SEBASTIAN JOSEPH-DAY
Q: Sebastian, what was your excitement to work with Patrick Graham? What do you know about what he does in defense and how they're going to use you?
SJ-D: I'm really excited. I'm really pumped up. Some of those conversations, I just want to stick between him and I what they want to do with me. But I'm really excited. I'm really excited to be teaming up with Patrick Graham and obviously an amazing front that they have already. It's gonna be really exciting, man, the things we're going to do. So I'm pumped, really pumped. It puts a smile on my face, as you see, while I'm talking about it.
Q: For what are you most excited about being in Pittsburgh?
SJ-D: I'm just excited to win games. Just to win games. They won their (division) last year and it's just exciting that we have such an amazing roster -- before I even got here, right? The roster was already a fire, and I'm just excited and honored that I get to join this group and go to work with them.
Q: What allows you to be so versatile?
SJ-D: Wooo, that's a great question. I think, honestly, it's me not boxing myself in. From the start, beginning of my career, I played a lot of nose next to Aaron Donald. And then when I left the Rams, we kind of had a need. We had one of our D tackles that they signed with me get hurt. So they were like, 'Hey, can you play this three (technique)?' And I was like, 'Whatever the team needs me to do.' And I did it. And I just didn't box myself in, and when I went to Tennessee, there were (T'Vondre) Sweat, and Sweat's like 360 pounds. He's a big man. Obviously he couldn't play four or five, so it was a no-brainer. Jeff (Simmons) was a three, and I was like I'll play the five, I'll play the six, I'll play the four. And I think it's just me not letting myself get boxed in, just being able to adapt and taking pride in being that guy that could -- whatever you need me to do, I'll get it done (and) be that Army Swiss knife.
Q: Have you noticed references to Aaron in the building?
SJ-D: Oh, yeah. As soon as I walked in, I went to walk in the weight room, I took a photo because I'm sending it to him. 'I'm in your city now, brother.' (Laughs) But yeah, shout out to Aaron, man. Like I said earlier, amazing, amazing football player, but even a better person, man. Great person. I'm super thankful for him, because he helped me a lot early in my career.
Q: Was Stroudsburg Steeler Country or Eagle Country growing up?
SJ-D: Believe it or not, Stroudsburg is pretty evenly divided. I know I had a lot of friends that are Steeler fans and a lot of friends that were also Eagles fans.
Q: Were you leaning one way or the other?
SJ-D: Believe it or not, growing up, this is gonna sound crazy, but growing up I was actually a Vikings fan, because when I was really young I fell in love with their uniforms, so I always was a Vikings fan. When they didn't draft me, I was heartbroken. (Laughs) I was talking to them, too, during the draft process. I was like, 'Ah, no.'
Q: You got over it?
SJ-D: Yeah, I got over it. I definitely got over it. I mean, listen. Rams, Super Bowl, two Super Bowls in like four years, I wasn't complaining. But, yeah, Stroudsburg was pretty excited -- a lot of texts, a lot of messages, a lot of people are coming to attend.
Q: What do you know about Cam Heyward and has game? And how much are you looking forward to playing with him?
SJ-D: Cam (pause) first ballot, man. Tremendous, tremendous football player. I don't know him personally, but from what I see from afar, even a better human being. What he does in the community, that's awesome. I'm just super-excited to pair up with him. His game is amazing, man. When I watch film, a lot of the teams I played for were 3-4 defenses and whatnot, so you always watch teams that have comps to you so you kind of see the blocks you get. I always watch Cam and he's always whipping ass. Excuse my language. I rarely -- I never see him lose, for real, honestly. Like I said, great football player and I'm super excited to pair up with him and the rest of the guys and fit in wherever they need me to, do whatever they need me to, and just help the team whatever way I can.
Q: Is this a team that's still making those win-now moves with the quote-unquote window open?
SJ-D: For sure. You definitely see the moves they're making and it's really impressive. They're doing a great job. Again, from my perspective, I see a lot of great things that they're doing to lead us in that direction. But obviously, it always comes back to us executing and doing what we have to do. But on paper, yes, obviously we look very nice, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Q: With so much newness on the Steelers, what's your mindset entering a team like this with almost a completely clean slate?
SJ-D: My mindset is just to do whatever I gotta do to put the team in a great position to win. That's just my mindset, to be completely honest. It's just about being selfless and doing what's asked of you to help, whatever it is that they wanted to do with me, and I'm here for it. I just want to win games again. It's been a little different two years for me. Nothing but love for Tennessee, at all. I went from winning so much, I went from being in playoffs, I think, six years. Even my first year, the Chargers were in playoffs to, you know, kind of going on a little skid. So I think it's really been humbling, because I got to see the duality of both the things that you do to win and the things that obviously don't help you win games. So I just want to get back on that. I want to get back on that winning path and do whatever it takes to do that, whatever that role is for me that they have for me.
Q: In San Diego, the exit had to be a shock for you. Did you ever get an understanding, a truth about what happened?
