ALYSA RUBIN / STEELERS

It's a tale I've told a few times, but it's plenty worthy of a repeat.

And a repeat.

And another repeat.

Calvin Austin came up lame in Latrobe three summers ago. One of those lousy Lisfranc injuries to his left foot. He's lost for the 2022 season. His rookie stat-line's reduced to a row of hyphens.

His solution: Make sure that his Year 2 in the NFL really is a Year 2. He'd be the first in the facility each morning, the last to leave and the most eager and excitable at all points in between. He sat in on every classroom session, preparing as he were about to play that Sunday. He studied film of his opponents, of his teammates, of broader tendencies. Anything to keep pushing progress beyond his actual health.

He made it back. Hasn't looked back.

The following summer later, Cory Trice crumbled to the grass in Latrobe, his right knee giving out just a few feet from where I stood on that sideline. No doctors were needed to know this was dire, too. It was all over the kid's face. Lost for the 2023 season. Rookie year instantly erased.

His solution: He found a friend in Austin. And whatever fire he'd lack on a given dark day.

"Cal showed me how he'd done it," as Trice was recalling for me Tuesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex after the Steelers had completed their fourth OTA session. "He told me to come here with the head high. Do the job. Get in the classroom. Watch the film. Become a better football player. Be a good teammate. Help them like they help you. I was going to be Year 2 in Year 2, just like Cal was."

They were. Both of them, one after the other.

Troy Fautanu, the third in this unfortunate sequence, at least lasted a little longer: The Steelers' first-round pick in 2024 won the starting slot at right tackle in August, only to sprain his left knee in a preseason game at Houston. He'd be back in a month, he'd make his NFL debut in the Week 2 13-6 victory at Denver, he'd log 55 snaps and, five days later in practice, while engaged with a teammate in a routine drill, his right kneecap became dislocated. Accompanied by a ligament tear. Surgery was a must. 

Poof went his rookie year, as well.

Same solution, though.

"Oh, man, I was in Troy's ear nonstop," Trice would say, beaming toward the direction where he'd just seen me speaking with Fautanu. "He tell you that?"

He had, actually.

"Good, because I love seeing him out here, seeing him doing what he's doing."

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They all should. In addition to being a prized piece of the franchise's future, he's expected to anchor -- not to participate but to lead -- an offensive line that's fairly seen as nothing less than pivotal toward this team's performance in 2025.

As Fautanu put it as part of our extensive talk here, "We're the factor. We know that. And we like it that way. That's fine. We're looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it."

He'll start at right tackle, Broderick Jones will be back on the left, the guards will be Isaac Seumalo and Mason McCormick, and the center will be Zach Frazier. If they have their way, it'll be that way for years to come. The kind of tenure that's usually a necessity for any offensive line.

But yeah, right now, it really is on them. I'm not sure how that could be argued. Can't run without them, which negates Jaylen Warren and newcomer Kaleb Johnson. Can't pass without them, whether it's Mason Rudolph or Aaron Rodgers or the Tooth Fairy. Can't do anything without the offense possessing the ball, since that tires out the defense.

And I'll narrow it further: It'll be on these tackles. Both top picks, and back-to-back, no less. Both top pedigree. Both massive investments.

Jones seems set for a bounceback from a sophomore sag. He's shed about 20 pounds, determined to be quicker and more deliberate in his actions. He'll also be back on his natural left side, where he's more comfortable no matter what he ever states to the contrary. And maybe most important, he's clearly grasping that this will be, as one higher-up with the team recently shared with me, "a do-or-die" season for him.

"I know," as he'd say here a week ago, "what this means."

There's no such angst regarding Fautanu, and that's only logical. He's barely suited up. And if it hadn't been for those 55 snaps in Denver, his standing wouldn't be any different than those of Austin and Trice when they'd returned from injury.

But here's the thing: Those 55 snaps did happen. And to hear Fautanu describe it, they made a world of difference:

"I’ve went back and watched that game so many times," he'd tell me. "It was almost a confidence booster because you come into the NFL and you have expectations and those expectations are met by guys like T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig on the edge in practice. So, you have to quickly learn and process a lot faster than you’re used to. But what really helped me throughout this process was knowing, looking back at that game, I’m like ‘I can do it.’ You know what I mean?"

Not on a direct level, obviously, but I've had many an athlete relay how tightly they'll cling to every play, every snap is scarce for any reason.

"It was almost like God let me play that game just to give me that," he continued. "It’s obviously frustrating that I didn’t get to play beyond that, but it made me even more hungry, just to know that it was almost validation to yourself that I do belong here. It was an experience that I’ll never forget."

Not just on sentiment, either. Funny thing about those 55 snaps: They were terrific. He didn't allow a single quarterback pressure on any of his 29 pass-defense snaps, he was beaten on one of his 26 run-defense snaps, and he wound up being recognized as Pro Football Focus' player of that game ... for either team and at any position.

Our Chris Halicke graded it great, too:

Funnier thing: The author himself wasn't wild about it.

"I'm constantly looking back at the game and ... to see where I am now, I've learned a lot from it," Fautanu would say. "And more than anything, when I watch it, it just feels like a long time since I played football. That’s why I’m so grateful to be back out here with the guys."

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The original protagonist of this storyline soaks up this stuff.

"Aw, man, that's awesome," Austin would reply when I shared some of the above with him. "I always try to be a light for those guys going through that since i know mentally it can be extremely tough."

Fautanu didn't know Austin or Trice until he arrived a year ago. He knows them now. All too well.

"They know what it's like," he'd say. "They've been through it. They've battled. They came out on the good side. But then, they made sure I was good, too. They kept on top of me. They shared their experiences. They shared their advice. I'm grateful to them. I really am."

It's a line of succession, it's safe to say, he'd love to end.

"It's hard going through this. You wouldn't wish it on anyone. You work so hard, get your hopes up, get excited ... and then you make it. And then it's gone just like that."

He had a couple unrelated injuries at the University of Washington, too, which some analysts felt contributed to his modest fall to No. 20 in his draft class. Omar Khan was adamant at the time the Steelers' medical personnel had no concern about Fautanu's time missed in college.

Then, that happened.

"It's heartbreaking. But you know, it makes you appreciate what you have that much more when you have it. That's why I'm feeling the way I am today."

It showed. Just as it showed that day in Denver. I reminded him of our talk at his stall after that game, one in which he stood at his stall, chin and shoulders high, hands on his hips, like Superman after outsmarting Lex Luthor or something.

I loved it. Told him so.

"I loved that whole day, too. Can't wait for more."