PITTSBURGH — Calvin Austin III was impressed right away. Watching his future Pittsburgh Steelers teammate effortlessly nab passes without gloves on years ago, the then-Memphis Tigers wideout was sure that the guy he was watching was an athletic outlier.
Others have seen why this season, and by voting tailback Kenneth Gainwell as the team's MVP, their Steelers peers concur.
"Anything I see now isn't a surprise to me," Austin said after practice at Acrisure Stadium on the same day. "He literally does it all. He's always been doing it, though."
Gainwell signed a one-year free agent deal with the Steelers as a free agent last March, getting out from under Saquon Barkley 's shadow in Philadelphia . He's been all Omar Khan, Mike Tomlin and the team's decision-makers had hoped.
"He's just provided nothing but spark and consistency," Austin said. "What he can do on a football field isn't a secret anymore. Not that it has been, but I feel like I've always been saying from the beginning that he's one of the best football players I've ever played with. It's just cool that the world can see."
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell carries the ball against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 21, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Fellow running back Jaylen Warren , who considers Gainwell his best friend, said he's "everything you want in a player." Austin was in the coaches' ears early on, raving about his former college teammate.
"It probably only took one or two practices for them to see just how unique and special he was," Austin said. "I remember when we saw him, (I was) like, 'Hey, he's a dude.'"
"I think Calvin (saw) a lot of crazy things I'd done at Memphis that a lot of people haven't got the opportunity to see," Gainwell said. "I think now, it's just me getting those opportunities to show those skillsets and putting them on display at a high level. … (It's) just going out there and just showing what I can really do."
Heading into Week 18's de facto playoff game with the Baltimore Ravens , Gainwell has rushed for 527 yards while splitting carries with Warren. It's Gainwell, not No. 1 receiver DK Metcalf , who leads the team with 65 receptions. Gainwell has piled up 422 receiving yards and has scored seven total touchdowns.
He'll almost certainly have options other than the Steelers on the open market this offseason, too.
"We wanna do anything we can to make sure he stays here," Warren said.
Gainwell's Steel City experience has been everything he'd expected. He said that nothing's ever a promise with free agency, "but this is exactly something I'd love to come back to and be a part of." Warren, Gainwell's own MVP vote, could be a factor in his decision.
"That's my brother," Gainwell said. "I feel like the way we talk, we talk about ball a lot. And we talk about life a lot, too. … I feel like we're best friends."
Austin believes Gainwell would be set up for success if he sticks around.
"I just think this is a great place for him, especially being coached by a guy like Coach T, who just loves football players — and that's exactly what he is," Austin said.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers MVP Kenneth Gainwell Was Hiding In Plain Sight
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