To some, exhibition game is a big deal
Forget the state championship in high school or the bitter rivalries from college. Forget the bowl games, too, even if a national championship was at stake. This game — this seemingly meaningless, quasi-pickup game Thursday against the not-really Philadelphia Eagles — is for many players the biggest game of their football lives.
“Like my Super Bowl,” said Quadree Henderson, who, for all he knows, will get one shot to convince the Steelers they should keep a returnman on their roster (a long shot, at best).
Standing 5-foot-8, Henderson is the shortest player in camp. He left Pitt a year early on the hope that NFL teams still care about the endangered species known as kick returners. He went undrafted, despite a college career that saw him return fourkickoffs and three punts fortouchdowns.
Right after the draft, he got a call from Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith — a Type-A personality if ever there was one. Type A-plus is more like it. Smithprobably cheers at the top of his lungs when he picksup a drive-thru order.
“Coach Danny Smith said, ‘We need a return guy; we don’t have one,’” Henderson recalled Tuesday. “That kind of sold it for me. He said, ‘Come in here next Thursday with a smile on yourface and get to work.’”
Two things Henderson owns in abundant supply: speedand confidence.
Exhibit A: “I definitely feel like I was the best returner in college football history,” he said.
Exhibit B: “I’m real fast. Everybody saw the 4.5 I had at the combine, but I ran 4.37 at my Pro Day. I definitely feel like special teams still play a big factor in every NFL game, and I feel I can flip the field position no matterthe circumstance.”
He said it again for emphasis: “I can flip the field positionfor this team.”
Rookie running back Jaylen Samuels is another player who can’t wait to dive into the deep end — and if history is an indicator, he will cross the goal line at least once Thursday. The man scored 59 touchdowns his senior year in high school (”Plus four that got called back,” he said) and 47 more at N.C. State. He threw a 59-yard touchdown pass in college and returned an interception 103 yards in high school.
Samuels’ game is so diversified that the ACC created a special position — “All-Purpose Back” — for their AllConference ballot. Turns out Samuels is a big Le’Veon Bell fan, too (maybe he’ll even get tomeet him someday).
He won a state title in high school and was named MVP of the 2016 Independence Bowl — but this ain’t the Independence Bowl. This is the big leagues. I suggested to Samuels it might be the biggestgame of his career. “Forreal,” he said. There are reasons Samuels lasted until the fifth round. Depending on who you believe, undefined position and average quickness wereamong them.
“I was very disappointed,” said. “But everything happens for a reason. I was underrated coming into college, underrated coming into the NFL. I’m just going to try to make thempay for it.”
As for Henderson, just imagine what he’ll be thinking when that first kick hits air, carrying with it all his hopes and dreams. He’ll never forget his big day against Penn State two years ago, or his favorite play from college — a 100-yard kickoff return to open the 2015 MilitaryBowl. But this is bigger.
This is the Super Bowl, man.
Joe Starkey: jstarkey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @joestarkey1. Joe Starkey can be heard on the “Starkey and Mueller” show weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.