Western Pennsylvania is known for producing football talent, but no one has ever been more of a game-breaker than West Mifflin native and former Jeannette standout Terrelle Pryor . As it turns out, he could have returned home to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers .
According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, Pryor was rated a five-star recruit and the No. 2 player in the 2008 class. He landed at Ohio State after a decorated high school odyssey. After a complicated finish to his Buckeyes tenure, the Oakland Raiders drafted him in the third round of the NFL’s supplemental draft in 2011.
The Steelers were interested in the 6-foot-4 freak athlete, as well.
“They (were) gonna draft me,” Pryor said last week on the “Certified Game” podcast. “ Mike Tomlin and — what’s his name — (Kevin) Colbert, they came to me, this was in 2010, when I was going in the supplemental. And they said, ‘You wanna be a Steeler?’ And I said, ‘I don’t think I want to because it’s too close to home. I’ve got too many motherfuckers out here asking for shit.’ I knew I needed to focus, because I knew if I had some dollars in my hand, I’m around these (people).
“They had to come out and visit me.”
Arguably the most notable play of Pryor’s NFL career — a 93-yard read-option touchdown run in 2013 — actually came against the Steelers.
“We came into that game, right, and we saw on the left side, there was big dude ( James Harrison ),” Pryor said. “The design was (to go at LaMarr) Woodley. We just knew, at that point, he was lazy … with his mental. We knew he was gonna bite on that shit. So when he bit on that and I got through and I saw (Troy) Polamalu right here, I said, ‘I’m gone.'”
Pryor started 10 games at quarterback for the Raiders before transitioning to receiver for the Cleveland Browns . He posted a 1,000-yard receiving season in 2016 and also played for the Washington Redskins , New York Jets and Buffalo Bills .
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Local High School Legend Once Turned Down Mike Tomlin, Steelers
Related Headlines
