Long may Heath run
The news didn无毛视频檛 drop like the typical bad news on a Friday afternoon.
Bad news loves that black hole in coverage, but Heath Miller merely loved the lack of fuss we were able to make.
I can just hear him telling his wife now, 无毛视频淚 hope Wexell doesn无毛视频檛 write one of his ghastly tribute columns about me.无毛视频�
I无毛视频檝e had to write a few of those lately, but Heath is wrong if he thinks he无毛视频檚 going to sneak away without a few of my tears falling on the keyboard.
Not that Heath would think so diabolically, of course. As Troy Polamalu once said of him, 无毛视频淗eath is someone who无毛视频檚 innately humble. He doesn无毛视频檛 struggle to be humble.无毛视频�
Polamalu said that he himself struggles with purity of heart, but not Heath. No way. And, that无毛视频檚 the biggest reason he无毛视频檒l be missed.
Forget about his greatness on the field. Heath无毛视频檚 mark, at least to me, will be his character.
Someone said to me the night of his retirement, 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 sure you know him a lot better than I do.无毛视频� I answered that, yes, I无毛视频檝e traveled to Heath无毛视频檚 hometown, had dinner with his mother and father, met his wife and have sat with Heath as he fussed over his four children. But, I added that you know him just as well I do.
We all do. What we see from Heath Miller is what we get.
I sat in on Heath无毛视频檚 first interview in Pittsburgh in April of 2005, the day after he was drafted by the Steelers. I was working on a book at the time, specifically the most challenging chapter of 无毛视频淢en of Steel,无毛视频� the chapter on Bill Dudley.
Dudley was with the Steelers only a few years, so there wasn无毛视频檛 much information about his time in Pittsburgh. The archives revealed him only as simple and old-school and team-oriented, just as the phone interview had. And, when Heath stepped to the podium, I felt as if I was trapped in a 1940s time warp. I wasn无毛视频檛 surprised to learn that Heath was born and raised in western Virginia, in the heart of the Appalachians 无毛视频� in the heart of Bill Dudley country.
I pretty much had to visit that part of the country to get to know Heath a little better. The first NFL game he ever attended, I learned, was in Cleveland. He sat in the 无毛视频淒awg Pound无毛视频� with his dad, Earl Miller, and his high school coach, Doug Hubbard.
Hubbard was an avowed Steelers fans. Heath was a rabid Walter Payton fan.
无毛视频淗e was a very good high school quarterback. Very good,无毛视频� Hubbard told me. 无毛视频淎nd he was a safety. He无毛视频檇 come up and hit. He doesn无毛视频檛 shy from contact. And, when you无毛视频檝e got someone like that playing, everybody around him becomes better. They have to play better, and they did.无毛视频�
无毛视频淥ne time he went to the huddle,无毛视频� Heath无毛视频檚 mother Denise said,无毛视频� 无毛视频渁nd he said something about being lackadaisical. One of the players said, 无毛视频榃hat does that mean, Heath?无毛视频� But other than little things like that, he无毛视频檚 always been quiet.无毛视频�
I told Mrs. Miller that Heath无毛视频檚 quiet demeanor tended to frustrate reporters, that we always want more.
无毛视频淗e won无毛视频檛 give it to you,无毛视频� she said with a smile. 无毛视频淎nd, I无毛视频檓 so proud of him for that.无毛视频�
Mr. Miller, a farmer in Swords Creek, answered with a generality when I asked to name his most proud moment regarding his son.
无毛视频淛ust when he无毛视频檚 in the tunnel ready to come out onto the field,无毛视频� dad said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 when your eyes well up. That无毛视频檚 when it hits you, again, that he无毛视频檚 made it to the league.无毛视频�
And what a career it无毛视频檚 been. In 11 seasons, Earl Heath Miller caught 592 passes for 6,569 yards and 45 touchdowns. He ranks second in franchise history in catches, third in receiving yards and fourth in touchdown catches. And he acted like he had been there 45 times, too.
One time, after one touchdown in Oakland, Miller gave fans a little more.
无毛视频淗e caught that touchdown and he looked right into the Black Hole and he gave them a little flex,无毛视频� said Ben Roethlisberger. 无毛视频淭hat was awesome.无毛视频�
But those stats of Miller无毛视频檚 didn无毛视频檛 happen because Heath hounded his buddy Ben in the huddle.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檒l ask Heath if he was open and he无毛视频檒l tell me no,无毛视频� Roethlisberger once said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檒l look at film, and he was wide open.无毛视频�
Roethlisberger has called Miller the greatest teammate he无毛视频檚 ever played with 无毛视频渁t any level.无毛视频� But talk like that has always caused Heath to recoil. He hates the spotlight.
无毛视频淵ou无毛视频檙e not going to like this interview,无毛视频� Heath told me once.
I asked him why.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 so boring,无毛视频� he said.
And in the middle of the interview I looked up and said, 无毛视频淵ou know what? You are boring.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 told you!无毛视频� he exclaimed with a guffaw.
So humble.
And yet, so little to be humble about.
Roethlisberger no doubt can recount hundreds of third-down plays in which Heath bailed him, the Steelers, the city, heck, The Nation, out of trouble. Just this past season Miller took a brutal blow to the head at the goal line, but held on to set up Le无毛视频橵eon Bell无毛视频檚 touchdown run against San Diego at the buzzer.
Heath无毛视频檚 third-down catches against Cincinnati put the team into the playoffs, and then advanced them once they got there.
One of my favorite Heath Miller plays was a block he made on Ray Lewis in the 2008 AFC Championship Game. Miller was in the backfield and stuffed the blitzing Lewis to allow Roethlisberger time to complete a 15-yard pass to Santonio Holmes, who ran and then reversed field and got a block from, well, Heath, of course, and Miller escorted Holmes the final 20 yards into the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown play.
There was the one we all remember from 2012, in Baltimore, when Heath dove for the pylon to score the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Steelers went on to win that game at the buzzer, too.
There were also the headaches. Heath missed two games with a concussion after the most brutal hit I had witnessed sinced L.T. snapped Joe Theismann无毛视频檚 leg on a Monday night. That hit came from one of the dirty Ravens as well.
Blows like that no doubt went a long way in Heath无毛视频檚 decision this week. Even though we all wanted to see this selfless superstar play forever, Heath 无毛视频� with two rings and enough money to give four children more than a proper start in life 无毛视频� no doubt relied on the wisdom of his wife Katie, who knows a thing or two about the athletic field herself.
She was a soccer player at the University of Virginia. Heath introduced us this past training camp, and I, father of a girls soccer player, was in fan-like awe.
无毛视频淒o you know,无毛视频� I told them, 无毛视频渢hat getting a women无毛视频檚 soccer scholarship to UVA is more difficult, more prestigious, than getting a football scholarship.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭hank you!无毛视频� said Katie Miller as she looked at her husband as if she无毛视频檇 been trying to tell him that for years.
Heath just smiled. And he agreed.
He无毛视频檚 selfless that way.
He无毛视频檚 beautiful that way.
Long may Heath run.