No topic is off limits in the Pittsburgh locker room
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8:00 AM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's December 12 NFL Chemistry Issue. Subscribe today!
RYAN HARRIS ABRUPTLY pauses an interview on race in NFL locker rooms after overhearing two teammates discussing interactions with police over speeding tickets. "You see?" the offensive tackle says. "That's all the time."
The Steelers fight for extra yards three hours each week; the rest of the time, they share what's on their minds. "From NFL policies to politics to sex to religion to foreign relations -- you can find it all here," running back DeAngelo Williams says. "We get that watercooler talk because we're essentially next to the watercooler all day."
An NFL locker room is the rare setting where diversity is built in, perspectives flow freely and interaction among people of different backgrounds is unavoidable. "Ben hangs out with the damn kickers," center Maurkice Pouncey says of QB Ben Roethlisberger. "There are no cliques here. We like to have conversations about different things all the time, not just 22-double and 52-protection."
So to better understand the social consciousness of an NFL player's sweat-drenched office, we asked more than a dozen Steelers about their workplace.
What's it like inside your locker room, and how does it compare to other NFL teams'?
JARVIS JONES, LINEBACKER: This is the only locker room I've been in, but guys I talk to from other locker rooms, it sounds like there are a lot of cliques in other places or maybe you can't speak your mind the way you'd like. Here, it's all about coming together as one. I feel free to speak my mind at any time. It's really a no-judgment zone.
DEANGELO WILLIAMS: When we go home, we don't get the opportunity to discuss what we need to discuss. My next-door neighbors, and most players' next-door neighbors, are 40 and 50 and 60 years old, probably businessmen and women. You can't knock on their door to discuss politics or religion or something that could potentially help you. And I'm 25, you're 54. You can't connect. You have to get that connection in the locker room.
LAWRENCE TIMMONS, LINEBACKER: I hear a lot of people say this is the closest-knit group in the league. I feel like that's how they run the organization, and it carries down to the players. Antonio Brown will talk to anyone; Ben will talk to anyone. Everyone's cool.
LE'VEON BELL, RUNNING BACK: We can say whatever we want to each other. We have that type of relationship. For us, when we see race or things play out from the outside, we can discuss it and we can still have an open mind to what someone is saying. Our locker room is very open, and it should be like that.
What role do you think race plays in locker room dynamics?
RYAN HARRIS, OFFENSIVE TACKLE: You can't help but talk about race. It matters to a lot of us, both black and white players. I read that 67 percent of white Americans don't have African-American friends. They are missing an interaction that we have multiple times a day.
CAM HEYWARD, DEFENSIVE END: It's crazy to hear some of these guys' stories. It doesn't matter where you came from. Everybody had to work with what they've got. You hear about [police encounters among teammates]. It's unfortunate. We don't understand why anyone would be treated like that.
ALEJANDRO VILLANUEVA, LEFT TACKLE: African-Americans are not a minority [in NFL locker rooms]. They are a majority. So their voices are going to be heard. The one thing I can truly take away from this: I feel something inside is not right. My teammates that I care so much about wake up in the morning with the feeling of not being equal.
WILLIAMS: I'm a firm believer that a person -- doesn't matter what color they are -- can learn a lot from someone if they are willing to learn. Not based on what they've heard or what they've seen but if they're going in with the mindset of "I want to learn about a day in the life of this person or that person." It opens a ton of doors, man.
What experiences have shaped your thoughts on this topic?
MARKUS WHEATON, WIDE RECEIVER: Some things I go through are normal to me. Through my eyes, it doesn't look out of place. But if you walked in my shoes, you would notice it a lot more. I once went to a city where there were no blacks. I met a few people there, and they actually said they've never seen a black person in person. Kids were afraid of me. I walked down the street and they wouldn't walk down the same side as me. It's things like that that are kind of normal to me and shouldn't be. And if you're not exposed to it, you're not wrong -- it's just different.
