COLUMBUS, Ohio — J.C. Hassenauer appreciates, or should we say is “appreciative” of the effort Mike Tomlin puts into his messaging.
Over the years, the coach’s unique phrases and words of wisdom have been codified by media outlets into “Tomlinisms,” which have expanded “globally,” beyond the Pittsburgh market. There’s one in particular that resonates with Hassenauer and reflects his long journey from an undersized high-school freshman in Minnesota to a late-season starter in his third year with the playoff-bound Steelers.
“One of my favorite Mike Tomlin quotes is to ‘never seek comfort’ or to ‘not seek comfort,’ ” Hassenauer told DK Pittsburgh Sports on Wednesday. “He talks about that often to our group. Everyone’s mind and brain sometimes tells them to ‘seek comfort’ in difficult times, but you have to embrace the challenge.”
The 6-foot-2, 295-pound offensive lineman personifies that spirit. He’s never looked for an easy route to the path he now finds himself walking. Hassenauer has spent more than seven years working toward this moment — starting in a playoff game Sunday night in Kansas City against the Chiefs.
In a three-week span, he will have made as many starts as he did in his entire four-year college career. How many NFL players can make such a claim?
Hassenauer has persevered in an era when transfer portals resemble the Squirrel Hill and Fort Pitt tunnels at rush hour. He remained loyal to the University of Alabama despite serving as a backup for most of his tenure in Tuscaloosa. When opportunity finally beckoned, he delivered clutch performances in the 2017 college playoffs, capping them with a start in the national championship game.
History is repeating itself in Pittsburgh as injury and illness to rookie center Kendrick Green thrust Hassenauer into the lineup for a pair of regular-season elimination games against the Browns and Ravens. He played well enough on the Steelers’ patchwork offensive line to merit another look Sunday.
In announcing Green was returning to practice this week, Tomlin said Tuesday: “I preface that by also saying that we've been pleased with the work of J.C. at center, and so we've got some really good options there in terms of putting together a group as we push forward into this environment.”
After Hassenauer was passed over in the 2018 NFL Draft and forced to play minor-league football in the spring of 2019, few could have imagined he would become part of Tomlin’s “division of labor.” But here we are with Ben Roethlisberger taking snaps from a 26-year-old journeyman who keeps driving his shoulder into the obstacles in front of him.
“I’ve always believed in sticking to what you commit to,” Hassenauer said. “Regardless of how hard it is and regardless of how unfair it may seem, you just have to keep working for your opportunities in life.”
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UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ATHLETICS
J.C. Hassenauer made three starts during his four years at Alabama, all during his senior season.
Ryan Englebert opened his first gym in 2010, looking to lure young athletes from the Twin Cities who were eager to play at the next level.
In through the front door walked Hassenauer and his father. The high school freshman arrived at the training facility with the goal of becoming a Division I college offensive lineman. He was 5 feet 9, 185 pounds — one inch shorter and 15 pounds lighter than the Patriots' slot receiver, Julian Edelman.
Hassenauer’s dad wasn’t much bigger.
“I took a look at his father and I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know how much taller this kid is going to get,’ ” Englebert recalled.
But the high-performance trainer wasn’t in a position to turn down clients. Englebert charted weight-training and nutritional road maps and watched as Hassenauer followed them without deviation. The youngster never missed a session, sometimes coming to the gym for extra work after football practices.
“Hands down, J.C. is one of the most dedicated athletes I’ve ever been around,” said Englebert, whose ETS Performance enterprise has expanded to 17 gyms. “J.C. makes everything into a competition. There’s never any wasted time.”
Hassenauer evolved into a three-year starter at Woodbury East Ridge High. His quickness, strength and tenacity overwhelmed opponents. He was ejected from one game for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
As his prep coach Mike Pendino said, “J.C. has a mean streak and he plays through the whistle.”
Hassenauer hit a growth spurt in his mid teens, sprouting several inches and packing on the pounds. He attended summer college camps and polished his craft under the guidance of former Washington Football Team center Ray Hitchcock, who ran an academy for aspiring offensive linemen in the Twin Cities.
