Ross postal employee never misses work despite duties for Pittsburgh Steelers
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Who bleeds black and gold and postal blue? Your local mail distribution clerk Mike Sieber, who moonlights as a member of the chain gang for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In all of the 40 years that Sieber has worked for the McKnight Post Office in Ross, he has never called off sick or missed a day of work, even though he is now also in his 20th year of holding the first-down sticks for his favorite football team.
“Imagine all those Sunday and Monday night home games, getting over around midnight, getting off the field and driving home, only to get up for work around 3 or 4 a.m.,” said Mark Wahl, strategic communications specialist for the U.S. Postal Service. “That’s what he did for years. His work ethic plays right into the mindset of Steeler Nation.”
It’s no surprise Sieber has such a mindset, considering his upbringing watching his dad. Hailing from the Garfield neighborhood, Sieber’s father, Ray, held the sticks for the Steelers for a quarter of a century as part of what previous radio announces Myron Cope and Bill Hillgrove called the “Garfield Chain Gang.”
“Whenever it was game time, about two minutes before kickoff, Hillgrove would say, ‘Here comes Ray,’ who was my dad, ‘Moose (Gallagher) and the Garfield Chain Gang.’ I’d get up and wave from the stands,” Mike Sieber said. “My father held the sticks at Forbes Field, then at Three Rivers Stadium, 25 years on the chain gang. When he passed away in 1998, the Steelers offered me the position.”
‘You can’t be a fan’
Sieber worked every one of Ben Roethlisberger’s home games and cherishes many memorable moments: the American Football Conference championships, the AFC North rivalries and especially games against the Baltimore Ravens. He said his favorite memory was of the last game at Three Rivers Stadium.
“All the old Steelers came back, and I was right there, right up front. And I’m like, oh my God, that’s Jack Lambert,’” Sieber said. “We grew up with four Super Bowl champs, and it was awesome seeing them.”
After years on the chain gang, Sieber knows the ins and outs of the job like the back of his hand.
“The big thing is hustle, don’t hurry. Hurry is when you make a mistake,” Sieber said. “The hardest thing about my job down there is you can’t be a fan. You’re neutral. You’re part of the referee crew. You can’t get (visibly) excited, even when you get excited, you know?”
Sieber said coworkers at the post office, his “postal family,” enjoy seeing him work the sidelines and that they like to tease him, as well: “Don’t pick your nose. Make sure you know you’re on TV. Stay on your feet.”
And when a coworker or family member has a baby, Sieber sends a special Steelers gift: a terrible towel.
“They have little baby Terrible Towels, and I always write on them, ‘Welcome to Steelers Nation!’” he said.
Not only has Sieber gotten to watch his own family and his coworkers’ families grow over the years, he’s also gotten to see the Steelers family grow. Last season, Sieber watched former Pittsburgh linebacker and Super Bowl champion Joey Porter Sr. start the Terrible Towel wave just before his son, Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., and the rest of the team faced off against the New York Giants.
“Joey Porter Sr. comes on. He’s waving the towel. All the fans are going crazy. I’m going, wow. I watched him play his whole career. Now I’m watching his son play,” Sieber said.
‘He’s a great worker’
Hired by the Postal Service in 1983, Sieber started in the North Side working the letter-sorting machine for about five years. Once he and his wife, Caryn, were expecting their third child, they moved to Ross and Sieber began working at the McKnight Post Office. He’s worked there ever since.
Sieber’s coworkers enthusiastically affirmed his hard-working attitude and dedication. Greg Bedillion has known and worked alongside Sieber for as long as they’ve both been at McKnight, about 32 years.
“He’s a great worker, one of the hardest workers that I’ve been around,” Bedillion said.
Another coworker, Joe Caricato, said that not only is Sieber a great worker, he is also pleasant to be around.
“He’s fun to hang out with, likes to crack jokes, great attitude,” Caricato said. “He’s dedicated, always shows up on time.”
Sieber’s manager, Chris Pierce, has been in charge at the McKnight Post Office for six years. He said that considering all the additional work he puts in with the Steelers and how much leave Sieber has built up over the years, his perfect attendance record is extremely rare and exemplifies the “Pittsburgh work ethic.”
“When you compare the macro of the post office to the micro — that being like my station — right outside the city of Pittsburgh, attendance is spotty at best,” Pierce, who has worked at many different post offices, said. “And for some reason, no one knows why, the work ethic in the city of Pittsburgh seems to be a little bit higher, I guess, than everywhere else. And he kind of exemplifies that.”