PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said it Monday, a big reason they wanted Elandon Roberts on the practice squad was he was a man that just wanted to win. Early in his interview on his first day back in the locker room after being signed back, there it was.
“Right now, my big thing is helping the team do whatever to win,” Roberts said.
That sums up what Roberts brings to a locker room. And while the inside linebacker openly admits he would love to be a full participant again, he’s going to do anything in the immediate future.
“Whether that’s just helping on scout team, I’m not trying to do too much,” Roberts said Wednesday. “I’m just trying to be a teammate and do what I need to do to help a team win. We’ll just take it one day at a time.”
Roberts mentioned after being released during the final cuts, he did have offers, but was going through a personal issue with his family. The 32-year-old said he was ready to go, but his family had to come first. He said even if he would have signed in early September, he would have had to take a leave from the team to deal with that matter.
Even when he talked to his good friends on the Steelers roster, and there are a number of them including Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott and Cam Heyward, he wouldn’t bring up his personal stuff.
“I hate being a distraction,” Roberts said. “My dad is a military man, when I talked to them I kept it on football. A lot of my personal stuff I kept in house.”
And watching him on Wednesday in the locker room saying hello to so many people, it was if a family member returned home. Roberts even noted everything happens for a reason.
“I feel comfortable,” Roberts said. “I know the guys. I wouldn’t have come back if I wasn’t uncomfortable, I’m real comfortable.
“I want to see the organization prosper. If that’s me helping Aaron (Rodgers) get ready on the practice field, then that’s what I’ll do. That will be my role until it’s able to elevate from there.”
“When that time comes, I got that itch.”
And he’s had it, the two-year Steeler even shared a story from his childhood to show where his physical play comes from and how far back it started.
“It’s just in me, I’ve been doing this since I was three-years-old,” Roberts said.
Gennings Dunker starts Steelers practice with a joke
He took us back to watching a Cowboys game in 1997. Even at that age he was into football and said his dad tells the story of when Elandon thought his dad asked him to tackle Emmitt Smith.
“Nobody could get him down on TV, I tackled Emmitt Smith,” Roberts recalled. “I ran full speed to the big screen. My daddy was mad too because I broke the screen.”
There were probably a lot of emotions that day at his home. Just like there were a lot of emotions on Wednesday, when he returned to another home.
“I’m where my feet are at, I’m just trying to help the team win,” Roberts said. “Whatever capacity what would be in, I’m happy and ready to go.”
What LB said about return, his role, when he tackled Emmitt Smith
What LB said about return, his role, when he tackled Emmitt Smith
