As we enter the year 2019, our staff took some time to reflect on the best quotes we collected throughout 2018.
From a drama-filled Steelers season, to the Penguins' three-peat bid falling short, to the Pirates' strange summer, these were the classic quotes of the year:
STEELERS
“He said, ‘Daddy, pray for me. I can’t feel my legs,’” Vernon Shazier, to our TV partner WPXI on the call he received from his son following the game in Cincinnati in which Ryan Shazier was partially paralyzed, Jan. 4, 2018
“It’s embarrassing. It just blows my mind. We played like crap. You want to talk about New England? I don’t know what to say about that. It’s stupid. It’s just not what you do. You don’t need to give a team like that bulletin-board material.” — David DeCastro, after the Steelers lost to the Jaguars in the playoffs
“I’m not going to sit out. I’m going to be in the facility Week 1. It’s going to be a rerun of last year. I’m not going to camp. I’m not doing nothing else extra, OTAs, none of that. I’m going to strictly go to what I have to go to. I want to win every game. I want to have the best statistical career that I can, so I want to play in every game that I can possibly play.” — Le'Veon Bell in March
“At least in Pittsburgh, I think it will.” Rooney, when asked if the NFL’s new catch standards will be known as the Jesse James Rule
in June. -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
“I was surprised they took a QB because I thought maybe in the third round you can get some really good players that can help this team win now.” — Ben Roethlisberger on the selection of Mason Rudolph in the NFL Draft
“I didn’t do anything last year, really, so I’ve got a lot to prove. My mindset is to earn the respect of my teammates and coaches and compete at the highest level.” — James Conner in May
“Honestly it’s a little selfish. I’m kinda pissed right now. It sucks that he’s not here. We’ll move on as a team. It doesn’t look like he’ll be in the game plan at this point. Conner looks great. We’ll worry about him in week 2.” — Maurkice Pouncey on Bell in early September
“You know, we haven’t spent a lot of time focused on it. Because it’s not within our control. Those decisions, the Le’Veons … we need volunteers, not hostages.” Mike Tomlin, on Bell in early November
"I’m done. They have ripped my heart out.” -- Rocky Bleier, after the debacle in Oakland
“Honestly, without him, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at today just because he’s seeing a lot of the double teams, a lot of the best corners are always on AB and I’m able to make certain plays. … It opens up the door a lot, but I think that he’s helped me to where I’m at today.” — JuJu Smith-Schuster on Brown after being named team MVP
“I don’t know an exact moment, but as an offense and defense, when we were in those critical moments and we needed a play, we weren’t getting it. It’s baffling at some times. As players, as coaches, as a staff, the Steelers, we’ve got to make those adjustments and go out there and do it. We didn’t get it done this whole season. That’s really what’s going to stick with me.” — Cam Heyward, after the Steelers missed the playoffs
“My dream is to come back and play football again. I’ve been working my tail off every single day, so I have that in the back of my mind every single time I go to rehab. I just try to stay positive every single day. I’m trying to do what I can to get back.” — Shazier, June 6 in his only press conference since his injury
PENGUINS
“I hate losing. Sometimes I think that I hate losing more than I enjoy winning. So you can imagine how I have felt over the last week as I’ve tried to digest a different type of losing, one that leaves you with an empty feeling.” -- Mike Sullivan, in an open letter to the Penguins' fans after falling to the Capitals
“We had a chance. We could have done it again.” -- Sidney Crosby, on same
“You guys all say that McDavid’s better than him, and then he has the puck the whole game and finishes off like that. That’s why he’s the best player in the world. I think he showed tonight who is the best player in the world. He always shows up when you guys say he’s not the best anymore and all that. Then he comes in and does that. Probably the nicest goal through his whole career.” -- Patric Hornqvist, in Edmonton, after Crosby did this to upstage Connor McDavid:
“It was more about the laughing part. I mean, I get the physical game. I get the physical play. I’ve been on the wrong side of it. At the end of the day, I respect the kind of game he plays. … But you just don’t laugh at somebody getting hurt. You just don’t do that.” -- Kris Letang, on Tom Wilson's filthy hit on Zach Aston-Reese
“I guess I just want to say big thanks, first of all, to Pittsburgh. The team did a lot for me, helping me get back home. Thanks to my teammates … ” -- Matt Murray, fighting back tears, after returning to practice following the death of his father
“We’ve tried to get more depth at center and get more insurance there. Our centers have played pretty well, but you’ve got to have a lot of strength at center and when we felt we had a chance to get a guy like this … this is a good addition.” -- Jim Rutherford, on his reasoning to acquire Derick Brassard in a blockbuster three-team trade
“I always think about it. What if some nights I didn’t take those hits and I just tried to live for another day? You know, it was me. It was my personality. I’m a guy that’s trying on every little play. I won’t live with regrets. I’m part of a team that knows what kind of player I am and I’m ready to put everything on the line. I won’t have any regrets because of that.” -- Letang, after being nominated for the Masterton Trophy for the third time, on whether he considered altering his style to preserve his health
