By Jared Villani
SteelerNation.com
G.Stryker's recent interview with Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner gave Steeler Nation an insightful look into Banner's football journey; but his ability to open up about personal accomplishments and struggles was captivating. Banner is a down to earth, proud individual, and had no problem speaking from the heart throughout this interview which led to a lot of interesting facts many did not know about him. Here are a few significant quotes from No.72 himself.
Banner touched on his career so far and how it feels to have the role he has with the Steelers.
"It felt amazing to be out there and to have a role for a very successful program, for a very successful franchise ...I can be happy with it. I can settle, but I want more."
Taking advantage of his jumbo tight end role last season, Banner was able to see 200+ snaps and landed himself on the fast track to the hearts of Steeler Nation. Banner stressed his focus on getting in better shape and working hard to earn a starting position.
The road leading up to where he is now has not exactly been a smooth one, but Banner appreciates the lessons learned and has stayed determined after overcoming family losses, as well as his own personal battles.
"Everybody deals with family deaths and things like that and I dealt with that as well...My way of dealing with it was through food."
Banner spoke about the one and only fine he ever had for coming into training camp overweight, having to pay $600 for every pound he came in overweight. Banner came in 10 pounds overweight, therefore having to pay a $6,000 fine. His honesty about struggling with food was a rare confession from a professional athlete, so knowing that a lot of players likely do struggle in various ways behind the scenes is eye-opening.
In the fans question segment, Banner addressed the Steelers choice to pass on drafting players at the right tackle position and how he felt about Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin's vote of confidence regarding his progression.
"That's a lot of pressure going into camp this year. I'm ready for that pressure, I like that. I love it. I don't like it, I love it.
Coach Tomlin has heard the criticism of being a "players coach" over his time with Pittsburgh. Call him what you want, but the fact that Tomlin is confident in Banner stepping in when needed this late in Ben Roethlisberger's career has to be a great feeling.
It's no surprise why after hearing how appreciative he is for where he is now in his career (and not holding back personal details about his life), that Banner is a fan-favorite.
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