Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — As his older brother and Pittsburgh Steelers teammate stood firm on wanting a pay raise while the season neared, Connor Heyward, for whatever reason, became the subject of ire.
It’s likely some of the same fans who were criticizing him then were standing up and cheering after his 12-yard touchdown grab during the third quarter of his team’s 23-9 home win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“You know, Connor’s capable of a lot, and he’s his own man and he goes out there and works,” Steelers veteran stalwart Cam Heyward said afterwards. “I love what Connor does. You know, sometimes you can be down when everybody’s against you and you’re not given as many opportunities. But kudos to him. I’m proud of him, but the job’s not done.”
The younger Heyward’s football smarts paid off as he clutched Aaron Rodgers’ pass with Ronnie Hickman lying out to try to bat the ball down.
Before Week 1, Cam Heyward said his younger brother and #Steelers teammate, Connor Heyward, took the brunt of a lot of undeserved criticism during his own contract talks. Here he is on how Connor handled that: pic.twitter.com/etbXWKnYv3
— Brendan Howe (@bybrendanhowe) October 12, 2025
“Just keeper to the right. Jaylen (Warren) had a great block,” Rodgers said. “I just kind of continued out. First look is in the flat. Second is kind of the DK (Metcalf) on the back side. Connor is really kind of a clear-out route. Though we had a similar play against the Jets in Week 1 to Calvin (Austin) for a touchdown. … Connor is a really smart player, and I was just kind of like, ‘Either you or DK, one of you guys see this and go that way.
“Connor did, and I put a decent ball on, and he made a nice catch.”
Connor Heyward echoed the play description.
“We locked eyes and I kind of just knew that he wanted me to work back that way — and luckily I did,” Connor Heyward said.
Cam Heyward opened up about the most difficult part of the fallout of his contract request on the Friday before the Steelers faced the New York Jets in Week 1. He got his wish the next day at the buzzer.
“The most difficult part, I think less about me and more about my brother,” he said. “The dude has nothing to deal with this situation and has gone about his business the right way, but he just gets dragged along in it. I’m a big boy, I can handle what comes my way. But when people start questioning what he does on the field, there’s a brother in me, there’s a teammate in me and that’s not anything he should have to answer for.
“I’m all for taking whatever heat I get for it, but I just think it’s unwarranted to someone who has no control over the situation.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: [Steelers TE Connor Heyward...
