PITTSBURGH (AP) — Darnell Washington wants to be clear about something. Nothing the Pittsburgh Steelers tight end does on the football field is premeditated.
Not the hurdling. Not the stiff arm. None of it.
It's all instinct, like just about everyone else out there on the field. Even if there’s no one else out there — and maybe no one else in sports — quite like Washington.
He laid the proof bare in the second quarter of Pittsburgh's 34-12 win over Cincinnati on Sunday, when the 6-foot-7, 311-pound Washington put his unique physical skills on display for the entire football world to see.
Washington, 24, headed upfield at the snap and turned to his left. Aaron Rodgers' eyes scanned the field and settled on the massive target a few yards in front of him. Washington caught the short pass, tucked the ball into his left hand, and then proceeded to play demolition derby with the Bengals.
Everyone dressed in white who came across Washington's path lost. He stiff-armed Bengals linebacker Barrett Carter to the ground and kept right on rolling. He reached the sideline and turned upfield. Cincinnati safety Geno Stone, eight inches shorter and 100 pounds lighter than Washington, proved to be merely a speed bump as Washington lowered his shoulder to send Stone reeling and kept right on chugging.
Bengals cornerback D.J. Turner II had the last shot. Rather than try to tackle Washington, Turner jumped and tried to punch the ball out. Washington shoved him to the ground like someone pushing their plate away after a meal, as if to say, “all finished.”
It was the latest in a series of “wait, what?” plays by Washington, who in his own way is redefining what players his size can do.
Not a novelty
It's a well-accepted part of football lore that if the first number next to your weight starts with a “3," you're going to play in the trenches. That's where the big guys go. That's where the big guys have always gone.
At least until Washington came along.
Growing up in southern Nevada, he was always the tallest. He was almost always the strongest. Yet he also happened to be among the fastest, one of the reasons Desert Pines High School coach Tico Rodriguez avoided the temptation to have Washington exclusively line up in a three-point stance and start bludgeoning people.
Why not have him line up at tight end, a position that allows him to block when the moment requires, while also occasionally letting him become a target in the passing game, where he presents a problem unlike any other in the NFL?
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin calls the things Washington can do “freakish.” Rodgers, who has been an ardent supporter of Washington since arriving in June, described Washington as “mammoth.”
Yet what Washington is doing is not some sort of 2.0 version of William “The Refrigerator” Perry, who became a cult hero for the Chicago Bears 40 years ago when the 335-pound nose tackle moonlighted as a fullback.
Washington, a third-round pick out of Georgia in 2023, is not a novelty. He's a threat. His 18 receptions are one off his career high set last season, and his 209 yards receiving are already the most he's posted over a full season. He's also become a polished blocker who doesn't rely merely on his massive frame. He's attuned to the finer points of the job, from hand placement to footwork.
“He’s continued to get his body in shape, get his mind in shape,” Rodgers said. “He’s a guy, you don’t worry about the details at all. I mean, he is a very detail-oriented, super smart player.”
Redefining the possibilities
Not to mention an intimidating one. To see Washington in the Steelers’ offensive huddle is to see him tower over everyone else, tackles Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu included.
To see him in the open field with the ball in his hands is to see him move with a mix of controlled fury and surprising athleticism. Not long before his 31-yard bulldozing catch and run, he vaulted over a handful of Cincinnati defenders who dived for his legs in an effort to cut him down.
Washington just shrugs, however, when asked if what he's doing is redefining what is possible for players who would normally be thrust into relative anonymity along the offensive or defensive lines.
Turns out the only person Washington is trying to prove something to is himself.
“(I'm just trying to be) the best version of me," he said. “Not trying to be out there and just be somebody I’m not. So just being myself and having fun.”
And few on the Steelers are having more fun than Washington. He's tried to keep a low profile even as his notoriety has risen. He dipped out of the locker room before the media entered after beating Cincinnati.
When reporters finally managed to do what opponents have struggled to do this season by surrounding Washington on Thursday and not letting him escape, his teammates howled with laughter.
Asked how he feels about the increased attention he's getting both online and in real life, he just smiled.
“I don’t know,” he said, somewhat bashfully. “I mean, I like it. It’s cool and whatnot.”
Even if he wants to show he's more than just some big-bodied bully.
During practice earlier this month, Washington found himself lined up across from cornerback D'Shawn Jamison, who is all of 5-10 and 185 pounds. The ball was snapped and Washington then proceeded to fake one way and go the other.
The pass went elsewhere, and Washington and Jamison laughed as they made their way back to their respective huddles.
“You've just got to be ready,” Jamison said. “You never know what's coming with him. That's why when he gets the ball, we just say ‘Lights, Camera, Action.’”
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