Steelers still grieving after loss of Darryl Drake, but “we intend to march”
Posted by Darin Gantt on August 14, 2019, 6:32 AM EDT
Training camp is supposed to be the time when teams sequester themselves in football, isolate themselves from every worldly distraction.
Reality intruded on the Steelers, and the sudden passing of wide receivers coach Darryl Drake changed everything for the team.
They returned to the practice field Tuesday for the first time, but it was a somber day, with players gathering for prayer, many with tears in their eyes, before they returned to work. As much as they might have wanted to focus on football, however, it wasn’t going to be easy. The young receivers Drake worked with may not have been their sharpest, often taking breaks and being consoled by teammates.
“We’re all devastated. I really can’t think of any other appropriate words,” Tomlin said, via Mark Kaboly of TheAthletic.com. “Our time and attention in recent days have been spent in support of the Drake family. Miss Sheila and Darryl’s daughters and extended family — many of us have had an opportunity to spend time with them through this. They’ve been amazing. In making arrangements and adjusting, we’ve tried to be as supportive organizationally to them as we can in what is a very difficult time.”
The team has brought in grief counselors, and gave players a two-day break from practice to begin the process of grieving. “It has been said that counseling is not for the weak but the wise,” Tomlin said.
He also refused to accept that getting back to work was going to help make things normal again.
“I don’t know that it does, but we have professional obligations,” Tomlin said. “So we intend to march.”
As they mourn and miss their coach and their friend, that’s the step they have to take at the moment, because it’s the one in front of them.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/08/14/steelers-still-grieving-after-loss-of-darryl-drake-but-we-intend-to-march/
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
https://twitter.com/brgridiron/statu...burgh-steelers
Juju taking it hard.
Darryl Drake went to hospital with chest pains Saturday night: report
Posted Aug 14
By Jacob Klinger | jklinger@pennlive.com
LATROBE — Darryl Drake went to the hospital Saturday night, complaining of chest pains, according to The Athletic.
The 62-year-old Steelers wide receivers coach died Sunday morning. His cause and manner of death are not known at this time. The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office is awaiting the results of his toxicology test, the office told PennLive.
https://www.pennlive.com/steelers/20...ht-report.html
Complaining of chest pains, Darryl Drake opted not to stay overnight at hospital for observation
Posted by Mike Florio on August 14, 2019, 10:09 PM EDT
Steelers receivers coach Darryl Drake went to a local hospital with chest pains on the evening he died. According to Ed Bouchette of TheAthletic.com, tests showed no abnormalities, but doctors wanted to keep Drake overnight for observation.
Drake declined.
He decided to return to training camp, and he attended meetings on Saturday night. Darrly Drake died overnight in his dorm room at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, at the age of 62.
The Steelers were off Sunday, and they canceled practice on Monday. Worked resumed Tuesday on a limited basis. The team returned to a normal schedule on Wednesday.
Tackle Alejandro Villaneuva credited Drake with helping the team get through issues that arose during the 2018 season, his first with the team.
“Last year, he obviously had a pretty important role with some of the distractions in the locker room and we all thought he handled that very well, and at the end of the day he spoke about the value of team and unity,” Villaneuva said, via Kaboly. “His voice was heard. He definitely was one of the coaches or individuals on the team who helped us get through a tough offseason and tough end of the season last year.”
Last year, the Vikings lost offensive line coach Tony Sparano shortly before the start of training camp. It was an underrated factor in the team’s overall struggles in 2018. The Steelers will now have to find a way to process their grief from Coach Drake’s passing and move forward. In the short term, it won’t be easy; it shoudn’t be.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/08/14/complaining-of-chest-pains-darryl-drake-opted-not-to-stay-overnight-at-hospital-for-observation/
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
Thursday, Aug 15, 2019 02:05 PM
'He called us his sons'
Teresa Varley
Steelers.com
The tears, they were real.
The emotion, it was raw and straight from the heart.
Because as Ryan Switzer spoke on Thursday, he spoke about a man he loved. A man all the Steelers’ receivers loved. A man the team loved, the coaches loved, and everyone in the organization loved.
