In addition to hearing from the PR staff, the students also gained insight from Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth and KDKA reporter Rich Walsh, with Lauten hosting a panel discussion.
One of the first topics was the difference between the media attention in college versus the NFL, with Freiermuth sharing his experience at Penn State, where the locker room was closed, to the Steelers, where the locker room is open.
"At Penn State, being in college, a lot of it was structured for us talking to the media," shared Freiermuth. "They weren't in the locker room every day. We only had one media availability throughout the week, and it was normally just one or two people talking. I would only talk to the media four or five times a year. Here I am talking to the media almost every other day. It's a lot more protective in college than it is in the NFL."
Walsh covers the Steelers, as well as the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State, and he has experience first-hand what it's like to cover teams where you can approach a player on a regular basis in an open locker room setting.
"The access is very limited in college," said Walsh. "When I cover Pitt, they determine who you are going to talk to. I covered Penn State too and I don't know if I ever talked to Pat. You focus more on the Coach rather than the team. Pitt does a good job of asking who you want at a game, and they bring those guys in.
"But when you meet a lot of the new players in the NFL, the rookies, they don't expect us to be in the locker room. I am in the locker room five days a week. College players aren't used to that. It takes time to get used to that."
Other topics that were discussed, including those that came from questions from the students, included how they got to where they were in their careers, and what they would expect from a PR intern or young media members covering the Steelers.
"I would expect them to keep it professional," said Freiermuth. "Keep it about the sport itself, about football. My biggest pet peeve is everyone wants clicks. There are times they don't know the scheme we are running and go from their perspective. Make sure you are reporting the right thing. I know everyone has a job to do. I have a job to do. I never get mad if someone reports what their job is, it's just about the ones trying to get the clicks."