The Jig Is Up: Steelers Offseason, Vol. 18, Football in Shorts

Recently I was thinking about my time writing about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Throughout my career doing so, I’ve essentially done it all.

Commentary, news, breaking stories, features and even took a stab at simple film room breakdowns.

The one thing I’ve never done is work on just a random thought type format.

I can’t speak for you, the reader, but I am always thinking about writing and the Steelers. Thinking about different aspects of the team and game. Thanks to reading Myron Cope’s biography I decided to put a unique spin on this type of feature.

Now, for the name of the article, anyone who is familiar with the Styx song “Renegade” should know where it came from. If not, this is where it came from…

The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Nevermore to go astray
This’ll be the end today of the wanted man

The jig is up…time for some randomness.

Rookies All Locked In

This week the Steelers got 1st Round pick Derrick Harmon under contract, and he was the final rookie contract to take care of at this juncture. In fact, 6 of the 7 rookies got their contracts done during the team’s rookie minicamp, and it left just Harmon remaining unsigned. With Harmon under contract, and a fully guaranteed contract at that, I literally can’t remember the last time the Steelers had their entire rookie class under contract this early in the process. Most of the time we expect at least one to hold out a little longer than most, like Joey Porter Jr. in 2023, but kudos to the front office for getting it done so these young players can focus on one thing and one thing only with Mandatory Minicamp on the horizon — football.

Football In Shorts Upcoming

Speaking of football in shorts, the Steelers start their Phase 3 of OTAs next week, with Mandatory Minicamp wrapping up their offseason workouts in June. While most people just suggest these workouts are meaningless, I disagree. While they won’t shed light on a potential championship run, they aren’t pointless. The Steelers have seen a tremendous amount of roster turnover in 2025 from 2024, and it will be up to the coaches to maximize these workouts to get everyone acclimated to the team, systems, and organization so they can hit the ground running when training camp starts in July.

As for training camp dates, which haven’t been released yet, expect those to be announced sometime soon so you can start preparing your trip to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA to see the 2025 Steelers up-close-and-personal.

Aaron Rodgers on Joe Rogan

While Aaron Rodgers has been seemingly everywhere but signing a contract with the Steelers, his most recent stop was on the Joe Rogan podcast. I can’t say I’m a Joe Rogan listener, his podcasts are 3 hours long at a minimum, but I have checked out his show before. When I saw Rodgers was on Rogan, I checked it out.

If you haven’t yet, let me help shine a light on what they talked about…

Everything but professional football.

Rodgers did elude to dealing with people close to him dealing with a cancer diagnosis, and that possibly is the internal stuff he is dealing with that he spoke about on the Pat McAfee show a couple weeks ago. Other than that, Rodgers didn’t talk about football. The tandem talked about a myriad of other topics, but not football.

So, if you haven’t listened/watched yet, I just saved 3 hours of your life. You’re welcome…

“A Little While Longer”

At the most recent NFL owner meetings Art Rooney II was asked in passing how long they were willing to wait for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision. His answer?

“A little while longer.”

I have to be honest here, and I’m shocked there hasn’t been more traction on a decision in recent weeks. To me, Mandatory Minicamp is the perfect time for Rodgers to make up his mind, one way or another. If he decides to play in Pittsburgh, great! If he decides to retire, that’s fine too. But for the team, it seems like the perfect time for them to know who their quarterback will be heading into training camp…and not having to wait until then to find out.

The focus on 2026?

The 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers season has a really strange vibe to it as we prepare for OTAs and Mandatory Minicamp. While there is plenty of discussion surrounding things like Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph and the recently drafted players, there is always an underlying discussion based on the 2026 NFL Draft.

When Omar Khan admitted to stock piling draft picks and wanting to get a quarterback in that draft, it almost felt as if 2025 lost a lot of significance at that moment. I’m not suggesting I’m not all-in on the upcoming season, I am, but I can honestly say I haven’t had this weird feeling before a season in recent memory.