What impressed Hitchcock, beyond the natural ability, was Hassenauer’s affinity for the game and all that it encompasses. Recruiters and scouts can watch film and process data, but they’re always left with one nagging question: Does a talented player love football or does he love what football affords him?
In others, when adversity strikes, will he seek comfort?
“The kid was fully driven,” Hitchcock said. “He understood football and he liked football. That last part is important because when you play in the interior line, you get the shit beat out of you. You’re basically in a fist fight every snap.”
Hassenauer wanted to test himself against the nation’s top recruits. He attended Alabama’s camp in the summer before his junior year at East Ridge and caught the eye of Nick Saban. The iconic Crimson Tide coach told the 280-pound lineman to put on more weight and report back to him.
A year later, Hassenauer showed up in Tuscaloosa at 290 pounds and Saban awarded him a scholarship. The high-school center received other offers closer to home, but he was determined to play for the country’s most celebrated and decorated school.
Alabama attracts five-star recruits the way Paris does tourists. Hassenauer was not a five-star recruit, and he hailed from a state that wasn’t on the Crimson Tide’s recruiting radar. The first and last time a Minnesota native lettered at Alabama was in 1925, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Hassenauer was not interested in trivia.
“I wanted to play for the best,” he said. “All those national titles and all those offensive linemen that have gone on to play in the NFL. That was my dream.”
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J.C. HASSENAUER INSTAGRAM
J.C Hassenauer poses for a picture on one of his two trips to the White House with the Alabama football team.
It didn’t take long for Alabama to live up to Hassenauer’s expectations. As a freshman, he was part of a team that participated in the inaugural College Football Playoff. As a sophomore, he made his first trip to the White House, meeting President Obama as a reward for being on a national title winner.
He would be back two years later to stand in the company of President Trump.
Incredible photo-ops aside, Hassenauer wasn’t playing with any regularity. He was a valuable utility lineman who appeared in 16 games through his junior season, but he hadn’t made a start.
The college transfer portal, which enables student-athletes to relocate without sitting out a year, opened in 2018. It came a season too late for Hassenauer — not that he would have entered it.
The reserve interior lineman could have transferred in traditional fashion, using the additional year as a redshirt. If you’re the sixth- or seventh-best offensive lineman at Alabama, chances are you’re a starter on about 90 percent of the other Power Five programs. Earning regular playing time undoubtably would have enhanced Hassenauer’s draft stock.
He wouldn’t budge.
“It definitely came to my mind, but I don’t know if I ever talked to anyone about it,” Hassenauer said of transferring. "I definitely learned a lot waiting for my opportunity at Alabama. I became more of a man, if you will. I grew up a lot through that process. I understand why some people want to transfer and I understand why some people do transfer, but for me I just thought I needed to work harder. I needed to be more dedicated.”
Hassenauer used his time wisely. Off the field, he earned an undergraduate degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in marketing. In practice, he honed his skills daily against some of the nation’s most dominant defensive linemen and linebackers.
He’s a devout believer in Proverbs 27:17 — Iron sharpens iron.
“It didn’t matter who we were playing, I knew I wouldn’t face better competition than what I faced in practice,” Hassenauer said. “It was a huge confidence booster for the games.”
There was at least one other fringe benefit to sticking around Tuscaloosa. A year after arriving on campus, a fellow East Ridge grad made her way from Minnesota. Makaela Egan didn’t end up playing softball for the Crimson Tide, but she fell in love with Hassenauer.
Makaela’s support was invaluable during trying times. Finally, late in his senior season, Hassenauer received a massive opportunity, coming off the bench in the playoff semifinal against Clemson to replace injured guard Lester Cotton. A week later, Hassenauer was virtually flawless in helping the Crimson Tide outlast Georgia, 26-23, in overtime to earn his second national championship ring.
In just his third career start, he graded out with a team-high 90 percent on 72 snaps.
You can just imagine the raw emotion as Hassenauer and Makaela, who are now husband and wife, met on the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It’s all the “comfort” Hassenauer ever required at Alabama:
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J.C. HASSENAUER INSTAGRAM
J.C. Hassenauer and Makaela Egan kiss after Alabama's national title game victory in the 2017 season.
