Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Cam Heyward doesn’t remember much of the game itself. But he can recall the frustration on the flight home. And that it was the last time he didn’t start a game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he’s playing his 15th season.
He was only in his third campaign when the Steelers fell to 0-4 in 2013, losing to the Minnesota Vikings in London during their most recent contest overseas. The Vikings’ Greg Jennings hauled in two touchdown passes from Matt Cassel that day, while Adrian Peterson went for 140 yards and two more scores on the ground.
“That plane ride home was very rough,” Heyward said Thursday before practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
The Steelers had a shot to at least tie it in the late going, but Ben Roethlisberger fumbled on Minnesota’s 6-yard line with 19 seconds remaining.
“It’s all a blur,” Heyward said. “Hopefully (with) this one, there’s a lot more pleasant thoughts and I can revert back to this and think, ‘Oh, man, it was a positive experience.’ Because that last one was really rough.
The Steelers won eight of their next 12. They couldn’t get the help they needed in the final week to reach the postseason, though. Heyward’s looking much more forward to this flight over than the last one back. Mike Tomlin’s team plays the Vikings at Dublin’s Croke Park on Sunday.
“I am looking forward to the plane ride,” Heyward said. “It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. A lot of time with some teammates that should be sleeping, but they’ll probably be up. I think it’s really cool to go over to Ireland — the culture, the fans were nice when I came over in the offseason — to go back, have a pint of Guinness, hopefully after.”
Heyward was jokingly asked if he couldn’t have a drink before.
“You can pregame all you want,” Heyward said. “But I cannot.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Cam Heyward Reveals Worst Part of Steelers’ Last European Trip
