Three things I now know about Eric Ebron — without question — following his conference call on Thursday with members of the Pittsburgh media:
- Ebron loves him some Ben Roethlisberger
- Early expectations are high — from both Ebron and Mike Tomlin
- Pittsburgh's gonna love him ... if he stays on the field
That first point — Ebron's love and appreciation of Roethlisberger — came roaring to the front of the call immediately. First question, Ebron was asked why he signed with the Steelers and what made that such a good fit, and he couldn't avoid name-dropping No. 7 in his response.
"I mean, I’ve always loved Ben Roethlisberger," Ebron was saying on the call. "So it was an opportunity to play with an elite quarterback, and that’s kind of where it led me.”
This is no exaggeration, and Ebron has the receipts to prove it. Take this tweet from January of 2018, during the Steelers' 45-42 playoff loss to the Jaguars:
Lol Dawg! Big Ben nice af ?
— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) January 14, 2018
Roethlisberger threw for 469 yards and five touchdowns against one interception in that one, and despite the loss, Ebron saw enough. He knew Roethlisberger was the type of quarterback he wanted to play alongside if the opportunity ever presented itself.
Then it did, with the Steelers signing Ebron to a two-year, $12 million in late March.
“Ben, I just … Ben has always willed his way to greatness," Ebron said. "He’s won Super Bowls. He’s played through injuries and won games. You just see what kind of person Big Ben is as you watch him. And I had the opportunity to meet him earlier in January, we happened to be at the same conference. It kind of struck me, you know, as that was someone I would love to play with. And we didn’t know we had that opportunity at that time. We just talked about 'what if?' It’s pretty cool that it’s actually happening.”
And while Ebron says he told his wife "It'd be pretty cool to meet him ... I've always liked him,' it was actually Roethlisberger who approached Ebron at the conference.
“So he ends up coming up to me and was like, ‘Hey, [I’m] Ben Roethlisberger, I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time,'" Ebron said. "And I just kind of chopped it up with him about it and I just told him, I was like, ‘Man, I’m a free agent … [And] he was kind of excited about it. So maybe he pulled the trigger, who knows?”
Now, Ebron says, he wants to nurture this relationship. In the past, he's developed close bonds with Matthew Stafford and Andrew Luck, posting his best season to date with the latter in 2018 — 66 catches, 750 yards, 13 touchdowns and a trip to the Pro Bowl — and he believes the same (or more) is possible with Roethlisberger under center.
“I just really want to be, if I can be Big Ben’s best friend, kind of like how I was to Andrew, like I was always in his ear, in his pocket, just trying to figure out the game through his lenses … kind of see, understand his language, [and] kind of see from his view, his focal point on how things are with the playbook," Ebron said.
All of which leads us right into:
2. Expectations are high, high, high
Let's not forget what Ebron is: A former No. 10 overall pick with 10-touchdowns-per-year potential from the tight end position. Receiving tight ends are vital in today's NFL — last year's Super Bowl featured the Chiefs' Travis Kelce vs. the 49ers' George Kittle, the two best in the game, for quick reference — and Roethlisberger hasn't had a 1,000-yard or 10-touchdown tight end since *checks notes* ... ever.
Heath Miller put up 816 yards and eight touchdowns in a Pro Bowl 2012 campaign, but that's as close as the Steelers have come to producing a bonafide star receiver at the position since Roethlisberger took over in 2004. Ebron can provide that boost, and to hear him tell it, the coaching staff already understands this point well.
“Mike Tomlin pretty much told me that he was going to put me in the best possible situation to succeed at my abilities," Ebron said. "That is all I needed to hear is that he believes in my abilities and the things that I can do and know that I do them better than most people. And if he’s going to put me in those situations to succeed and fulfill that, then there’s no other thing you want as a player that is coming into, you know, pretty much the prime of my career. I’m 26 years old. There’s no better fit than being in a situation in which they’re going to use you to the best of your ability."
Right now, that means splitting time with Vance McDonald, the Steelers' No. 1 tight end last season who put up 38 catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns in an injury-shortened 2019. But for Ebron, the opportunity remains the same: If he comes into Pittsburgh and optimizes his talent and his abilities, stuff like this:
... then he's done his job, and nobody can or will disagree.
“I know Big Ben, from everything that I hear [from] everybody around him, his level of thinking is equivalent to all of those guys [Luck and Stafford]," Ebron said. "To just be on the same [team] and just play with him is really an honor. As long as I can do my part and be that [weapon] Big Ben has never had, I believe, at that position, honestly, for a guy of my ability, I believe that it’ll be fun, man. I hope that we can exploit a lot of people and do a lot of damage.”
For a Steelers team that ranked 30th in total yards per game and 31st in passing yards per game last season, any damage is welcome.
None of it, however, comes to fruition if:
3. Availability matters – and there's cause for concern
NFL tight ends take a ton of punishment. Rob Gronkowski literally retired early from the abuse his body took on a weekly basis. McDonald hasn't played a full 16-game season in his seven-year career. Ebron, meanwhile, has appeared in all 16 games twice — 2017 with the Lions and 2018 with the Colts — but he's coming off a 2019 campaign that saw him start just two games while battling an ankle injury before eventually waving the white flag and electing to have season-ending surgery.
“I had to get my ankle pretty much cleaned up. Inside," Ebron said. " ... There was a lot of mess in there. A lot of mess.”
That injury, however, was the topic of much discussion and drama in Indianapolis, as the team seemed to downplay its severity and question Ebron's commitment to the team in the process.
“Nobody knows the specifics, and I guess that’s not for me to really explain," Ebron clarified. "All I know is I’ve had an injury since Aug. 4 and I played through an injury [until] the time I decided to, you know, say I couldn’t do it any longer. And that was simply my choice for my health … I made that choice. I went and told them I was making that choice a week before I made the choice, so it was well thought out. Well known about. But it’s not my job to explain the story. I was hurt, and nobody likes to play hurt.”
So what's the situation now, heading into 2020?
“I’m great," Ebron said.
But...
"If the season was to start today, I don’t think I’d be able to 100 percent perform today," he added. "But we don’t play today. That is the reason I got the [surgery] when I did is so that I knew my body would be fully healthy for the next time I step foot on the football field.”
Besides Ebron's health, there's also the not-at-all-small matter of Roethlisberger's elbow. He's throwing pain-free and by all accounts is on track for a full, unrestricted go in 2020, but at 38 years old with 16 years of pro experience behind him, his recovery remains a "believe it when I see it" issue for most.
Just not Ebron.
“Nope [I'm not worried about Roethlisberger]," Ebron said. "I think Ben has been through more injuries than anybody, and for him to tell us as a people that he’s throwing without pain, that he hasn’t felt [like this] in years, I think we should all take into account what he’s been through. And if he says that, then he means that, because he has been pretty beat[en] up. He’s played this game for a really long time, so if he feels good, man, all I gotta do is be just as good and we’ll have a lot of fun.”
In this city, "a lot of fun" means one thing: A Super Bowl victory. And you better believe Ebron understands and embraces that.
"I just want to finally win," Ebron said. "I just want to do something big. I feel like it’s time.”