It isn’t just the talk about 2026 and what seems like the ongoing focus on that specific draft, but just how there are so many unknowns surrounding the team at this juncture in the season. Last year we knew the team was looking to add a wide receiver, but to not have a solidified quarterback room at this juncture is odd at best.

I’ll be ready to roll when the regular season rolls around, but right now it just seems as if everything is off kilter.

Alex Highsmith Speaks

Of all the players who are typically in front of a microphone at some point in the offseason, Alex Highsmith isn’t one of them. However, the NFL Insiders recently had Highsmith on their show to talk about Aaron Rodgers, T.J. Watt’s contract situation, and how he prepares himself for the upcoming season.

Highsmith provides some really good clarity, and honesty, in the interview and I thought you’d like to hear it. Check it out in the player below:

“If (Aaron Rodgers) does sign with us, it’s going to be really exciting to have him.” #Steelers pass rusher Alex Highsmith joined The Insiders on @nflnetwork to talk offseason workouts, the team’s QB situation, how to reverse sear the perfect steak and more. pic.twitter.com/DUJlEDOycK

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) May 23, 2025

Player Spotlight

I wanted to start doing a spotlight segment every week during the offseason of a lesser known player who donned the black-and-gold for a time.

This week’s player: Joe Gilliam

The story of Joe Gilliam might be one of the most confusing, and sad, stories in Pittsburgh Steelers history. For those who don’t know, I won’t go into the minutiae, but here is a breakdown of Joe “Hollywood” Gilliam’s story in the NFL.

Gilliam was selected by the Steelers in the 11th round of the 1972 NFL Draft, the 273rd overall pick. His first NFL game came on November 5, 1972, when he came on in relief of Terry Bradshaw in a blowout win over the Cincinnati Bengals with Pittsburgh’s regular backup quarterback Terry Hanratty injured. He made his first regular season start on Monday Night Football, during a week 12 game against the Miami Dolphins on December 3, 1973. The game was a disaster for Gilliam: he threw just seven passes, all incomplete and three intercepted by Dick Anderson, including one for a Miami touchdown.

Prior to the 1974 regular season, Steelers head coach Chuck Noll stated that the starting quarterback position was “wide open” among Terry Bradshaw, Gilliam, and Terry Hanratty. Gilliam outperformed the other two in the 1974 pre-season and Noll named Gilliam the starting quarterback, the first African American quarterback to start a season opener after the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. After a 30–0 win in the season opener over Baltimore, he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Although he was 4-1-1 in the first six games, he was benched in late October for his lackluster performance and ignoring team rules and game plans. In particular, Gilliam ran afoul of Chuck Noll for his excessive number of pass plays.

He spent most of the 1975 season as the backup quarterback to Bradshaw but was demoted to 3rd string quarterback behind Hanratty after a poor performance at the end of the season against the Los Angeles Rams and missing some team meetings. The 1975 season was his last on an NFL roster, as the team repeated as champions in Super Bowl X.

The Steelers waived Gilliam prior to the 1976 preseason after he missed a team meeting. He battled heroin, cocaine, and alcohol addiction on and off over the next several years and even ended up living in a cardboard box under a bridge for two years.

In 1983, Gilliam attempted a comeback to pro football in the new United States Football League, but was cut by the Denver Gold, then picked up by the Washington Federals. Gilliam played in four games, starting two of them, throwing five touchdowns and ten interceptions. Gilliam was cut early in training camp in January 1984, and retired from the sport for good. In 1986, Joe Gilliam was inducted into the American Football Association’s Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Gilliam died of a cocaine overdose on Christmas Day, 2000 shortly after watching an NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans. He was four days away from his 50th birthday. Gilliam was sober for three years prior to his death and able to attend the final Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium.

Check out the latest “Let’s Ride” podcast in the player below:

That does it…the jig is up, they’ve finally found me. This renegade is outta here…be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of offseason leading up to training camp.