Steelers News: New member of the Steelers living a lifelong dream of playing for Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to the gridiron with the NFL preseason upon us. With exhibition games underway, the news surrounding the black-and-gold is just starting to heat up. As the team prepares for the coming season, we continue to provide you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over until the season starts!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how newly signed linebacker, Christian Kuntz, is living a lifelong dream of playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s get to the news:

• Christian Kuntz might be a long shot to make the Steelers’ 53-man roster, but it won’t stop him from looking at his current situation and realizing he is living a dream playing for the black-and-gold.

‘Dream come true’ playing for Steelers for Chartiers Valley, Duquesne alum Christian Kuntz

By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Christian Kuntz took a few moments to look around during on-field stretches at Heinz Field on Saturday.

“I did a couple extra turns to look around and see everything,” Kuntz said of the pregame for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

“It was pretty cool being on the (field) for a game rather than being in Section 501.”

A Chartiers Valley grad and Duquesne alum, Kuntz on Saturday was less than 72 hours into his tenure with his the team he grew up rooting for. Don’t tell the outside linebacker that preseason games are boring or meaningless.

“Even as a preseason game, I felt like it was loud as heck,” Kuntz said. “It was louder than Duquesne’s field, that’s for sure — a lot more. I’ve sat here for AFC wild-card games and watched these guys come out of the tunnel and thought, ‘Oh man, that’s sweet.’ So coming out of the tunnel myself … It was pretty cool, a dream come true.”

So was wearing No. 99 in the familiar black and gold. Kuntz said he had one of those in the bedroom closet of the house he grew up in off of Greentree Road.

“I probably have to switch that from ‘KEISEL’ to ‘KUNTZ’ now,” Kuntz said.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• We know who is starting at QB for the Steelers Sunday, but after that is anyone’s guess.

Steelers’ Mike Tomlin mum on QB rotation against Titans

By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Ben Roethlisberger is going to start Sunday night against the Tennessee Titans.

Beyond that, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin won’t reveal which backup quarterback will enter the game immediately after Roethlisberger wraps up his preseason debut.

Could be Mason Rudolph. Could be Josh Dobbs. Heck, it could even be Devlin Hodges.

Tomlin wouldn’t commit to any scenario Friday when he held his final press availability in advance of the Steelers’ third preseason game.

“Ben will play,” Tomlin said. “We don’t have a specific division of labor at this point in terms of quarterback participation beyond that. Who’s going to play? How long they are going to play? Our energy now is on that first group and Ben and getting those guys in the game and get some exposure there.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some success and move on from there.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• JuJu Smith-Schuster has accomplished a lot in his short tenure in the NFL. But he still has one more aspect of his game to hammer out. The deep ball.

JuJu Smith-Schuster working to improve as a deep threat

By: Josh Alper, ProFootballTalk

JuJu Smith-Schuster knows the big question that everyone is asking about him as he heads into the 2019 season.

“How is JuJu going to do without AB?”

Smith-Schuster is the No. 1 wideout in Pittsburgh now that Antonio Brown is on the Raiders and he’s spent the offseason working to make sure that the answer to that question is a positive one. One of the things that he’s done on that front is focus on improving as a deep threat.

Smith-Schuster has a pair of 97-yard touchdowns on his resume, but both came on long runs after the catch and he wants to try things the other way this season.

“Being able to catch the deep balls down the field, those go balls, those free balls that they send down the field where I’ve got to go make those plays,” Smith-Schuster said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “That’s what I’ve focused on a lot, catching the ball over the shoulder and being able to be a threat on the outside.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Social Media Madness