DT Cameron Heyward (6x Pro Bowl, 3x All Pro, Pittsburgh Steelers)

[MD Buckeye]

Congrats Cam!

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

http://www.steelers.com/

Videos on Cam.

 

[Buckskin86]

NFL draft: Steelers choose Heyward at No.31
Friday, April 29, 2011 03:09 AM
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

FILE PHOTO
Cameron Heyward was the 12th and final defensive linemen chosen in the first round and the fifth from the Big Ten.

Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said he feels like he's going home after the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him in the first round last night with the 31st overall pick.

Heyward's father, former NFL fullback Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, played at the University of Pittsburgh, where he met Cameron's mother, Charlotte Heyward-Blackwell.

Cameron was born there and his grandparents still live in the area, he said.

"It's very exciting, a match made in heaven," Heyward said from his home in suburban Atlanta.

Heyward also was thrilled to be joining a team that played in the Super Bowl last year and is known for hard-nosed defense, coached by Dick LeBeau, a former Ohio State player and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Coach LeBeau is a great coach, and to play with players like LaMarr Woodley, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu those are great guys I idolize," Heyward said.

Cont...

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...teelers-choose-heyward-at-no--31.html?sid=101

Ohio State DE Heyward No. 1 Steelers pick
His father Craig was star running back at Pitt
Friday, April 29, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Maybe not as good a story as the Pouncey twins, but the Steelers played their own game of all in the family when they drafted Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward on the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night.

Born in Pittsburgh, he follows in the shoes of his father, the late Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, a Pitt running back who also was drafted in the first round, by the New Orleans Saints at No. 24 in 1988. His mother, Charlotte Heyward-Blackwell, is a Pittsburgh native.

"I know he's watching," Heyward said of his father. "I'm going to try to do everything to make him proud of me and live his legacy on."

Heyward, who lived in Monroeville as a youngster, has plenty of family in Pittsburgh, including uncle Nate Heyward, who followed in his brother Craig's shoes as a running back at Pitt.

"Aunts, grandparents, uncle ... I know Pittsburgh pretty well," said Heyward, who currently lives in Suwanee, Ga., and said he visits Pittsburgh twice annually.

"I've always loved the team, I'm from there ... To be somewhere you want to be is an unbelievable feeling."

Cont..

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11119/1142835-66-0.stm#ixzz1KuStBSPX

Cook: Heyward selection in NFL Draft a special moment
Friday, April 29, 2011
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers waited nearly 3 1/2 hours to make their first-round pick Thursday night in New York. When their turn finally came at No. 31, they barely needed 3 1/2 seconds to take Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward.

I'm thinking they like the big fella.

"This is a special moment for this organization," Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said. "He's one of those special players I mentioned the other day. He has impeccable character, work habits and toughness. It's hard to find a hole with this guy. We got a guy we really coveted."

It's a pick that makes a lot of sense. Aaron Smith is 36 and coming off three major injuries in four seasons. Brett Keisel will be 33 in September, Casey Hampton 34. It's time to get younger on the defensive line.

Heyward -- son of former Pitt star Craig "Ironhead" Heyward-- was very productive at Ohio State. He should be a starter by the 2012 season.

Who wouldn't be happy with that?

Cont...

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11119/1142828-87-0.stm#ixzz1KuTUmGCi

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7yOiXqkEzo"]YouTube - 2011 NFl Draft- pick 31 Pittsburg Stealers- Cameron Heyward[/ame]

 

[craigblitz]

This was awesome.... I was shocked the Steelers did not get an Olineman or CB but Cam is a great fit for their system and will make some big impacts in a couple of years.

 

[BrutuStrength]

What a great pick! I am so glad he wasn't picked by the Ravens or Patriots. This is exactly who I hoped they would get, and I am further impressed with how much the Steelers organization respects him. I am looking forward to watching him as a member of the black and gold.

 

[Buckskin86]

'Blogging the Buckeyes' | Ohio State football: Heyward stands by Tressel, former teammates
Friday, April 29, 2011
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch

Cameron Heyward, now a first-round NFL draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has license to weigh in unfettered on the NCAA violations scandal involving his former coach Jim Tressel and some former teammates at Ohio State. As expected, Heyward, a captain of the 2010 Buckeyes, stood by Tressel and the Buckeyes.

"They'll handle adversity well and bounce back pretty well," Heyward said. "Coach Tressel, through it all he's a great man. Everybody makes mistakes, and I'm not saying I'm any better.

"But we have to all learn from the mistakes we make. We have to all admit our wrongs, and continue to try to improve ourselves. No one is perfect in this world. I think coach Tress and the five players who got suspended, they are very remorseful for it. I think they've learned their lessons. I look for them to make a big jump in 2011.