HARRIS: There are a lot of guys in this locker room who have been affected personally by police brutality. A lot of guys have been affected personally by gun violence that doesn't include police. You get a lot of racial conversations, but it's all said out of respect. It all starts on the foundation of respect vs. "I'm right and you're wrong."
JONES: I had a gun pulled on me before. I was back home in Georgia, and I was speeding when [an officer] pulled me over. I was probably going 85. I pulled over about a mile down the road, and he came from behind me. He already had his gun out. I was on the road with no tint, both of my hands on the steering wheel. We were talking. It was all good, but I'm like, "Bro, you pulled your gun on me and I didn't do anything."
B.J. FINNEY, CENTER/GUARD: There's nothing I can do personally to understand what [African-American teammates] go through. And I know that. I can listen to them. I can try to understand. I can empathize with them and understand where they're coming from on certain topics and be there to support them and help them with whatever they need.
RAMON FOSTER, GUARD: They'll never really understand it. And that's not their fault. You have to live through that. Even with us, not many of us get it. To be honest with you, being an athlete kind of separates you from a lot of different things. I hadn't directly had a person call me the N-word to my face -- for one, because of my size, and two, because of what I do. I don't know if they say it behind my back, but I feel I've surpassed some of that stuff. Other guys have heard it, though.
VILLANUEVA: Having an African-American head coach, our awareness is very high with race and America. Someone like Coach [Mike] Tomlin can make you think how much football has given to you, how much sports means to everybody in the NFL in terms of how we've been able to help our families financially. When you put in perspective someone like Coach Tomlin, who comes from a really tough neighborhood, you're appreciative of his side of the story.
How does having a teammate who was in the military (Villanueva is a West Point grad and former Army Ranger) change your thoughts on anthem protests? Has your stance evolved throughout the season?
WILLIAMS: It's a different dynamic, and we also get his perception from the military background: Somebody in our locker room that we know has been on both sides -- in the military and as an athlete.
ROSS COCKRELL, CORNERBACK: We all know and recognize that Al has done a great service to this country, and we want to respect him by showing our respect for the flag. Having Al, having some other guys around, you recognize there's a lot more going on outside of this NFL bubble we're in. We're definitely aware. We have good conversations about the things we see on TV and what's going on in current events, and that leads to openness.
VILLANUEVA: We all feel very American, extremely proud of our country. In conversations with [James] Harrison, DeAngelo, there isn't a single person who doesn't disagree with injustices. We want justice for everyone. But we understand our platform. We understand who we are. We don't spend 12 hours a day reading the law and studying the news and cases and trials. We are football players. Our extent of knowledge on this subject is very limited.
POUNCEY: Colin Kaepernick giving money back, making a difference instead of just talking and doing political stands, I respect the hell out of that. I can respect a guy who does that, who's putting his money forth and going out there and really making a change. Anybody else who's doing that and not following the same path as him, then it's a little different situation for me. It's more talk than action. I like action. People who want to talk, get a radio show.
What do you discuss about the election, both pre- and post-results?
WHEATON: The election has been a hot discussion. Hot discussion.
TIMMONS: I can't talk about that. [Imitating Tomlin] If you say anything about that, Lawrence ...
VILLANUEVA: When you read the news, it's very slanted toward one side or the other. But the thoughtful conversations I've had with teammates have helped me become a better person.
COCKEREL: I'm happy it's over with. Now that it's over, I've kind of settled in, like, hey, this is the direction the country's going in for the next four years. I'm ready to see wherever it's going to go. I want Donald Trump to do well. If Trump does well, America does well.
WILLIAMS: We talked about it a lot pre- and post-, but there was nobody visibly or emotionally upset or emotionally distraught by the decisions made by the majority. We all stay to our sides. There are obviously some policies that a lot of people don't agree with. There are a lot of policies that Barack Obama put in place before that. There are going to be ups and downs to each presidency and policies people don't like, and it won't be any different with Donald Trump. It's one of those things, man; Donald Trump is the president-elect. We're going to move on with it. Whether we want to or not, we have to.
comment
8:00 AM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's December 12 NFL Chemistry Issue. Subscribe today!