“I’ve really wanted to be a part of a winning culture in a place where the expectation to win is as high as it can be, and to win." -- Jack Johnson, on signing with the Penguins after playing six seasons for the Blue Jackets. The defenseman's words did not sit well in Columbus
“Knowing Pittsburgh, I know that we’ll stick together and rally around them and be there to support and help in any way we can.” -- Crosby, following the mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill
"That’s my opinion. I’ll keep that to myself.” -- Daniel Sprong, on why he felt he was not playing
"It was just a little weird when, you know, the Penguins traded for me because they’re getting beat up in the playoffs all the time, I got traded right before playoffs, and they got beat up in the playoffs a little bit. But, you know, it’s a business. And, you know, they wanted Brassard really bad and they got their guy." -- Ryan Reaves, on the Penguins making him part of the trade for Brassard rather than keeping him to handle Wilson
"Pittsburgh has done such a good job of drafting and signing young guys that are good players but also good people. To see them come into Wilkes-Barre and work as hard as they do and develop as fast as they are, a big group of them to go up and win two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, and now this next young wave of players coming up, it's very fulfilling to see them go up and play well in the NHL." -- Tom Kostopoulos, former Wilkes-Barre captain and current player development coach for the Penguins organization
PIRATES
“That’s how close we are. One win a month. We figure out how to win one game a month more and we’re in a very different spot as we finish this season. We win two games a month more and we’re fighting for a division which is ultimately where we want to be because that best positions you to win a World Series.” – Neal Huntington on the Pirates' strategy to return to the postseason
“I’m obviously disappointed. You can’t grow up in the city and be a Pirates fan your whole life and not be. I’m extremely disappointed with the way they play the game. I watch every game and – I better not go too far – but it’s the stupid things. If you’re a Major League Baseball player, you’re supposed to be able to run the bases. This (expletive) team has got to be the worst baserunning team I’ve seen in my life. It’s terrible. It’s across baseball, but we’re really guilty of it,” – Dick Groat on the Pirates fundamentals... or lack thereof
“No one really prepares themselves for something like that. It was a very tough situation to deal with, but when I did find out the news that we found my mom, I can tell you that the joy that I felt was overwhelming. I've never felt that caliber of joy that I felt the moment I received the news that my mom was coming back,” – Elias Diaz on the kidnapping and safe return of his mother in Venezuela
"It was tough. It was embarrassing and the reason I say that is you have to explain to your friends and your family why it happened and what it means. Most of them don't understand what DFA means and some of them think you're not good enough, which is bothersome,” – Corey Dickerson, on being traded to the Pirates after being designated for assignment by the Rays
“Where's the respect for the game? "The guy hits four homers in two days, so that means you can take your bat and throw it 15, 20 feet in the air when you pop up like you should have hit your fifth home run?” – Clint Hurdle, on the Cubs' cocky infielder, Javier Baez
“Probably one of the coolest things I've ever experienced on a baseball field,” – Colin Moran, on hitting a grand slam in the first inning of the home opener after being acquired from the Astros in the offseason
“That's how you plan it up, not to let anybody on. It's incredible how it happened. Just kind of starting from the get-go, it went well.” – Nick Kingham, on retiring 20 straight Cardinals in his major-league debut
“It is nothing more than protecting your teammates. That is baseball and how the game is played. If you are willing to go out and hit somebody you have to be willing to deal with might come with that.” -- Joe Musgrove, on being ejected for hitting the Diamondbacks’ Chris Owings with a pitch after Josh Harrison was plunked earlier in the inning
"The fans were incredible. I've never pitched in an atmosphere like this and I've been in the big leagues almost six years. It was unbelievable.” – Chris Archer, after his PNC Park debut
"I'm not going to sit here and say we're best friends and we talk on the phone all the time but we've both gone through something that is extremely similar and we both go through something similar starting pitching in the major leagues. There's an understood bond there, something we'll share for life.” -- Jameson Taillon, after pitching against Rockies right-hander and fellow testicular cancer survivor Chad Bettis
"We’re here to bring a World Series championship number six back to Pittsburgh." -- Bob Nutting in his annual spring address to the team in Bradenton, Fla., a month after the team traded its two best players
"We all want to win. I’m not saying nobody wants to win. But when you feel it’s not the main goal of everybody, whether it’s in the clubhouse or dealing with the organization, that’s hard to be a part of, especially at this level when it’s only a fraction of our lives playing at the major-league level. You want to be somewhere that wants to win.” -- Josh Harrison, after those same two trades
Yesterday: Top 25 memorable moments
Tomorrow: Images of the year