But is Heyward embarrassed for his university?

"Not at all," Heyward said. "There's a lot of teams that deal with this, but they don't have to deal with it as publicly as The Ohio State.

"I'm not embarrassed at all, because Coach Tress, he is a trademark of Ohio State and everybody loves him. To be affiliated with that team and that coach, I am very thankful and appreciative of it."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...9/0429-heyward-stands-by-tressel.html?sid=101

 

[PlanetFrnd]

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...teelers-choose-heyward-at-no--31.html?sid=101



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11119/1142835-66-0.stm#ixzz1KuStBSPX



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11119/1142828-87-0.stm#ixzz1KuTUmGCi

YouTube - 2011 NFl Draft- pick 31 Pittsburg Stealers- Cameron Heyward

I'm no stillers fan, but this is cool stuff... I can't wait to see Cam in that defensive system...

 

[CentralMOBuck]

[quote='BusNative;191426;4]I'm no stillers fan, but this is cool stuff... I can't wait to see Cam in that defensive system...[/quote]

Seconded. Didn't want a reason to like the Steelers, but them getting Cam is good enough for me to like them now. At least defensively.

 

[stlersguy]

Seconded. Didn't want a reason to like the Steelers, but them getting Cam is good enough for me to like them now. At least defensively.

our d-line is getting up there in age and Hayward will be a nice add on because so. I look for him to be a starter right off the bat.

 

[elliemae]

This is greyt news!

 

[Buckskin86]

Heyward's strengths are a perfect fit for Steelers
By Scott Brown, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 30, 2011

Steelers first-round draft pick Cameron Heyward poses with head coach Mike Tomlin and team president Art Rooney II during a news conference Friday. The Steelers consider Heyward, a defensive lineman, a perfect fit for the franchise. "I think he fits us. I think we fit him," said Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, a fellow Ohio State graduate. "We've got enough Michigan guys around here. It's good to have a couple of Buckeyes."
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Iron man

Steelers first-round draft pick Cameron Heyward became a starter early during his freshman season at Ohio State and developed into a premier defensive end. Here is a season-by-season look at his career

2010: 13 games, 48 tackles, 13 tackles for loss*, 3 sacks, 1 interception

2009: 13 games, 46 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 0 interceptions

2008: 13 games, 36 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 0 interceptions

2007: 13 games, 33 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 0 interceptions

The player that the Steelers presented with a No. 1 jersey, symbolic of his place in this year's NFL Draft, got benched his sophomore season at Ohio State.

It happened away from the bright lights and roaring fans at Ohio Stadium, and Cameron Heyward never learned from it. That is actually a good thing, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said Friday.

Heacock pulled Heyward from what essentially was a walk through after the overzealous defensive end buried the starting quarterback on a pass play. It wasn't the first time that Heyward had gone "100 miles an hour," as Heacock recalled, during a drill that called for much lesser speeds.

"He felt bad, and by no means did he try and do it," Heacock said of the hit that earned Heyward a permanent place on the sidelines for that particular drill. "He can't go just half speed."

That relentlessness is a major reason why the Steelers introduced Heyward as their first-round draft pick Friday afternoon ? and to large degree, brought him home. The son of the late Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, who crashed and dashed his way to stardom as a running back at Pitt in the 1980s, was born in Pittsburgh and still has grandparents and other relatives living in the area.

"I think he fits us. I think we fit him," said Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, a fellow Ohio State graduate. "We've got enough Michigan guys around here. It's good to have a couple of Buckeyes."

Cont...

Read more: Heyward's strengths are a perfect fit for Steelers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_734756.html#ixzz1L0P7dmzA

Cameron Heyward: Ironhead's son new man of steel
Larger-than-life father constructed a legend here and, now, his even bigger son gets a chance to add to the legacy
Saturday, April 30, 2011
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
First-round draft pick Cameron Heyward laughs at a news conference Friday on the South Side.

Nothing about Craig "Ironhead" Heyward was small.

Not the thick, powerful torso that could generate the thundering explosion of a rhinoceros yet produce the graceful leaps of a ballerina. Not the helmet that seemingly fit like a surgical glove on his head. Not tales of his eating binges or mischievous missteps on campus. And certainly not the daunting legacy of what he accomplished on the football field.

Most assuredly, there was nothing small about the son he produced, either -- not in size, not in character, not in the lofty manner with which he is regarded by coaches, teammates and family members.

Craig Heyward was a large man with large adventures, and anyone who ever met the former Pitt running back has never forgotten the encounter.

"Everyone just got so attached to him," said Steelers defensive assistant Jerry Olsavsky, one of Heyward's teammates at Pitt in the late 1980s. "He had that way about him. It's still hard for me to talk about him."

