As Maurkice Pouncey enters his eleventh NFL season, he carries plenty of stories, perspective and the weight of being a star lineman over an entire decade.
Thursday morning via Zoom, Pouncey shared what it's been like to be part of the Steelers for all of his NFL journey, and where he sees the rest of his career going. "It's been a fun experience," Pouncey said of his growth over ten seasons with the Steelers.
"As you get older they bring in guys, and you're so focused on trying to help them be great and have great careers and future. The Steelers have done a great job bringing guys in as far as draft picks and free agents."
When Pouncey was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, he signaled the future of what was to come for the team's offensive line. Since then he's been on eight Pro Bowl teams, twice making the first All-Pro team and thrice making the second All-Pro team.
The Steelers would draft other key linemen, like David DeCastro in 2011 and Marcus Gilbert in 2012, that would become big parts of the team's line in the coming years. He's also seen undrafted veterans like Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva step up and become reliable teammates over the years.
But there's something about the young group of offensive linemen on the Steelers' roster that motivates Pouncey going into his eleventh season.
"The young guys they got coming up right now, the Steelers are heading in the right direction," Pouncey said. "It's very positive, I just enjoy the moments. As you get older you lose some of the stuff you kind of look forward to, but those guys have brought a lot of energy back to the room and I really appreciate that."
Pouncey's excited not just about players like Matt Feiler who have stepped up to become starters and move positions, but also depth players like Stephen Wisniewski who were just added and rookie Kevin Dotson.
"For Matt it's come along really easily," Pouncey said of Feiler's transition from right tackle to left guard. "We've been around each other a long time. Obviously he's a strong player, can move really well, he's locked into the offense, he knows the ins and outs, how we block and protect. I just think with the other guys, Dotson is a younger guy, he's trying to learn. But he's very strong, very powerful and moves well. He's going to be a great player here pretty soon. Wisniewski is a veteran player, really smart guy, knows the ins and outs of football. He can adjust blocks and its good to have another voice in the huddle that can talk a little deeper about defenses and understand the true game."
Pouncey also knows nobody understands the true game the Steelers play like Ben Roethlisberger. Their ten years together is part of what has Pouncey excited to get the regular season started and find the routine he's been used to for most of his career.
"To see him back there," Pouncey started about Roethlisberger. "How comfortable he's been, how motivated he is, to see his whole process coming through the surgery, and come back like this in year 17, it's incredible to watch. I know injuries are not hard, especially at that age, he's been out there rocking, he's a true leader, a true soldier and that's the kind of player he is. That's normalcy for sure."
Normalcy would be nice for Pouncey. Especially after an offseason compounded with a pandemic and CBA negotiations, but also with his recovery of a significant knee injury.
"I tore my meniscus," Pouncey said about his knee injury that made him miss the season finale. "I could've got the surgery but they wanted me to rehab it and see how things played out. As older players, that's a complication with bone-on-bone joints. I think it was a smarter decision just to rehab it throughout the offseason because I had a lot of time just to get stronger in that area. I kind of got lucky in the aspect of not catching it and it not being a lingering issue."
That normalcy Pouncey mentioned earlier is something he's looking forward to once the season starts. After playing for the same team for an entire decade it's something he appreciates, even if he understands why circumstances had to be different with this training camp.
"I like normalcy," Pouncey said. "But I understand right now we have to abide by the protocols going on. It was an adjustment period to get used to it because older players want to come in, have your say and get to your routine. But you got to understand the big picture of things that we're trying to keep people safe, but I would like normalcy."
Combine the normalcy Pouncey feels with Roethlisberger's return and the boost of energy he gets from the younger players among the linemen, and he's found several motivating factors for him continuing to play and not worry about retiring until he feels good and ready.
"Personally, it's all about having fun and enjoying it," Pouncey said. "Contract isn't an issue, years in the league aren't the issue. For me it's that everyday I'm coming in and enjoying it still. The fact the guys we're bringing up are a young group and the guys are motivated, I feel like I can still play at a very high level. Until someone proves otherwise, I'll be playing."
Part of what added to the complicated offseason were the CBA negotiations that threatened the return of the league in the middle of the pandemic. Pouncey still felt that after his years of experience, the players still didn't hold out long enough to get everything they wanted.
"I still think we should've waited until we got exactly what we wanted," Pouncey said. "To say the NFL won't hit numbers on TV and advertisements to make up some of that money. That's hard for me to believe. Last time we did a CBA deal $300 million went randomly missing and then got brought back in the discussion. If that was the case, then why are guys getting paid? We'll see how things turn out. I've been in the game a long time so to sit here and say the NFL is going to be hurting for money, I find that hard to believe."
Pouncey also finds himself in the middle of the protests that have taken the center stage across all four major sports in the United States. And that doesn't bother him in the least, as he's been vocal about police brutality and the work he's committed to over the years to help fight the issue.
"I think it's kind of obvious what my view is on it," Pouncey said of the issue of police brutality. "Obviously there are bad apples in every organization. It's hard to look at it and say every cop is bad, which I know isn't the case because I work with a lot of them and I'm friends with a lot of them. But I know there are issues we have to clean up. Hopefully we can on the same page, I think we've been working tremendously with the cops the past couple years in getting the community involved, giving money to them and helping them out. But it's right there in plain sight. Something has to change."
But like Vince Williams said on Saturday, Pouncey is encouraged by seeing other athletes willing to use their platforms to change the conversation and help others join the cause. "It's an awesome platform for guys to do that," Pouncey said of other athletes involved in protests.
"We don't realize how big our platform is and some guys wait until they're done playing to use their voice but it doesn't impact the same way. When you're in this position, we can rewrite practices, we can rewrite how to run a play or a defense, but you can't rewrite how to stand united, all as one, as a sports league. That was a good start. It showed a lot of people in leagues that these guys are serious. Hopefully everyone sees how serious we are and jumps on board."
Also like Williams, Pouncey sees the Steelers opportunities to impact the movement in the US through the platforms developed with the Steelers and doesn't expect any teammates to sit out games in 2020.
"Not sitting out games, no," Pouncey said of his expectations of teammates. "Our platforms are huge to speak out on but I also think football is our main objective. But we can't forget that football is just a game and people have real issues. We're here to step up to the plate on that and understand the significance in our voice to push change, but sitting out games would be hard to save lives."