RYAN HARRIS ABRUPTLY pauses an interview on race in NFL locker rooms after overhearing two teammates discussing interactions with police over speeding tickets. "You see?" the offensive tackle says. "That's all the time."
The Steelers fight for extra yards three hours each week; the rest of the time, they share what's on their minds. "From NFL policies to politics to sex to religion to foreign relations -- you can find it all here," running back DeAngelo Williams says. "We get that watercooler talk because we're essentially next to the watercooler all day."
An NFL locker room is the rare setting where diversity is built in, perspectives flow freely and interaction among people of different backgrounds is unavoidable. "Ben hangs out with the damn kickers," center Maurkice Pouncey says of QB Ben Roethlisberger. "There are no cliques here. We like to have conversations about different things all the time, not just 22-double and 52-protection."
So to better understand the social consciousness of an NFL player's sweat-drenched office, we asked more than a dozen Steelers about their workplace.
What's it like inside your locker room, and how does it compare to other NFL teams'?
JARVIS JONES, LINEBACKER: This is the only locker room I've been in, but guys I talk to from other locker rooms, it sounds like there are a lot of cliques in other places or maybe you can't speak your mind the way you'd like. Here, it's all about coming together as one. I feel free to speak my mind at any time. It's really a no-judgment zone.
DEANGELO WILLIAMS: When we go home, we don't get the opportunity to discuss what we need to discuss. My next-door neighbors, and most players' next-door neighbors, are 40 and 50 and 60 years old, probably businessmen and women. You can't knock on their door to discuss politics or religion or something that could potentially help you. And I'm 25, you're 54. You can't connect. You have to get that connection in the locker room.
LAWRENCE TIMMONS, LINEBACKER: I hear a lot of people say this is the closest-knit group in the league. I feel like that's how they run the organization, and it carries down to the players. Antonio Brown will talk to anyone; Ben will talk to anyone. Everyone's cool.
LE'VEON BELL, RUNNING BACK: We can say whatever we want to each other. We have that type of relationship. For us, when we see race or things play out from the outside, we can discuss it and we can still have an open mind to what someone is saying. Our locker room is very open, and it should be like that.
What role do you think race plays in locker room dynamics?
RYAN HARRIS, OFFENSIVE TACKLE: You can't help but talk about race. It matters to a lot of us, both black and white players. I read that 67 percent of white Americans don't have African-American friends. They are missing an interaction that we have multiple times a day.
CAM HEYWARD, DEFENSIVE END: It's crazy to hear some of these guys' stories. It doesn't matter where you came from. Everybody had to work with what they've got. You hear about [police encounters among teammates]. It's unfortunate. We don't understand why anyone would be treated like that.
ALEJANDRO VILLANUEVA, LEFT TACKLE: African-Americans are not a minority [in NFL locker rooms]. They are a majority. So their voices are going to be heard. The one thing I can truly take away from this: I feel something inside is not right. My teammates that I care so much about wake up in the morning with the feeling of not being equal.
WILLIAMS: I'm a firm believer that a person -- doesn't matter what color they are -- can learn a lot from someone if they are willing to learn. Not based on what they've heard or what they've seen but if they're going in with the mindset of "I want to learn about a day in the life of this person or that person." It opens a ton of doors, man.
What experiences have shaped your thoughts on this topic?
MARKUS WHEATON, WIDE RECEIVER: Some things I go through are normal to me. Through my eyes, it doesn't look out of place. But if you walked in my shoes, you would notice it a lot more. I once went to a city where there were no blacks. I met a few people there, and they actually said they've never seen a black person in person. Kids were afraid of me. I walked down the street and they wouldn't walk down the same side as me. It's things like that that are kind of normal to me and shouldn't be. And if you're not exposed to it, you're not wrong -- it's just different.