SJ-D: That's actually a really good question. No, I never really did unfortunately. It was a very funky situation. Head coach getting fired. I go up to thank him for everything. Then my D-line coach gets fired. And then I get called in the office by the interim head coach and he asked me to support him, because at the time I was a two-time captain over there. So he was like, 'Hey, I need you. I need you to help me. I need you to help me steer these guys. We've got to steer the ship. Still be locked in. I need you to support me.' A lot of positive conversation about how we're going to try to finish this thing the right way, even though there were a lot of unfortunate events that took place. Had that conversation with him, and then a couple days went by and some things transpired that I'm probably not going to get into, that I didn't think was fair, but that's life. That's how it goes, and I'm thankful for it, because it shaped me. It shaped me and it helped me become a better person and also a better player. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have ended up in Tennessee and been playing five and six-technique, right? I wouldn't have been able to expand my role and know that I could do different things on the defensive front. And so I'm super thankful for them, super thankful for the Chargers. Shout out to the Spanos's. Shout out to Ed. Super thankful for them and my time there. Shout out to my teammates. Seriously, shout out to my teammates -- Justin Herbert, Derwin (James), Khalil Mack. Great guys. Great human beings.
Q: How did you become a guy that was willing to sort of take a guy under your wing? And what are you looking forward to about that of the process here?
SJ-D: It's just about being authentic, being yourself and not pushing it upon anyone. Just going to work every day and letting it just naturally happen, just letting people just naturally gravitate towards you. Again, I just believe in being seen but not heard. That's kind of like my deal -- obviously, as I'm yapping away up here (laughs). But that's kind of my deal when I play. That's the way I kind of just try to live it out and do what I have to do on the football field. And if they gravitate and I can pour some knowledge that was poured into me my rookie year by Aaron and by (Ndamukong) Suh and by Michael Brockers, then, yeah, so be it.
Q: On your media roles:
SJ-D: It's been fun. When I'm done playing, obviously I would love to be doing some sort of on-air type things. That's what I went to school for, media relations, and I minored in labor. So that definitely would be something that I want to get into when I'm done playing. How I got into it? Long story short, I had a friend that owned a company who shot Mike Tyson's podcast, and he was doing my food-review stuff, and he knew that I went to school for it so he suggested me. I went to help out. They called me and they say, 'Hey, can you do the show with Mike Tyson?' I was like, 'Shit, yeah, Mike Tyson.' I did the first episode with Terrell Owens. Went great, and it was easy, because I grew up watching Terrell Owens, you know. Being raised in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, a lot of Philly fans. That went well. They went ghost. I didn't hear from them for like a month. And then next thing you know, they called me back and were like, 'Hey, Mike wants you back again.' I was like, 'All right, cool.' I was in the middle of a workout again. I was like, 'Who is it? Who's the guest?' They said T-Pain. I was like, 'T-Pain!' Sorry, got excited (laughs). I still get excited. I was like, 'It's T-Pain! This is what I grew up on!' I was like, 'What?!' So sorry. I got excited again, but, yeah, anyways (laughs). But I got excited. T-Pain. I didn't even have to study my questions. You guys know how it is as journalists. You study on the person you're going to interview and whatnot, and I was like, 'Oh man, I know so much about them already.' Because at that time growing up, I was maybe like 12, 13, 14, so T-Pain was a really big hit during that time. So it was really fun. Killed the interview, and the rest was kind of history. I just became his co-host for a while, for like two, three years now. The show has been stopped, but I was a co- host since it's been stopped. So it's been fun.
Q: Regarding your Super Bowl experience, what was the biggest thing you learned in those games?
SJ-D: This is going to be a little different. I think I learned how to make every day count and make every second of it count. Because that year, I was having my best year. I had like 3 sacks in like (seven) games. I was playing phenomenal. I was playing lights out. And then I tore my pec in Game Seven. So that was a bummer. It kind of brought me down. If I was getting built up, then God just brought me back down, so I think it honestly taught me about humility, taught me about appreciation of the game, appreciation of my teammates, appreciation of my coaches, and the people that you have around you, your support system. And at the same time, it was such a blessing as well to be able to experience that and I'm thankful for that experience. I'm thankful for all my teammates, thankful for all the coaches that were part of that. I use that each and every day as fuel, and I use that to guide me to always remember never get too high, never get too low, just remain remain meek.
Q: Do you have a podcast with Mike Tyson?
SJ-D: Yes. It's called Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson.
Q: What's that like working with Tyson?
SJ-D: Oh, it was hilarious. It was a good time. You never knew what you're gonna get. Uncle Mike's a great, great guy. Shout out to his wife, Kiki, and his beautiful family. It was really fun. It was really a great experience. We got to interview celebrities from all types: great athletes, actors, musicians. It was really fun. It was a really great experience. And also it was cool, because I really got to work on my craft, what I want to do post-career. And it was light-hearted, too, so it was more like chill so could have a good time.
Sebastian Joseph-Day last year with the Titans (Photo: Steve Roberts, USA TODAY Sports)