Former Pittsburgh Steelers TE Heath Miller is a team legend. Every tight end who has worn the Black and Gold since Miller retired in 2015 faces comparisons to Miller in one way or another. Yet, none have been able to have the impact Miller had both in the receiving and blocking game.
Miller won two Super Bowls with the Steelers, Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIII, but his experiences were quite different leading up to each Super Bowl.
“Especially the first time around, it was like a whirlwind for me, my rookie season,” said Miller on The Art of Fatherhood Podcast. “I think I played two times as many games my rookie season as I played my last season in college, counting preseason, and then we were a Wild Card, so we played every round of the playoffs. I was just getting through and surviving, like, ‘I gotta find a way to just, one more game, one more game.’ And then when it’s all over and the confetti’s falling on your head and it’s like, ‘This is pretty cool, it’s pretty cool’….And then second time around, I just tried to soak all that in, instead of just kind of surviving the week. I tried to soak it all in and be like, ‘This is really cool.'”
Making the Super Bowl in your first season is not something many players get to experience, but as Miller explained, it wasn’t very enjoyable until afterwards because the NFL is such a big adjustment from college football. Not only that, Miller was dealing with an injury coming out of college, dealing with a hernia that kept him unavailable for the pre-draft process.
So, he was behind almost right away in that transition.
Even now, with advancements in technology and strength training to help keep players in the best shape, the rookie wall is still a thing. Yet, Miller powered through it 2005. Despite being exhausted, Miller had an impressive playoffs, catching seven of eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.
A more well-rested and NFL-adjusted Miller showed in 2008, as he caught 11 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown in just three games. Miller was effective in Super Bowl XLIII. He caught five passes for 57 yards as one of QB Ben Roethlisberger’s top targets. He was also on the field for Roethlisberger’s game-winning touchdown pass to WR Santonio Holmes and believes the pass was “perfect.” It is hard to argue with Miller’s opinion.
For the second time in four years, the @steelers were Super Bowl Champions.#OTD in 2009, Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XLIII, 27-23, by rallying for a TD with 42 seconds remaining after having earlier surrendered a 13-point fourth quarter lead.
📹: @NFL pic.twitter.com/tXw9sCFXjZ
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) February 2, 2023
It is always interesting to hear how players approach the Super Bowl. Hearing about how Miller approached the two Super Bowl victories is eye-opening. It makes sense because of how different he felt in approaching both Super Bowls.
Luckily for Miller, he had multiple chances to play in Super Bowls and enjoyed the second one more than the first. Not many players can even say they’ve played in one Super Bowl, let alone enjoy one.
Recommended for you