PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Couldn’t imagine a better return to the stadium that helped him establish his career, James Conner rushed for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 24-10 Cardinals upset win over the Steelers.
“Truly special, obviously the emotions were going,” Conner said Sunday. “This is all God. I had this vision of coming home and just trying to play my best football and let God do the rest. He let us have a day.”
“Just gave him the game ball,” said Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon after the game. “He was lights out. Honestly that's a really good defense, and I thought that the O-line -- early took some chances to get it going a little bit, but boy, he closed out the game. I think he went over 100 with two touchdowns. That's how he always plays, though. But special for him coming back here, home. Glad for him to have a big-time day.”
He had some huge games in Acrisure Stadium, then called Heinz Field for Pitt. The 263-yard, three-touchdown game against Duke in 2014. The 117 yards in the upset win over Penn State or the 141 yards and three touchdowns against Virginia Tech. His first home 100-yard game with two touchdowns against Atlanta, the 146 yards and pair of scores against the Browns.
It was his seventh 100-yard game as a pro in Pittsburgh and now like Bruce Gradkowski and other Western Pennsylvania football stars, he came home and led a big upset against the Steelers.
“Everything about this place is special,” Conner said. “I was a baby at 18 years-old at the University of Pittsburgh with a goal to get to the NFL and not knowing how I was going to do it. A special energy (in the stadium) for sure.”
Conner said he heard a few chants of people yelling ‘let’s go JC’. He wasn’t sure how many people he had in attendance as the tickets you get as a visitor are in the ‘nose-bleed’ section rather than close to the field. Conner said as he entered the stadium Sunday he said hi, acknowledge or briefly talked to a few staffers, security, old coaches who he remembered during his time at Pitt and with the Steelers.
“I told them how much I appreciated them all,” Conner said. “They were huge for me for my journey. The lessons that I learned being a Steeler, so valuable. I take them with me to this day. A lot of love to everyone around here.”
He was seen in a long embrace with Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith along with others. It was a special day for Conner, and while he didn’t say it, a few glances over to the Steelers sidelines in the fourth quarter tell you he was probably motivated to play against the team that didn’t want him anymore.
“It’s special,” Conner said. “Emotions were running high. I was taking it all in. I have a lot of love for this place.”