PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There were a couple of times Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig had to pause during his news conference Wednesday after signing his new contract extension. The emotions were too much in thinking about the role his family played in his career.
He got as far as thanking his mom and dad before the first time he had to cover his eyes. Herbig then apologized for getting choked up. He said his parents had to work two jobs so he could go to school on a different Hawaiian island, Oahu. They showed him what it was like to work hard.
He would then thank his brothers and grandparents and everyone in his family that helped raise him.
“I’m just a boy from Kaua’I, Kauai,” Herbig said. “It took a village to raise me and make me the man I am today.”
His brother forecast this years ago after he signed as a free agent with the Steelers in 2023. He was at the same podium and room Nick Herbig was in Wednesday, his brother Nate said during his first news conference in Pittsburgh his younger brother was special and the Steelers should draft him.
“I haven’t even really seen him in person yet, but from the time we talked, there weren’t a lot of words,” Herbig said of Nate Herbig. “It was really emotional.”
Then came the next pause as tears filled the younger brother’s eyes.
“Sorry, you know my brother Nate has been more than just a brother throughout this process,” Herbig said. “He’s really been that person I can lean on. He really paved the way and just having somebody like that in my corner that I know will never do me wrong or turn his back on me. Somebody who has been through it, being undrafted, I got to see everything he went through and to see how he came out of it a better man and what he’s done for my family thus far.”
“I’m just excited for him to pass that torch to me and now it’s my turn.”
TJ relationship
Herbig recalled the first time he talked to TJ Watt. He was still playing a Wisconsin and his outside linebackers coach got Watt on a Zoom during COVID. After Watt got done talking to the Badgers players, he said to contact him if anyone wanted to talk.
Sometimes people say that as a throw away line and you think I’m not going to do that with an NFL star. Herbig thought differently.
“I was like, bet, I’m going to hit him up,” Herbig said. “I just DM’ed him and he answered. We just exchanged conversations. I would send him clips and he would draw on the clips and show me what to do and send me clips of himself.”
“Now we are more than teammates, we are close friends. A super full-circle moment. Couldn’t ask for a better mentor, someone who took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. I’m super glad and blessed he was able to be that person for me.”
The pair shared hugs after he told Watt the news, Watt said he was ‘incredibly happy’.
Herbig was he was very grateful the team had a vision for him and then backed it up with a big-time contract for a player who has never been a full-time starter. He said he can’t wait to show them they made the right choice.
“To me, I made it very clear I wanted to be here,” Herbig said. “I wanted to be a Steeler for life. Just having that security and know I can go into camp with no distractions and be ready to work, like I always am, and there for my teammates.”
Herbig also thanked the Rooneys, Omar Khan, Mike McCarthy and a special shoutout to Mike Tomlin for taking a chance on him.
“I truly believe I was born to be a Steeler.”
‘I truly believe I was born to be a Steeler.’
‘I truly believe I was born to be a Steeler.’