When Darryl Drake passed away on Sunday, it took a lot out of everyone in the organization. But in the receivers’ room, a group of young players who have been molded by Drake’s caring touch, it took even more out of them.
Switzer took a picture of the receivers’ group at the start of camp with Drake, one that he will treasure forever. It’s the perfect snapshot of how close a group they are, how much love there is among everyone in the group.
“Coach Drake always called us his sons,” said Switzer, unable to hold back the emotion, and understandably so. “He didn’t have any boys. He always called us his sons. We took that at the beginning of camp. He just called us his sons.”
When Switzer was traded to the Steelers in the 2018 preseason, the second time he was traded since the end of the 2017 season, his expectations were low. He had seen firsthand how cold and calculating the NFL can be. And he understandably expected more of the same.
Until he met Darryl Drake.
Drake was straightforward. What he told you, he meant. It wasn’t a line to make you feel good. He didn’t let you start your day without a good morning if you saw him in the hallway. And he didn’t let the receivers start their meetings without faith.
He was caring. He was compassionate. He was kind. He was loving. And he was a man of faith that you could trust in and believe.
Switzer immediately felt that.
“It's not so much things he said. For some reason I just trusted him,” said Switzer. “I have had a lot of turnover in my short career. I have had a lot of empty and broken promises. I didn’t feel that with Drake. Never did. He was a trustworthy person and so welcoming and warm. I felt that immediately when I got here.”
And that is what is so revealing. That immediate trust tells you the man Drake was. Remember, he only spent one full season coaching the receivers. Yet he left the impact of someone the players have known for their entire lives.
“Coach Drake beyond a shadow of a doubt was that special person,” said Switzer. “I am sure you guys have seen if by the outpouring of love, support and kind words he has gotten from everyone he has come in contact with. I certainly didn’t quite understand the amount of people he reached and touched until I saw it. It didn’t surprise me. I knew the man for a little over a year and he taught me more in that time and meant more to me in that time than some people I have known my entire life. You certainly do have to be a special person and he was.”
His impact on the receivers on the field, that was evident last year. His impact off the field, it was beyond compare.
“Like I said the other day, it’s immeasurable,” said Switzer. “I can’t really say much more about the relationship we had. He knows how much he meant to me.
“I am a better man, a better husband, a better son, a better friend, a better teammate because of Coach Drake. Because of the things he taught me. I promise you they won’t go in vain. I will take things he instilled in me, the things he shared with me because of his experiences, the rest of my life. I think that is the best gift he could have ever given me and…”
Switzer’s voice shook as he struggled to finish the sentence. As he put his emotions on his sleeve in front of cameras. As he poured his heart out. And as he prepared to do what Coach Drake would want, get ready for another day on the practice field, something that has been more of a struggle than many imagined.
“It’s hard man,” said Switzer, trying his best to keep it together while everyone understood how difficult it was for him. “Football has been an outlet for me and everyone else who plays it because it’s an escape from the real world. You get out there and all your problems are gone. Now we get out there and…and he is not there. It’s hard because…he was everywhere.
“It’s hard to get back to the game you love because he is not out there telling you what to do. He is not out there yelling. It’s hard. It’s part of our profession, it’s something we have to do. It’s something Coach Drake would want us to do. Quite frankly he would be pissed at me right now for taking it as hard as we are, but it is hard.”
Switzer, who said it’s the first time he has had to deal with the death of someone close to him, said the receivers are leaning on each other for support now and he can see everyone coming together.
“I am figuring out it does bring people together,” said Switzer. “I think it’s going to be a part of the Steelers story for 2019, 2020, as long as we keep Drake’s legacy alive, it will be a part of our story. You can’t get through it alone. It’s something as a receiver room we have been preaching. We are trying to stay together. If each one of us can just be a little bit strong then collectively as a group, we can be stronger together.”
https://www.steelers.com/news/he-called-us-his-sons
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
Thanks for sharing.Originally Posted by RuthlessBurgher
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People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. George Orwell
?We're not going to apologize for winning.?
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Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you 1. Jesus Christ, 2.The American G.I., One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
Steelers still emotional after coach Drake's death
6:49 PM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
LATROBE, Pa. -- As the Pittsburgh Steelers broke training camp Thursday, players were still deeply affected by the loss of assistant coach Darryl Drake, who died Sunday.
