Cam Heyward was joking about playing for the Browns, but it could happen, as many other Steelers greats finished their careers elsewhere.
Veteran Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward is entering the final year of his contract and has expressed a strong desire for a new deal from the team throughout this offseason. Heyward, the long-time cornerstone of the Steelers’ defense, recently floated the idea of potentially playing for the Browns with Mark Kaboly of The Athletic.
Heyward later said that he was just kidding: “I ain’t going to Cleveland. My wife about threw up when she saw the report. It was a joke in passing.”
Heyward has emphasized that he wants a one-helmet guy but money has a larger effect on players than most realize, and Cam feels that he still excels at a high level and is deserving of a hefty deal. But his joke got us wondering about those players that were Steelers legends that weren’t “one-helmet” players.
Throughout the years, many who had success donning the black and yellow transferred to a different franchise to cap off their careers. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Ernie Holmes, defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, goes for the camera during a picture session prior to the team’s workout in New Orleans Wednsday, Jan. 8, 1975 saying, “This is the way Tarkenton will see me Sunday,” as both teams prepare for the ninth annual Super Bowl game. (AP Photo)
DT Ernie Holmes Steelers (1971-77), New England Patriots (1978)
Ernie Holmes, a formidable defensive lineman and key member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Steel Curtain” defense, didn’t have a long Steelers career, but he had an impactful one. The team’s eighth-round pick out of Texas Southern in the 1971 NFL Draft, Holmes was part of two Super Bowl teams and was an All-Pro in 1974.
Weight problems and on-the-field issues caused Holmes to be traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He failed to make the Bucs’s squad out of training camp, but signed with the New England Patriots and played three games before retiring midway through the 1978 season that saw his teammates back in Pittsburgh win their third Super Bowl.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers pro football hall of fame running back Franco Harris takes part in festivities celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1974 Steelers, the first Steelers Super Bowl team before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
RB Franco Harris Steelers (1972-83), Seattle Seahawks (1984)
In 1984, the Pittsburgh Steelers released legendary Steelers running back Franco Harris amid a contract dispute. Harris had asked for a raise and threatened to hold out. Harris, who had been instrumental in the Steelers’ four Super Bowl victories in the 1970’s, might have over-played his hand. Needing just 362 yards to pass Jim Brown for the all-time NFL rushing record, he was cut by the Steelers and signed with the Seattle Seahawks.
In Seattle, he played eight games and rushed for 170 yards, short of the record, before calling it quits.
Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster breaks between plays during the 1988 season. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
C Mike Webster Steelers (1974-88), Kansas City Chiefs (1989-90)
In 1989, Mike Webster, the iconic center who anchored the Steelers’ offensive line for 15 seasons, retired from the team to join the Kansas City Chiefs coaching staff as an assistant offensive line coach. Webster, a key figure in the Steelers’ four Super Bowl victories during the 1970’s, didn’t last very long on the sideline. The Chiefs asked him to put his helmet back on, and so Webster finished his illustrious career with two seasons calling Arrowhead Stadium home.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Louis Lipps, acknowledges the fans during a ceremony noting the Steelers holding NFL football training camps at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. on Sunday, July 26, 2015 . (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
WR Louis Lipps Steelers (1984-91), New Orleans Saints (1992)
Louis Lipps, a Southern Miss product who was a standout player for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1980s, left the team to join the New Orleans Saints. Lipps, known for his speed and playmaking ability, had been a key offensive weapon for the Steelers, and also a kick returner.
Lipps held out of training camp and preseason looking for a new deal. The Steelers cut him, and he went home to New Orleans to play for the Saints. That experiment lasted just two games before Lipps hung up his cleats.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Greg Lloyd at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 14, 2021. — Nick Farabaugh / Steelers Now
OLB Greg Lloyd Steelers (1987-97), Carolina Panthers (1998)
The dominant linebacker and one of the key figures and leaders in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense during the 1990’s, Greg Lloyd was five-time Pro Bowler and a three-time All Pro during his 11-year Steelers career.d
Lloyd missed the entire 1996 season with a knee injury and then a few more games the following year with a staph infection. With his contract up, Lloyd left and joined the upstart Carolina Panthers for one season in 1998 before retiring.
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach Carnell Lake during an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
SS Carnell Lake Steelers (1989-98), Jacksonville Jaguars (1999-2000), Baltimore Ravens (2001)
By the time Carnell Lake, a top defensive back in the league, had his contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers end in 1998, he had a pretty good idea of what the free agent process had gone like for a lot of his predecessors. While former teammates like Lipps and Lloyd had very short stints outside of Pittsburgh, fellow defensive back Rod Woodson left Pittsburgh in 1997 and ended up playing for another seven season.
Lake surveyed the landscape and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars after a decade-long stint with Pittsburgh.
“I was fortunate that even though I left, I had a good perspective watching other older players leave the team,” Lake told Steelers Now in 2019. “I saw players leave ahead of me and thought that when I got to that point I may have to leave also. I didn’t take it personally. I made sure I said nothing negative in the press. I wanted to leave on good terms – I was thankful for them drafting me and for my time there. I had 10 awesome years there.
“I took the Jacksonville offer because none were even close to it. I didn’t want to leave, honestly. I was getting my MBA at Duquesne after Mr. (Dan) Rooney wrote me a great recommendation to help get me in. I wanted to finish up there. I told myself if the offers were close I would stay, but the Jacksonville offer was not even close to the others.”
Lake’s departure marked a significant transition for the Steelers’ secondary, where he had been a consistent and reliable presence, ultimately becoming one of, if not the best defensive back in Steelers history. After two seasons with the Jaguars, he finished his career with the Baltimore Ravens, further contributing to AFC North rivalries.
OLB James Harrison Steelers (2002-12, 2014-17) Cincinnati Bengals(2013), New England Patriots(2017)
James Harrison, a ferocious linebacker known for his tenacity and impact with the Pittsburgh Steelers, departed from the team twice at the end of his career. Initially, he left in 2013 to join the rival Cincinnati Bengals. But he didn’t last long in Cincinnati, coming back after just one year.
“The only guy I can think of that we got back who left us was Harrison,” former defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said on the Bleav in Steelers podcast recently. I didn’t ever want to lose him anyhow, and it didn’t work out for him where he went in Cincinnati. He said everyone was afraid of him over there, and I said, ‘Well hell yes, you beat the hell out of them twice a year.'”
Harrison then returned to the Steelers for a brief stint before leaving again in 2017 to join the New England Patriots, where he eventually finished his career. Both departures were uneasy for the Steelers faithful. Harrison had a very unique start to his career that resulted in two Lombardis and a Defensive Player of the Year nod in 2008, and he became one of the most respected and feared members of the Steelers defense, despite twice leaving it for a rival ream.
