Steelers' Pat Freiermuth Has Strong Dislike For Certain Part Of Pittsburgh's Schedule Every Year

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports. Because of this, the organization has a very loyal fan base that will follow the team wherever it goes. Regardless of what the depth chart looks like, it's pretty much a guarantee that each season, the franchise will be put in the national spotlight several different times throughout any given year. This has only strengthened the black and gold faithful's collective, as new fans seem to be jumping on board each campaign, no matter what the expectations are. This isn't very common throughout the professional sports landscape.

Each May when the NFL announces the league's schedule for the upcoming season, it is never a surprise when the Steelers are marked in for a handful of primetime football matchups. This is no different in 2025, as Pittsburgh will compete in five standalone contests. One of those matchups will be in Ireland, but four will comes after 8pm on the East Coast.

On a recent episode of Breaking Bread, Pat Freiermuth joined 93.7 The Fan radio host, Donny Chedrick, for a one-on-one interview. In an answer that may surprise fans, the tight end is not fond of late games that are in the primetime window, and he has a good reason as to why.

"For me personally, I get very nervous for games," Freiermuth said. "So I would say, because I don't really eat before games honestly. Like, if it's a one o'clock game, I'll wake up and I'll have a piece a toast, and I'll have like a smoothie, and that's where I'll get my calories, but I don't eat anything like a big breakfast or anything like that. So, I find [it] challenging for the primetime games, 'Okay, I have to force myself to eat breakfast,' I have to eat, for lunch I'll have plain pasta with chicken."

The tight end continued to expand on why he finds primetime games challenging. While fans spend the entire day excited, tailgating, and doing any number of things, the Steelers' former second-round pick overthinks up until the matchup begins.

"I'm too nervous to really eat, so, one o'clock games, you know, I can get away with just that, you know what I mean? Just thinking about the game the whole day, you're always thinking, 'Okay, is there something I missed in my notes or is there something I missed in the game plan?' Now you're just overthinking."

Freiermuth finished by mentioning that primetime games are fun, but it seems as if, because of his nervousness, he would rather play in the one o'clock window. The early contests help his routine flow much easier.

There will always be reasons to complain about a team's schedule, but normally, having primetime games is not one of those. In Freiermuth's case, he has to have accepted the fact that the Steelers will be penciled in for near the maximum each season. Nerves are a normal part of every day life, and he is probably not the only one in the locker room that has some anxiety throughout game days.

Pittsburgh also has two games in the four o'clock window in 2025, so Freiermuth might be forcing himself to have some chicken and pasta on those two Sundays as well. The Steelers are one of the more popular teams in the NFL for decades, which has earned them the right to be placed in the biggest slots. Unfortunately for Freiermuth, he's likely to be stuck with that reality for some time.

Steelers Have One Of The League's Most Anticipated Primetime Games In 2025

Aaron Rodgers will be leading Pittsburgh for at least one year, and a huge matchup will take place in the Steel City on October 26th. The Green Bay Packers will come to town for a Sunday Night Football contest, making it the first game the quarterback is set to compete against his former team. The lights will be bright and cameras will be rolling, so Freiermuth will hopefully get his calories in and shake off the nerves before kickoff.

Do you think that a lot of Steelers players dislike primetime games for the same reason as Freiermuth? Let us know in the comments below!

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