Wide receiver Ryan Switzer became emotional when speaking fondly of his position coach.
"I'm a better man, I'm a better husband, I'm a better son, I'm a better friend, I'm a better teammate because of coach Drake and because of the things that he taught me," Switzer told a group of reporters at Saint Vincent College. "I promise you, they won't go in vain. I'll take the things that he instilled in me and the things that he shared with me from his experiences the rest of my life. And I think that's the best gift that he could've ever given me. "
Switzer had to pause a few times during his remembrance of Drake, who called his receivers his "sons" since he had daughters but no sons of his own.
JuJu Smith-Schuster and other receivers declined to comment this week, perhaps not ready to speak on an emotional matter.
Coach Mike Tomlin, who cancelled two practices and ordered grief counselors for his players and staff, said coaching was simply a platform for Drake's "ministry," a deep desire to affect people's lives. The longtime receivers coach worked with the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals before Tomlin hired him in 2018. Tomlin said Tuesday the entire team is "devastated" but intended to "march on."
Thursday's practice ended abruptly due to weather, but afterward quarterback Ben Roethlisberger shared with reporters the impact the coach had on him. Roethlisberger and Drake were often spotted chatting at length during breaks in practice action.
"I only knew him for a year and a half, but I think in that year and a half he meant more to me than some people I've known my whole life," Roethlisberger said, according to Steelers.com. "I know he was an amazing football coach but he was an even better man, better husband, better father and a better man of God than he was a football coach. What he brought to this team and to me and our relationship together was truly something that can never be replicated. He will be very dearly missed but we know that he's with us and he's in a better place."
Drake would want the Steelers to shift their attention to football and brotherhood, said Switzer, who admitted Drake wouldn't be happy that he was taking the loss so hard.
"As long as we keep Drake's legacy alive, it'll be part of our story [in 2019]," Switzer said. "So, you can't get through it alone, and that's something that us as a receiver room have been preaching. We've been trying to stay together, and if each one of us can just be a little bit strong, then collectively as a group, we can be stronger together."
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27396136/steelers-emotional-coach-drake-death
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
Pittsburgh Steelers
✔
@steelers
We will wear this decal on our helmets this season in honor of Coach Darryl Drake.
JuJu makes wristbands to honor late coach Drake
11:38 AM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- JuJu Smith-Schuster can remember his late receivers coach every time he checks his left wrist.
The Pro Bowl receiver addressed the death of Darryl Drake for the first time Wednesday, and he displayed the wristbands he made in his honor.
Drake was preparing for his second season with the Pittsburgh Steelers before his death on Aug. 11.
"Usually he says a quote to us every day, and the last quote he said to us was, 'Never choose good when great is available,'" said Smith-Schuster as he read from one of two black-and-gold wristbands. "And obviously that means don't settle for less, don't be satisfied with what you have now. When great is out there, go achieve it. He will always be in memory of not only this team, but in my heart to everybody he touched."
Smith-Schuster plans to make wristbands for the Steelers' receivers.
The other wristband read "Shut Out the Noise," a message the receivers displayed on black hoodies before Saturday's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, courtesy of veteran Donte Moncrief.
Emotions were raw last week as players processed the death. The Steelers canceled two practices and hired grief counselors. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said he grew closer with Drake over 18 months than he had with many people he's known his whole life. Added receiver Ryan Switzer: "I'm a better man, I'm a better husband, I'm a better son, I'm a better friend, I'm a better teammate because of coach Drake and because of the things that he taught me."
Rookie Diontae Johnson plans to dedicate every touchdown of his career to the coach he got to know well during the draft process.
Drake previously coached receivers with the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals. In Drake's first season with the Steelers, Smith-Schuster led the team with 111 catches and 1,426 yards.
Smith-Schuster said he wishes he could share more stories about Drake, but some team experiences are sacred. "He always told us what happens in the (receiver) room stays in the room," said Smith-Schuster with a smile.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27433034/juju-makes-wristbands-honor-late-coach-drake
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
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