Heyward's legacy, which carried him to an 11-year career in the National Football League, was as imposing as his 5-foot-11 frame that carried anywhere from 270 to 300 pounds. He finished his career as the school's third all-time leading rusher and his heroics in 1987 -- his final season at Pitt -- remain the stuff of Panthers lore.

Now, five years after his father died at age 39 from continuing problems related to brain cancer, his son wants to carry on his dad's legacy in the same town where he was born and raised for eight years.

"I want to pick up where he left off and improve on it," said Cameron Heyward, the Steelers' No. 1 draft pick in what can only be considered a delicious and melodramatic twist of fate for him and his family.

Cont...

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11120/1143118-66.stm#ixzz1L0PwePSB

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-5lV7DAOv0"]YouTube - Cameron Heyward Drafted By Pittsburgh Steelers[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHEt5m2E58g"]YouTube - 2011 NFL Draft: McShay on Heyward[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ATrRdjZ5k"]YouTube - Pittsburgh Steelers - 1st Round Draft Pick Press Conference - Cameron Heyward[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Former Buckeye Cameron Heyward juggles academics, preparations for NFL
By Matt Edwards
[email protected]
Published: Monday, May 9, 2011

After lining up a job that guarantees a multimillion-dollar contract, the best benefits an employee can hope for and fame and recognition as the newest member of the Pittsburgh Steelers' dominant defense, it'd be easy to throw away your textbooks and forget lecture halls ever existed.

But former Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward isn't taking the easy way out.

Even after being drafted in the first round of last month's NFL draft, Heyward still attends classes and will graduate with a degree in education at the end of this quarter.

The motivation to finish college all comes from within. Heyward knows he wants to earn a degree and do something that has not been done before by anyone in his immediate family.

"I'm pushing myself," Heyward said. "I want to impress my family. I'll be the first one to graduate and that's just a big accomplishment."

Now that he's been drafted, his textbooks aren't the only books he needs to study.

Heyward was fortunate to get a playbook from his Pittsburgh coaching staff, something many draft picks weren't able to do as a result of the NFL lockout.

He said the playbook was the first thing he asked for when he arrived in Pittsburgh on April 29.

"The playbook is like a magazine," Heyward said. "I could read it all day, but I've still got to look at my textbooks."

Reading his textbooks might not help him a great deal when he's studying opposing offenses and which quarterback he'll be trying to sack on Sundays, but it could end up having a bigger impact sooner than he imagined.

If the NFL and NFL Players Association don't reach an agreement on the labor situation, delaying or canceling the season, Heyward said he will take advantage of the opportunity to complete his student-teaching duties.

Heyward would be teaching elementary aged children.

"I definitely want to do my student-teaching," Heyward said. "I didn't get a chance to do it, and I won't until after my career. But if I can go into that ? that'd be so much fun and that's truly a dream of mine."

Cont...

http://www.thelantern.com/sports/fo...gles-academics-preparations-for-nfl-1.2225270

 

[Buckskin86]

For Steelers' No. 1 Pick Heyward, You Can Go Home Again
Cameron Heyward Grew Up In Monroeville Until He Was 8
POSTED: May 10, 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Steelers No. 1 Draft pick Cameron Heyward was born in Pittsburgh and lived in Monroeville until he was 8, and he told Action Sports' John Meyer that returning to his hometown certainly has its perks.

"I get to go back to Kennywood (Park), and I get to get my grandmother's cooking again, so I'm excited about that," said Heyward.

On Monday, Meyer visited 22-year-old Heyward at Ohio State University in Columbus, where he is finishing his collegiate career and preparing to embark on a new life in the NFL.

His apartment is a perfect mix of his past, present and future, complete with a red Buckeyes couch that his mom got him and a collection of pictures his longtime girlfriend put together for his birthday.

Among the pictures is Heyward with Steelers president Art Rooney II and head coach Mike Tomlin after being drafted and one of him with his dad, the late Craig "Ironhead" Heyward.

A young Cameron Heyward with his dad, the late Craig "Ironhead" Heyward

"Ironhead" played at the University of Pittsburgh before spending 11 seasons in the NFL.

He died in May 2006 from brain cancer.

"He still means a lot to me," Heyward said of his father. "The path he paved for all of us -- all my brothers and me -- it's been a blessed path."

That path has now led Heyward back to the city where he was born and his father became a legend.

And he'll certainly have plenty of Steelers gear to wear around town.

He said his grandma has been sending him black and gold apparel for years.

"She still does. This past Christmas, she got me a Steelers sweatshirt. It's a little big right now, but for the most part, it's comfy," said Heyward.

