs. Maybe it was playing at 3:40PM on a Wednesday followed by 5:00PM on a Monday.

Who knows.

But things never seem to work well for the guys who are seven games ahead of the one right in front of them.

I hope this proves to serve as a wake-up call for him. Just because you're playing for a team that isn't Detroit doesn't mean you're guaranteed a ring. You have to earn it first.

And to earn it, you need to catch the football.

#SteelerNation