Nobody needed to explain to Tim Lewis what the Steelers value in an offensive lineman. The Pitt grad spent nearly a decade on Bill Cowher’s coach staff (1995-2003) after a promising career as a cornerback with the Packers was cut short by a neck injury.
In 2019, Lewis served as the head coach of the Birmingham Iron in the Alliance of American Football League. The Alabama-based team was stocked with former college football players from the region.
Hassenauer had toiled the previous season on the Falcons’ practice squad, but realized he needed some game film if he intended to make a legitimate run at an NFL career. He started all eight games for Lewis before the league folded midway through its first season.
“He’s tough, gritty, dedicated, blue collar — absolutely all the things Pittsburgh loves about their players,” Lewis said. “I was with the Steelers when they had Dermontti Dawson, and later with Alan Faneca. I’m not saying J.C. is that Hall-of-Fame caliber, but he’s that same kind of competitor.”
Hassenauer’s desire to improve was such that he was among several players showing up at the training facility before dawn. Lewis had to instruct the security guard to keep Hassenauer off the grounds before 6 a.m.
That made for a nice story the coach could share with Steelers scout Dan Rooney Jr., who spent a day in Birmingham watching the Iron practice. A few weeks after the league collapsed, the Steelers signed the offensive lineman.
Hassenauer feels fortunate to have learned from some of the best in the game. With the Falcons and Steelers, he was tutored by centers voted to the NFL’s All-Decade Team (2010s) in Alex Mack and Maurkice Pouncey.
“I gained a ton from being around them,” Hassenauer said. “How they prepare. How they take care of their bodies. If I could boil it down to one simple phrase: Learning how to be a professional. I had arguably the two best centers coaching me in my early years.”
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KARL ROSER / STEELERS
J.C. Hassenauer makes an offensive line call against the Browns on Jan. 3 at Heinz Field;
If Hassenauer develops into a Steelers’ starter, he could gain cult-hero status among the Western Pennsylvania outdoors community. He is an avid fisherman and hunter. His three primary colors are black, gold and camo.
He hunts deer, squirrel and feral hogs. That’s right, feral hogs.
“They’re a real problem for farmers in Alabama because of the land they can destroy,” Hassenauer explained.
Hunters will take a pack of dogs to sniff out the hogs, he said, and surround them. But if a hog breaks containment — whoa, look out.
“We’ve had one charge us before,” said Hassenauer, who hunts them with a knife. “In that case, you try to get behind a tree. They aren’t going to run through a tree. . . . It is the most thrilling hunt I’ve ever been on.”
For now, Hassenauer is focused on finishing the season with a flourish. A training-camp injury didn’t allow him to compete for the starting center job won by Green, a third-round draft pick.
Green’s struggles this season are well documented, and last week Roethlisberger said on WDVE that he believes his best chance of future success lies at guard.
Hassenauer, who started two games last season in place of an injured Pouncey, has waited patiently for another chance to play. Just as he did at Alabama. The coaching staff likes the way Hassenauer has been able to make the line calls and necessary last-second adjustments in noisy environs. That certainly will be critical Sunday in the ear-splitting caldron of Arrowhead Stadium.
“I just appreciate J.C., his professional approach,” Tomlin said. “His communication skills. His desire to communicate and be a hub of communication, embracing that component of the position. It's just been a good few weeks for him.”
Where this goes after Sunday is anyone’s guess. In college and at the pro level, Hassenauer has proven reliable in spot starts at guard and center in pressure situations. The next challenge is showing he can do it in the NFL playoffs, and over the course of a 17-game regular season.
Does he get that opportunity with the Steelers? That’s a question for the offseason. He's an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he can sign with them and nobody else unless the Steelers release his rights.
What we know for sure is J.C. Hassenauer doesn’t mind the hard way — it’s the only road he’s been on these past seven years. With a little luck and a lot of hard work it might one day lead him back to the White House.
DK Pittsburgh Sports staff writer Dale Lolley contributed to this report.