Read more: http://www.wtae.com/sports/27846831/detail.html#ixzz1MEc3Ixr9


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRyUUBRSLso"]YouTube - For Steelers' No. 1 Pick Heyward, You Can Go Home Again[/ame]

Cam at 2:58 mark...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxWEV129p4c"]YouTube - Everything to Prove: Draft Special, Part 2[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Steelers' Heyward wants to continue father's legacy
Sunday, May 15, 2011
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.

Only several days after the last National Football League game he would ever play, life began to rumble downhill for Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, a large man who impacted people in a big way.

After admitting to his wife, Charlotte, that he had lost vision in one eye a day earlier in the Nov. 1, 1998, game against the New England Patriots, Heyward went to see an ophthalmologist for what he thought might be a routine examination of his problem. Instead, the visit alarmingly triggered a rapid series of CAT scans and magnetic resonance imaging exams which discovered that the former Pitt running back, who always joked about the size of his head, had malignant bone cancer in his skull.

"It happened pretty quickly," Charlotte Heyward said. "They wanted to do surgery as soon as possible."

Less than two weeks after playing for the Indianapolis Colts, his fifth and final team in an 11-year NFL career, Craig Heyward had surgery in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, the beginning of what was a slow and tragic decline for a man who always seemed larger than life. The date was Nov. 12, a day Charlotte Heyward remembers not just because she was pregnant at the time with their third son, Connor, but because that was when she witnessed her oldest son, Cameron, grow up in a hurry, even though he was 9 at the time.

Cameron walked into the hospital room, saw his dad lying there, his head swollen from surgery, and never left.

"Cameron just wanted to stay by his dad's side," Charlotte said. "He just wanted to sit by his dad, sit by his bed. Cam just hung out with his dad."

"He just thought he should be by his father's side, and he was only 9 or 10," said Judy Jordan, Charlotte Heyward's mother and grandmother to their three children. Jordan, a retired public school teacher, has lived with her husband, Rufus, in the same house on Wellesley Avenue in Highland Park for 31 years. "That just shows you the kind of sensitive, caring individual he is. Cameron assumed that responsibility very easily."

Upholding a legacy

Cont...

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11135/1146501-66.stm#ixzz1MW1UsgkN

 

[Buckskin86]

Cameron Heyward On Ohio State Allegations: ?I stayed away from all that. It?s not a lack of leadership. Some guys don?t listen.?
June 3, 2011
by Steven Cuce

As Roger Goodell called Cameron Heyward?s name for the 31st overall pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers the four-year starter and first-team All-Big Ten selection out of Ohio State was thinking the life he had always dreamed of was finally coming to fruition. His playing days at Ohio State were coming to an end and the last thing he thought he would hear would be Jim Tressel resigning as head coach at Ohio State.

Heyward has fully recovered from Tommy John surgery in the off-season and is excited to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this fall if the lockout were to be lifted. He strongly believes Tressel should have stayed at Ohio State and learned to overcome adversity. Tressel was a big mentor for Heyward coming into college and this young man believes that the former Ohio State head coach shaped him into the man he has become today.

Cameron Heyward joined 790 the Zone in Atlanta with Hans and Jamal to discuss his feelings on Jim Tressel resigning from Ohio State, Jim Tressel being a scapegoat, Jim Tressel staying on at Ohio State rather than resigning, having any knowledge of what went on at the tattoo parlor called Fine Line Ink and his confidence in Luke Fickell.

What is it like with everything that is happening at Ohio State especially since Jim Tressel brought you into that university?

?It?s obviously been a little tough. For me personally I think [Jim] Tressel is a great man. I understand he made a mistake, but to see him go out like that it really hurt because he?s the guy who brought me in. He?s taught me a lot and I was fortunate enough to be under him and I learned a lot. I am the man I am today because of him.?

Is it accurate to say that Jim Tressel is being made a scapegoat right now? What has he meant to the university mentoring young men over the last ten years in your opinion?

?For me personally I know a lot of other guys feel this way that he was a man of his word to us. He always looked out for his team. I understand he made a bad mistake and he was being punished for it with the 5 game suspension. I think the players have to be held accountable for themselves and it?s really tough to see because he meant so much to Ohio State and the community.?

Would you have liked to see Jim Tressel stay on at Ohio State and take the five game suspension? Were you upset that he did resign?

?Yeah because my thing is you learn from your adversity. I know he made a bad mistake, but I was very optimistic about him learning from his mistakes and coming back even stronger, paying for his dues, and overall just understanding what he did wrong and just helping the team out.?

Cont..

http://sportsradiointerviews.com/20...tate-allegations-i-stayed-away-from-all-that/

Cam radio interview