First Call: Steelers’ duo named top pass-rush pair; A’s help Pirates; latest on Antonio Brown’s Albany ownership

Tim Benz | Monday, June 12, 2023 6:14 a.m.

Denver Broncos quarterback Jeff Driskel is sacked by Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt in a game Sept. 20, 2020, in Pittsburgh.

Monday’s “First Call” dishes out praise for a Pittsburgh Steelers dynamic duo. Meanwhile, an ex-Steeler jumps to the NFC South. The Pirates get help from an unlikely source. And more details are leaking out about Antonio Brown’s nutty ownership of that National Arena Football League team in Albany.

Also, we wish a happy Max Talbot Day to all who celebrate.

Best of the bunch?

Bleacher Report came up with a list of the best pass rushing duos in football. A pair from Pittsburgh topped the chart.

No, it’s not T.J Watt and Alex Highsmith. Rather, it’s Watt and Cameron Heyward. Here is the rationale from Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton.

“Watt has led the NFL in sacks twice, and he’s won Defensive Player of the Year,” Moton wrote. “If he puts an injury-riddled 2022 campaign behind him, expect the three-time All-Pro to log double-digit sacks for a fifth season.

“Though Alex Highsmith logged a team-leading 14.5 sacks in the previous campaign, his resume isn’t comparable to Cameron Heyward, who’s still generating a high rate of pocket pressure in his mid-30s.

“Heyward has aged well with six consecutive Pro Bowl years going back to 2017 and three All-Pro years in the same span. He’s coming off back-to-back 10-plus sack seasons with at least 30 pressures in four straight years.”

I agree with the premise. Indeed, Highsmith did pop last year, and many don’t think of Heyward as a pure pass rusher. But that’s because he does a lot more in the Steelers defense, and his pass rush skills aren’t often flashed around national media outlets.

They should be, though. Heyward consistently puts up good pass rush numbers on the same side of the field with Highsmith. Since 2017, Heyward has had between 8-12 sacks in six of those seven seasons.

Onto Atlanta

Over the weekend, a former Steelers defensive lineman found a new place to play.

The Atlanta Falcons signed Carlos Davis. The 26-year-old joined the Steelers from the University of Nebraska as a seventh-round draft pick in 2020. Over the course of his three years in Pittsburgh, Davis played in 12 games, totaling 12 tackles and one sack.

That sack came last year in Philadelphia against Jalen Hurts.

The Steelers have done a lot to reconfigure their defensive line. Along with keeping Larry Ogunjobi in free agency, they selected Wisconsin product Keeanu Benton in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. They also acquired veterans Breiden Fehoko, Armon Watts and Manny Jones. So there wasn’t much room to bring back Davis from free agency.

He had been on the 2022 practice squad but did not get a reserve/future contract.

More sports

• Andrew McCutchen notches 2,000th hit, Mitch Keller strikes out 7 as Pirates beat Mets • Safety Keanu Neal brings experience, versatility to ever-changing Steelers secondary • Pitt gets 2 more verbal commitments; 2024 class ranked No. 9 in the nation

More of the same

More details are emerging about the insanity that is Antonio Brown’s ownership of the Albany Empire.

The former Steelers All-Pro bought the National Arena League team at the beginning of March. Predictably, his ownership has been one big debacle after another. From debates over actual ownership of the team, to accusations of failing to pay the players, to failed promises of suiting up and playing, to confrontations with security guards, Brown’s ownership of the team has immediately devolved into the mess that everyone assumed it would.

Now a former player is speaking out. Ex-Empire quarterback Sam Castronova — now with the Jacksonville Sharks — added some color and first-hand accounts to a lot of the stories that had emerged about tumult surrounding the franchise under Brown’s control.

Castronova went on the “Sideline Spectator” podcast to discuss all the craziness that had transpired during the season. Thanks to an account via Barstool’s Jerry Thornton, Castronova told a story about how Brown locked him out of his hotel room and essentially evicted him along with a handful of other players after a loss. He also talked about Brown’s alleged misrepresentation of facts regarding his public statements about initially acquiring shares in the team. And Castronova went into specific details about a shouting phone call between Brown and one of his two dismissed coaches 10 minutes into a 12-hour bus ride home from a road loss.

You can read the entire transcript here.

At least they kept it up

Is it possible for the 17-50 Oakland A’s to make the Major League Baseball playoffs?

Unlikely. Unless they play the rest of their games against the National League Central.

After winning two of three at PNC Park last week, the lowly A’s went west to Wisconsin and swept the Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers over a three-game weekend series by final scores of 5-2, 2-1 and 8-6.

Seth Brown provided the big blast Sunday with a three-run home run.

On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Seth Brown goes DEEP pic.twitter.com/WMLKKzfK7u

— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 11, 2023

Brent Rooker and Kevin Smith also went deep for the A’s, who have suddenly won five straight road games after dropping 15 in a row.

Milwaukee’s loss means that the Pirates have a one-game lead over the Brewers atop the Central. Both clubs have Monday off, then the Pirates visit Chicago to play the Cubs, and the Brewers are in Minnesota to battle the Twins.

Memories of Max

Where were you 14 years ago?

If you are a Penguins fan, you were probably somewhere nervously anticipating Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in Detroit. That happened June 12, 2009, as the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to beat the Red Wings 2-1 and secure the franchise’s third Stanley Cup.

Penguins forward Max Talbot played the hero, scoring twice against Detroit goalie Chris Osgood.

And as you may remember, Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made a clutch save as well.

On this day in 2009…

Best. Day. Ever. pic.twitter.com/bf9ViKF4Uq

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 12, 2022

Talbot went on to play two more years in Pittsburgh before bouncing between Philadelphia, Colorado and Boston. He’d score 91 regular-season goals in his career and 18 total in the playoffs. Mad Max had eight during the playoffs that summer and four in the final against Detroit.

But none bigger than those two.