Steelers' Cam Heyward Detailed The Trauma Caused By Mike Tomlin's Departure: "P*ssed, Angry, Sad"

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ long-time leader, Cam Heyward, was clearly devastated by the news that former head coach Mike Tomlin was stepping away from the game of football. At 53 years old, and following another blowout playoff loss, Tomlin called a team meeting that has been described as both emotional and heartbreaking. 

Superstar TJ Watt was reportedly heard screaming "No! No! No! No!" when Tomlin announced his decision to step away, and Heyward admitted he felt the same. While Heyward did briefly mention the hiring of Mike McCarthy, there has been speculation about how he truly feels at 36 years old, having spent all 15 seasons of his NFL career playing under Tomlin’s leadership.

Speaking on The Rich Eisen Show during Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LX, Heyward shared more about the impact of Tomlin’s departure. Eisen revealed that he had recently sat down with Tomlin before the playoffs, and at that time, the coach gave no indication that he was planning to leave. Heyward joked that he had inside information, but hadn’t shared it, though the message was clear: losing Tomlin is a heavy blow for both him and the team. At least mentally.

"I started watching the championships, but the Divisional Round, I was kind of checked out still," Heyward said while speaking with Eisen on Wednesday. "I was p*ssed, angry, sad, you know I went through it all. Especially with Mike T retiring. That was just very abrupt."

Heyward also admitted that the Steelers’ ongoing playoff struggles make the loss even harder to bear. Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and Heyward called it especially difficult to watch this past playoff run following the 24-point loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round. 

The combination of another early playoff exit and the departure of the coach who shaped his entire career has left Heyward and the organization facing an uncertain future. Eisen asked Heyward to share what Tomlin’s decision to step away truly means to him.

"I was the last one to get into the room because I was handling an MRI before," Heyward said when speaking about what that final meeting was truly like. "So everybody thinks I had talked to him, but I hadn't even had a chance to talk to him. I get into the room and I am looking at my player grade sheet... he starts talking and he says, 'I think it's time to step down.' And I was like, 'Did I just hear this right? Mike T is about to step down?' I think we were all just in shock by it. You could hear a pin drop and everybody was in there. You know I got a chance to talk to him later that day and I just told him that this shocked me. It happened so abrupt that I feel like I had failed him in that moment."

Steelers' Cam Heyward Feels Like He Truly Failed Mike Tomlin

Heyward admitted he feels like he let Tomlin down, a feeling tied to the Super Bowl they never won. He reflected on the pinnacle they had hoped to reach together, the Super Bowl, the confetti, and the celebration they had talked about for years, and how it never came. 

The combination of another playoff loss and Tomlin’s departure weighs heavily on him, reminding him of both missed opportunities and the bond he shared with the coach throughout his career.

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