Steelers Now
Appearing on “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward,” former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree opened up on the time that Mike Tomlin kicked him out of a training camp practice in his rookie year.
Heyward said it was the only time he ever saw Tomlin kick someone out of practice.
Things got heated during a pass-rush drill.
“That man made me go to the locker room,” Dupree said while laughing. “That was my rookie year. They kept pulling my hair. So, me and [Marcus Gilbert] got into a fight there. Look, Ramon [Foster] is my boy but they really tried to jump all over me. I had to fight all them, [Maurkice] Pouncey, too.”
Under Tomlin, the Steelers were known across the league to have the most physical training camp practices.
“Camp was like gladiator school, man,” Dupree said. “Like it was real life gladiator school. From what [teams] I’ve been on, bro, like that s**t was hardest. Like most physical. Start a day off tackling? Like seven shots? Like directly to the point. No warm up. Just go ahead and get active, like right now. It was fun though.”
Dupree is entering his third season with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Steelers’ first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Dupree spent two seasons in Tennessee before joining the Atlanta Falcons in 2023. In 2024, Dupree was open to a return to Pittsburgh, but a deal with the Steelers did not materialize.
“If the opportunity came up, definitely!” Dupree said when asked if he’d be willing to return to Pittsburgh by Ron Lippock of Steelers Takeaways. “It’s a great organization and [Mike] Tomlin – he is who he is. The standard is the standard – for sure I’d go back!”
Seven Shots and Backs on Backers were two training camp staples under Tomlin. Both drills are not expected to continue with Mike McCarthy, however, according to Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Locked On Steelers.
“OTAs and minicamp, I didn’t see Seven Shots once, so that’s a sign that that’s pretty much gone,” Carter said on 93.7 The Fan.
Carter added: “If we don’t get Backs on Backers, it will be missed, and a lot of people are going to be looking for something.”
McCarthy’s training camps are high-intensity and detailed, but there’s not much live-contact.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Bud Dupree Opens Up on Time Mike Tomlin Kick Him Out of Training Camp Practice
