Pittsburgh Steelers name captains for 2015 season

Throughout the preseason it became customary to see Ben Roethlisberger standing alone for the coin toss as the opposition had several players representing their team as honorary captains. It was fitting as Roethlisberger is the clear leader of the team, and the player who is expected to shoulder the load throughout the Le'Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant suspensions.

However, the Steelers announced their official captains for the upcoming season by selecting four players to represent not only their team, but their position. Here are the four captains selected by the team:

Offense: Ben Roethlisberger
Defense: William Gay and Cameron Heyward
Special Teams: Robert Golden

Here are your 2015 captains: Offense: @_BigBen7 Defense: @CamHeyward, @Southcity22 Special Teams: @R0bG0lden pic.twitter.com/gJOWACoK4c

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 6, 2015

Both Roethlisberger and Golden are repeat captains from 2014, but both Gay and Heyward are new to the position as captain on the defensive side of the ball. Last year it was Troy Polamalu who captained the defensive side of the ball, and some might wonder why Lawrence Timmons wasn't selected as a captain. Nonetheless, someone doesn't need to be labeled a captain to be a leader.

The Steelers will take these four captains as the 2015 regular season kicks off this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST when the team travels to Foxborough to play the New England Patriots.