PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It got to a point in the Mike McCarthy return to Pittsburgh that last Thursday even he had enough of the hometown boy story.
“It's been great,” McCarthy said before practice on the South Side. “The homecoming's been awesome, but it's time to go play games. Time to go win. And that’s the reality of why we’re here.”
After he fulfilled the winning part with a 20-13 victory over Atlanta in his first game as Steelers head coach, you could tell by some water in his eyes he allowed himself a moment to enjoy it.
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“It's a great feeling, without a doubt,” McCarthy said. “I'm glad it's by us. It was emotional all day today.”
The voice started cracking on the last few words.
Even if he wanted it to be just another game, his quarterback wouldn’t let him. Aaron Rodgers addressed the team in the locker room after giving McCarthy his first ever game ball.
“Yeah, it meant a lot,” Rodgers said. “Mike has had a lot of wins, but it's always special when it's the first one at a place and extra special when it's the team you grew up cheering for, and you grew up just on the other side of the river from the facility. Your parents are still living in town.”
“Super special to be able to do that. I was really honestly looking forward to that today as much as anything.”
Those comments were shared by other players.
“Yeah, we all know how special this city is to Coach [McCarthy] and this team is to Coach,” said Steelers TJ Watt. “To be able to have him grow up just down the road from our practice facility, to have his first win as a Steeler is a pretty cool moment, and it was kind of cool Aaron got to give him the game ball.”
“He had aspirations to be the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach,” said Steelers Cam Heyward. “We can tell it’s his dream to be here, but with that comes a lot of pressure. Any guy who is from here understands that. We wanted to say congrats coach, hopefully we can deliver even bigger accolades in the future.”
“Being from Pittsburgh and he was very happy in the locker room after the game,” said Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth. “Aaron gave him a game ball. It was super-awesome to see. I told him drinks were on him at his local pub, maybe we will be in Greenfield later with some of the boys.”
As of publication of this article we don’t know if the Steelers ended up in Greenfield, but they definitely made it special for the local boy who had a dream fulfilled Sunday afternoon.
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“It's obviously a special moment,” McCarthy said. “Really appreciate the guys, appreciate Aaron and the kind words. It's time to move on and get team victories from here on. I'm not one for attention, so the homecoming has been great. Just glad to get this one under our belt.”
He really does understand Steelers fans.
Aaron Rodgers, Cam Heyward, Coach reacts to Atlanta victory
Aaron Rodgers, Cam Heyward, Coach reacts to Atlanta victory
