Tucker hopes to stick with Steelers this time taken at Rooney Sports Complex (Steelers)

Marcus Tucker at the Steelers' rookie minicamp this past weekend. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

There's a moment in the movie Bull Durham when Crash Davis, the fictional protagonist in the movie about minor league baseball, mentions to his teammates that he has been to the majors, which he calls "the show."

That immediately quiets everyone on the bus and draws them in to hear his story about his 21 days in the majors, the 21 greatest days of his life.

Marcus Tucker knows the feeling.

The receiver just completed his third rookie minicamp with the Steelers last weekend, a dubious distinction to be sure, but it also showed a degree of persistence that is a rarity. And an inspiration to the young players there trying to make it in the NFL.

Tucker won an invitation to join the Steelers in OTAs and eventually training camp in 2016, getting a tryout at the 2016 rookie minicamp after a stellar career at Northern Michigan. He didn't make the roster or practice squad that year, but the Steelers signed him to a futures contract after the season and he came back to try again.

Tucker was again released, but the Steelers felt he had shown enough improvement to add him to their practice squad last season. That status made him still eligible to return for rookie minicamp and he took the opportunity to be the veteran of more than 50 players in attendance.

He's a popular guy among the young players wanting to know what it takes to make it, even if Tucker isn't quite there yet. Tucker, linebacker Keith Kelsey, tight end Jake McGee and defensive tackle Lavon Hooks were all popular, as they're the only four players with experience with the Steelers at the rookie minicamp.

"It's a lot of questions being asked," Tucker told me. "I'm just trying to help guys so we can go fast and give those guys opportunities, as well."

Kind of like the way Davis was sent in Bull Durham to work with young pitcher Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' Laloosh. Except unlike Kevin Costner's character, Tucker hasn't quite been to the show just yet, though he hopes to take that next step this year.

After a short stint as a college basketball player, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder switched to football and ended his career at the NCAA Division II school with 2,330 receiving yards and 20 touchdown catches in three years. He also recorded 1,618 kickoff return yards, and that might be where he has a shot to win a roster spot with the Steelers.

Eli Rogers, the team's punt returner in 2017, is an unrestricted free agent and is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the playoff loss to Jacksonville, while Martavis Bryant, who shared kick returning duties with JuJu Smith-Schuster, was traded to Oakland during the draft for a third-round pick.

With second-round pick wide receiver James Washington as the only offseason addition guaranteed a roster spot, the opportunity is there.

Tucker made a strong pitch to make the team last preseason, catching a team-high eight passes for 97 yards, while also returning two kicks for 50 yards, and he knows another strong preseason could make it difficult for the coaching staff to release him again.

At least that's his hope.

"As long as they keep giving me opportunities to go out here and play, that's what I'm going to do," he said.

Tucker was a star on the practice squad last season, giving the team good looks each and every practice simulating what opposing offenses might try to do against Pittsburgh's defense.

That and his quick smile has made him popular, not only among the young players, who looked to him to lead them through drills last weekend, but to the team's veteran players, as well.

It's never easy to practice hard all season knowing that you're probably not going to get an opportunity to play in a game, but Tucker did it with the same passion with which he attacks a ball in the air.

"I really think that just comes down to who the person is as an individual," Tucker told me. "I know I'm a blue-collar guy. Whatever they ask me to do, I'm doing it and I'm doing it 100 miles per hour. In this league, things are not given. Opportunities are not given. If you want to keep it, you'd better put your foot on the gas."

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THE ASYLUM