LATROBE, Pa. -- Stevan Ridley has seen a lot since he was a third-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2011.
He's been through a lot, as well. Heck, he's even accomplished quite a bit, rushing for 1,263 yards in 2012 and adding another 773 the following season.
Now, however, the only thing Ridley wants to do is earn a spot on the Steelers roster. He wants to stick with an NFL team for an entire season, something he hasn't done since the 2014 season with the Patriots, when he ended the season on injured reserve.
Since then, he's bounced around to six other NFL teams, with Pittsburgh marking his eighth stop on the merry-go-round. Ridley hopes, at 29, he can stop the spinning and stick in one place.
"I was out of things late last year, came in here and didn’t know how much I would play," said Ridley, who signed with the Steelers last December after James Conner went on injured reserve with a knee injury.
"Coach T (Mike Tomlin) threw me in there. I got to play and had some production. I let it be known in my exit interview, and with my teammates, that if I had the opportunity to come back here that I’d love to be back. Thankfully, they called and wanted me back. Just to hear that they wanted me was huge. I’ve been on seven other different teams and haven’t been wanted back. Just to get that, those are the small things that I look at and I sell out for it. They’ll get my all every game, every week, because they wanted me here and I want to be here. I’m just happy to be here and to be able to work."
Ridley made one start for the Steelers last season, a season-ending win over the Browns when Tomlin rested a number of starters, including Le'Veon Bell. He responded with 80 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in his most extensive action since leaving the Patriots in 2014.
It was enough to show Tomlin that Ridley still had some hop in his step, despite turning 29 in January.
So it didn't bother Ridley that he was several years older and way more accomplished than many of the players he was competing against in the second and third quarters of last week's preseason-opening win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Ridley is just happy to have a chance to compete.
And he's getting plenty of opportunities with the Steelers in this training camp as Bell sits out of camp for the second consecutive season. Ridley is working behind Conner and even behind Fitzgerald Toussaint, but his talent remains intriguing.
He is, after all, the only running back in this camp who has had a 1,000-yard season or 100-yard game in the NFL.
Ridley just hopes nobody is looking at that 29 beside his age and feels that he is over the hill or done. After all, he's gotten just a handful of carries since posting 290 and 178 in 2012 and 2013 for the Patriots.
"A running back, it depends on your work, it depends on your body," Ridley told me. "You get guys who played four years of college and you get other guys who play a year or two and leave. You’ve got guys who come into the pros who are late bloomers and you’ve got guys who come in and last two years. It just all depends on where you hit and when you hit it and what you do to prolong your career. How do you take care of your body? How do you focus on the things that are going to keep you on the field? That’s what is going to give you longevity at this position as a running back. I think the average career for a running back is two to three years. But I’ve never accepted myself as average in anything that I do."
He knows there are some questions out there that remain about him. He fell out of favor in New England because of fumbling. Yet he has just nine career fumbles on 714 carries, with none coming since his third year in the league.
And then there were some injury issues. He suffered a torn ACL in his final season with the Patriots after starting five of the team's first six games and accumulating 340 yards in those games as part of a running back committee.
Some felt Ridley tried to come back too soon, returning to play in the second half of the 2015 season for the Jets. And that might have contributed to his recent issue sticking with one team.
"People say I’m crazy, but it was really seven or eight months," Ridley told me of his recovery from the ACL injury. "The only reason I say that is because this is my second ACL. I went to the same doctors, same trainers, same people who got me back on the field in college. I knew I was ready to go. The business of the league, the ups and downs, that asterisk by your name as injured, it all plays a part. That’s the stuff that goes unseen. I knew that I could come back. I knew it was going to be a long road. But I was ready to go the following year. I had to be patient, wait my time and travel to a few different teams and try to find a niche. That’s the hardest part, just trying to be patient."
You could say Ridley has been as patient as a Le'Veon Bell run.
After all, how else could you explain a situation in which he bounced on and off the rosters of six teams in a two-year span. Two of those stops lasted a week or less.
When you've done that, you don't mind playing with rookies and first-year players in preseason games. You're happy to be playing at all.
"I’ve got the same goals that I’ve had since I started playing ball," Ridley told me. "No. 1 as a running back, you’ve got to run the ball. No. 2, you’ve got to show up and be accountable and productive. Every game, you try to put 100 on the ground, 100 on the turf. Go out there and make plays through the air, picking up blocking. That’s really my mentality. I know what I can do. I’m really just waiting on a shot and trying to be productive as I can be week in and week out. There are a lot of young guys out here whose legs are a lot younger than mine. For me, it’s just going out there and trying to be the most productive back I can be."
Can he make this roster? Quite possibly. Connor seems to be cementing his spot as Bell's backup and Toussaint is a journeyman, even though he had seven carries for 29 yards in the 31-14 win against the Eagles. Ridley managed just 14 yards on a team-high 10 carries running behind a makeshift offensive line. But he also had three receptions for 45 yards, showing a nice feel for the passing game.
The Steelers also selected Jaylen Samuels in the fifth round of this year's draft, but he could be more of a down-the-road project. Ridley could be a guy who can help the Steelers win now.
He feels that's the case and is actually thankful for the journey that's led him to this spot.
"Everything happens for a reason," he told me. "I look up and I’m eight years in. But all of the BS I’ve gone through in the past three or four have really been a blessing for my body. It’s given me some time off with my legs, off of my feet. Coming back here, three years after an ACL has done nothing but help me get back into football shape after really missing the past couple of years.
"I’m just taking whatever they throw at me and trying to embrace it."