Steelers' Cam Heyward Talks His Podcast, McCarthy, Rodgers, Wk 1 vs Falcons & More I Rich Eisen Show

Cam Heyward is now a Tuesday regular on the show, which meant his first official visit came with a gift from Rich, a Michigan man. Rich had saved the memes mocking Michigan's extra second until an Ohio State guy was on the air to enjoy them.

There was the road sign telling drivers entering Michigan to turn their clocks back one second. There was the Nancy Drew cover, "The Secret of the Michigan Clock," which Rich's own wife, Susie, sent him. And there was the soccer version, one second of extra time.

Heyward enjoyed all of it and wished for more. "I just wish we had all these social media memes like 20 years ago," he said, remembering when App State beat Michigan. Rich responded with a drop from a coach Heyward knows well. Mike Tomlin: "We're not going to apologize for winning."

That led to the new version of Tomlin, who has apparently been doing Minecraft and joined a TikTok dance with Maria Taylor and the crew. Heyward's first reaction to the dance: "I thought that was AI. I was like, there's no way Mike T is doing that."

On to football, and Heyward was blunt about the opener. "I hate week one. I honestly do."

For a 16-year veteran, it is less about nerves than control. Every team is different, coaches overthink, players overthink. "Cuz I'm a control freak and I can't control anything," he said. Pittsburgh opens against Atlanta, and Heyward finds himself trying to project everything Kevin Stefanski did in Cleveland onto the Falcons.

Rich pushed him on Tua Tagovailoa, now Atlanta's starting quarterback. Heyward kept it diplomatic. "Good marriages sometimes are better the second time around. So you don't know what to expect." What worries him more is Bijan Robinson behind a Bill Callahan offensive line. "That's a lot to think about and it's going to keep a lot of people up at night."

He has spent at least a month on the Falcons. Robinson is electric, and it all starts with him, but Drake London and Kyle Pitts are big threats in the passing game, and Heyward thinks Tagovailoa has a better supporting cast than Atlanta's quarterback had last year.

The biggest change in Heyward's own building is the head coach. After a career with nothing but Tomlin, it is now Mike McCarthy, and Heyward was careful to say the difference is not a knock on anyone.

"It's no shot at Mike McCarthy. It's just different," he said. The flow is different. Even practice is different. "We're practicing at 11:00. That's a little bit different. I've always practiced at 1:55."

Both coaches are successful, both know how to coach at a high level, and both get the most out of their players. When Rich asked how they are similar, Heyward pointed to how much they love the game. "They are both hungry for football." Get either one talking about situations they have been in, and the grins come out.

For a veteran defender, that is the good stuff. "I want to know what Mike McCarthy was thinking on third down in the Super Bowl in the third quarter," Heyward said. "And you could do the same thing with Mike T."

Rich asked whether McCarthy is more in players' faces than Tomlin was. Heyward said no, then laughed at himself. "Maybe I'm just old so I don't even realize it." It is about getting the work done, and nobody is being broken down in some "Remember the Titans" situation with a hike around Gettysburg.

The other reunion in Pittsburgh is McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers, and Heyward now understands it. "I think I understood the love affair between Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy, and the rest of the quarterbacks. They all just want to talk quarterback play." McCarthy is fond of his quarterback school, and Heyward doesn't blame Rodgers for sticking close. "You've won a Super Bowl with a guy. I'd be standing right next to that dude too if he helped me win."

He did make sure to add that McCarthy may be offensive-minded, but the defense intends to give him something "he's going to be damn proud of."

Heyward is high on the offense, too. He loves the running backs, Jaylen Warren among them, and refuses to rank them. "I don't even like saying 1A, 1B. I think it's just one and one." He expects Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington to take over the middle, Michael Pittman to contribute on one side, DK Metcalf to take another step, and Roman Wilson to keep getting touches and confidence. Rodgers even told Heyward on the podcast how much he learned about Wilson on a trip the two took to Idaho.

That podcast, Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, opens the season with a two-part Rodgers interview, and the booking story is a good one. Rodgers was feeling sick during camp, so Heyward brought him coffee. Rodgers then called him on the weekend to go over things, and Heyward was braced for a list of notes. Instead: "I'm game for whatever. Ask whatever you want."

In the clip Rich played, Rodgers explained his decision to return. He leaned on his wife, made sure his body felt good, and wanted to know where McCarthy stood. "I didn't just automatically assume, oh, Mike got hired, I'm coming back," Rodgers said. "Do they even want me back?" He had no ego about it if the answer was no.

As for how long Rodgers sticks around, Heyward was definitive. "He's definitely done with football after this." Heyward and Metcalf begged him to come back last year and got their wish, but this time Heyward believes Rodgers will "close the book on his NFL career."

Rich floated the magic carpet ride scenario, a big season that becomes the perfect exit. Heyward pointed to Peyton Manning in Denver and Andrew Whitworth with the Rams as the kind of storybook endings every player wants. He thinks Rodgers is ready to call it a career "once he's able to raise another Super Bowl."

Then Rich turned the retirement question on Heyward, noting more gray than last year. Heyward is taking it year by year and doesn't think this is it. "I got 17 games, hopefully more in me."

But he did put a ceiling on it. "If this is not my last year, next year will definitely be my last year, because I have to say we're not signing any more contracts after this."

So is Heyward more likely to play next year than Rodgers? "I would bet a lot of money on that."

Rich also asked the sports talk radio question of the moment. Are the Rams, with Donald and Garrett, as unbeatable as the media says? "Oh, no. I don't know about unbeatable," Heyward said. The front is special, and Trent McDuffie is on the back end, but he remembers the Eagles' so-called dream team years ago. "It's a testament to our game that any team can win." He did concede one thing. "I don't know how you block all those guys."

That raised a fair question from Rich. With all the attention on Los Angeles, do Heyward and TJ Watt ever look at each other and ask, what about us? Heyward said the whole defensive line does. He listed Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Derrick Harmon in his second year, and Keeanu Benton after his new deal. "We feel like we rival any D line and we don't run away from that."

The best part came last. Heyward and his 10-year-old son are in a fantasy football league with a bunch of dads in the neighborhood, and the draft was as chaotic as you would expect with a room full of 10-year-old boys who mostly wanted to wrestle.

He didn't draft Robinson, because Robinson was already gone. He did get a laugh out of the other managers, some of whom had taken Nick Chubb and DeAndre Hopkins despite their retirements, and one of whom took the Steelers defense in the second round. "I think someone was trying to be nice to me," Heyward said.

His roster starts with Justin Jefferson, taken sixth. He has Tee Higgins, which is an in-division wrinkle. And his quarterback is Joe Burrow. "I'm like, I can't believe I took Burrow."

Rich pointed out that means Heyward will be trying to sack his own fantasy quarterback twice this season. Heyward has already set expectations at home. "Don't expect me to update any of these rosters," he told his son.

He also has James Cook, George Pickens and Trey McBride, and then the waiver wire delivered the most absurd part of the story. Dak Prescott went undrafted, and Heyward picked him up.

Rich had the obvious suggestion. Heyward could sack Burrow five times and still win that week.

"And I feel comfortable with that," Heyward said.