After four years in the Windy City with the Chicago Bears, veteran safety Jaquan Brisker has done what few can in the NFL.
Return home.
Brisker, who signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday, spoke about what returning to his roots to play for his hometown team meant during his introductory press conference.
“Going through the tunnels, seeing the city, seeing that beautiful water, it feels amazing to be back for sure,” Brisker said, according to video via the Steelers’ X account. “I never thought I would be a Steeler, which is crazy. But now that I’m here, I’m just so blessed and humbled to be here.
“I just get chills, just knowing that I’m gonna be a Pittsburgh Steeler and I’m from Pittsburgh.”
A graduate of Gateway High School in Monroeville, Brisker was a former star for the Gators, where he played football and basketball and was one of the top recruits coming out of the WPIAL in that recruiting cycle. He then spent three seasons at Penn State after two years at Lackawanna College preparing for his jump to Happy Valley.
Once with the Nittany Lions, Brisker became a big-play safety, eventually earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2021 and second-team All-American honors the same season. That set him on the path to the NFL, where he was a second-round pick of the Bears.
Across four seasons with Chicago, Brisker played 3,363 snaps, including 1,289 career snaps in the box, 1,272 snaps at free safety, 361 snaps along the defensive line, 337 snaps in the slot, and 103 snaps at corner. That experience, along with his production, made him an enticing safety in free agency.
He turned that into a one-year deal with the Steelers, bringing versatility to the table for the Black and Gold. On paper, he looks like a great fit next to DeShon Elliott, and potentially Jalen Ramsey, at the safety position. How those snaps are divided up remains to be seen, but the Steelers landed a piece in Brisker that plays with a physical edge and can line up all over.
That he’s a hometown product is icing on the cake, too. He can’t wait for that moment to run out of the tunnel at Acrisure Stadium wearing the Black and Gold.
“When I was thinking about that, I’m just like, man. Seeing the Terrible Towels waving around, hearing that Renegade song, I’m just like, man… it’s gonna be so fun playing in front of the fans and turn ’em up,” Brisker added. “That’s all I just want to do. Just that energy, that passion, this city has around the football team and things like that, it’s like no other.
“I can’t wait to play in front of ’em. So it’s gonna be amazing.”
Brisker also gets to reunite with former Penn State teammate Joey Porter Jr., too, another Pittsburgh-area native playing for the Steelers.
Shortly after signing with the Steelers, Brisker tweeted out that he needed some Mineo’s pizza, which was a callback to his hometown roots. Now, he’ll get to have as much Mineo’s as he wants in 2026 now that he’s home with the Black and Gold.
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