HARRIS: There are a lot of guys in this locker room who have been affected personally by police brutality. A lot of guys have been affected personally by gun violence that doesn't include police. You get a lot of racial conversations, but it's all said out of respect. It all starts on the foundation of respect vs. "I'm right and you're wrong."
JONES: I had a gun pulled on me before. I was back home in Georgia, and I was speeding when [an officer] pulled me over. I was probably going 85. I pulled over about a mile down the road, and he came from behind me. He already had his gun out. I was on the road with no tint, both of my hands on the steering wheel. We were talking. It was all good, but I'm like, "Bro, you pulled your gun on me and I didn't do anything."
B.J. FINNEY, CENTER/GUARD: There's nothing I can do personally to understand what [African-American teammates] go through. And I know that. I can listen to them. I can try to understand. I can empathize with them and understand where they're coming from on certain topics and be there to support them and help them with whatever they need.
RAMON FOSTER, GUARD: They'll never really understand it. And that's not their fault. You have to live through that. Even with us, not many of us get it. To be honest with you, being an athlete kind of separates you from a lot of different things. I hadn't directly had a person call me the N-word to my face -- for one, because of my size, and two, because of what I do. I don't know if they say it behind my back, but I feel I've surpassed some of that stuff. Other guys have heard it, though.
VILLANUEVA: Having an African-American head coach, our awareness is very high with race and America. Someone like Coach [Mike] Tomlin can make you think how much football has given to you, how much sports means to everybody in the NFL in terms of how we've been able to help our families financially. When you put in perspective someone like Coach Tomlin, who comes from a really tough neighborhood, you're appreciative of his side of the story.
How does having a teammate who was in the military (Villanueva is a West Point grad and former Army Ranger) change your thoughts on anthem protests? Has your stance evolved throughout the season?
WILLIAMS: It's a different dynamic, and we also get his perception from the military background: Somebody in our locker room that we know has been on both sides -- in the military and as an athlete.
ROSS COCKRELL, CORNERBACK: We all know and recognize that Al has done a great service to this country, and we want to respect him by showing our respect for the flag. Having Al, having some other guys around, you recognize there's a lot more going on outside of this NFL bubble we're in. We're definitely aware. We have good conversations about the things we see on TV and what's going on in current events, and that leads to openness.
VILLANUEVA: We all feel very American, extremely proud of our country. In conversations with [James] Harrison, DeAngelo, there isn't a single person who doesn't disagree with injustices. We want justice for everyone. But we understand our platform. We understand who we are. We don't spend 12 hours a day reading the law and studying the news and cases and trials. We are football players. Our extent of knowledge on this subject is very limited.
POUNCEY: Colin Kaepernick giving money back, making a difference instead of just talking and doing political stands, I respect the hell out of that. I can respect a guy who does that, who's putting his money forth and going out there and really making a change. Anybody else who's doing that and not following the same path as him, then it's a little different situation for me. It's more talk than action. I like action. People who want to talk, get a radio show.
What do you discuss about the election, both pre- and post-results?
WHEATON: The election has been a hot discussion. Hot discussion.
TIMMONS: I can't talk about that. [Imitating Tomlin] If you say anything about that, Lawrence ...
VILLANUEVA: When you read the news, it's very slanted toward one side or the other. But the thoughtful conversations I've had with teammates have helped me become a better person.
COCKEREL: I'm happy it's over with. Now that it's over, I've kind of settled in, like, hey, this is the direction the country's going in for the next four years. I'm ready to see wherever it's going to go. I want Donald Trump to do well. If Trump does well, America does well.
WILLIAMS: We talked about it a lot pre- and post-, but there was nobody visibly or emotionally upset or emotionally distraught by the decisions made by the majority. We all stay to our sides. There are obviously some policies that a lot of people don't agree with. There are a lot of policies that Barack Obama put in place before that. There are going to be ups and downs to each presidency and policies people don't like, and it won't be any different with Donald Trump. It's one of those things, man; Donald Trump is the president-elect. We're going to move on with it. Whether we want to or not, we have to.
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