PITTSBURGH (AP) — The vibes for Mike McCarthy and Eli Heidenreich over the last few months have been immaculate. How could they not be?The chance for McCarthy to lead his hometown team brought the first-year Pittsburgh Steelers coach to tears when he was hired in January. The image last April of Heidenreich walking onto the draft stage in full Naval dress uniform outside Acrisure Stadium — just a few miles from the Mount Lebanon neighborhood where he grew up — felt like something out of a movie.Their respective homecomings have provided plenty of “fairy tale” narratives during an eventful offseason for the typically low-key Steelers. And while there will be a little bit of “hey, is this really happening?” on Thursday night when they walk onto the field for the first time as the Steelers host Green Bay in the preseason opener, they’re both aware of the reality check that awaits under the lights.
“Naturally, there’s some people that might assume that it was like you said, like a hometown pick or whatever, whatever someone wants to say,” Heidenreich said. “But I’m here to play football, and that’s it.”Good thing, because evolving from a seventh-round flyer following a record-setting career at Navy — where he set program marks for career receiving yards and receiving touchdowns — into an NFL roster spot will take some doing. Nobody knows that more than the 6-foot, 206-pound Heidenreich, who politely dismissed comparisons between himself and San Francisco 49ers running back and 2023 NFL Offense Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey.
