Son of Ken Griffey Jr. trying to get out of father’s shadow with the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been known to kick the tires of some young and talented players who are looking for a home. Sometimes they stick around, hello Mike Hilton, and sometimes they become unemployed sooner rather than later.

One of those players who received a reserve/future contract this offseason was Trey Griffey, son of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

You think growing up in the shadow of your father may have been difficult? Try being the son of one of the most prolific baseball players of his era and not playing baseball, but football.

“Everybody has a love for something ... and I have a love for football,” Trey told Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Me and my dad talked about it and he said, ‘You have a love for football, and I could see that from a young age. I’ll always support you.’ He was never like, ‘You have to play baseball.’ He was a father, supporting his son with whatever choice I was making and leading me down the right path.”

Griffey comes to the Steelers at a time when the Steelers might be looking to keep an extra receiver. After Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and rookie James Washington, all bets are off within the Steelers’ receiving corps. You have veterans like Darrius Heyward-Bey and Justin Hunter, but Eli Rogers, who is still rehabbing his torn ACL, has proven you don’t have to be a veteran or a highly touted draft pick to make the team.

After stints with the Colts and Dolphins last year, Griffey, who is 6-foot-3, 192-pounds, is hoping he can make a name for himself other than Ken Griffey Jr.’s son.

“I’m always seen as my dad’s son, definitely,” Trey said. “My dad always told me, ‘I want to be known as Trey Griffey’s dad. I had my time when I was playing.’ That’s something that, when you hear that from your dad, you’re like, ‘Wow.’ With his track record, all of the awards and going to the Hall of Fame, for him to say something like that is amazing.”

Either way, Griffey has been impressed in the short amount of time he has spent with the Steelers, who are entering their second week of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) this week.

“It’s unbelievable,” Trey said. “You see everything that Ben [Roethlisberger] does, just coming in and making sure everybody knows what they’re doing, a great leader on the team.

”If you follow ‘AB’ on any type of social media, he’s on there posting something where he’s working out. He’s unbelievable, taking care of his body, and I believe that’s why he’s had the career he’s had, always working on his craft. Just learning from the top receiver in the NFL is something you can’t take for granted. I’m soaking it in.”

Will Griffey turn his opportunity into a roster spot, or at least a spot on the team’s practice squad? No one knows that answer currently, but despite the odds being against him several players, like Hilton, have proven the odds don’t always tell the tale.