Every big-name player seems to have a celebration after big plays that they go to. That’s always been true with the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially for pass rushers after sacks.
Joey Porter Jr. had the kick, T.J. Watt has his own version of a kick, and now Nick Herbig has his go-to celebration after he gets the quarterback on the ground.
Herbig taps into his Hawaiian roots for his celebration after taking down quarterbacks. The idea behind it? Well, that came from his older brother, Nate.
Appearing on The Christian Kuntz Podcast that published Thursday morning, Herbig detailed some of the things behind his sack celebration, something he’s been able to bust out often this season given that he leads the Steelers with 6.5 QB takedowns.
“Well, like my rookie year, my brother was like, ‘Bro, you gotta have a sack cell.’ I’m like, ‘Why?’ And they’re like, ”Cause everyone got a sack celly.’ So I was like, ‘Whatever,'” Herbig said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “And at first it was just stand up and just shaka, you know? So now I do that when I come out of the tunnel. But then I don’t know how it just transformed into…I was thinking about like a bow and arrow.
“I was like, ‘What if I did like one shaka into a bow and arrow?’ So at first it was like right here, but then it went up to the sky because that’s awesome.”
Not only is Herbig’s game continuing to evolve, especially as a pass rusher, so too is his sack celebration. He seemed reluctant to have one as a rookie, but now that he’s grown more comfortable in his role and his standing in Pittsburgh, he’s letting it fly after sacks.
Take a look at the celebration after bringing down Joe Flacco last Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
You can see the Shaka, and then he transitions to the bow and arrow with his teammates in T.J. Watt and Keeanu Benton around him.
They’re leaned into Herbig’s sack celebration, too, making it a really cool moment.
He busted it out more than a few times this season, continuing to see his name recognition rise as one of the best young pass rushers in football. Herbig does most of his damage in a reserve role behind Watt and Alex Highsmith, but when he gets an opportunity to start and log heavy snaps, like he did last Sunday against the Bengals, Herbig makes plays.
He’s played 414 snaps defensively this season and has generated 36 pressures and those 6.5 sacks. He also has one interception, which came in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Despite playing limited snaps, Herbig is one of the highest-graded edge defenders in football from Pro Football Focus, holding a grade of 90.5 overall.
He is behind only Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, Green Bay’s Micah Parsons, Houston’s Will Anderson Jr., and Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson in overall grade. He also has one more pressure than Watt, who has played 170 more snaps than Herbig on the year.
Herbig is becoming a legitimate star pass rusher, something that is quite the development for the Steelers. Hopefully there are more Shaka bow and arrows in the near future for the emerging standout in the Black and Gold.
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