On September 24, Eku Leota was released from the Carolina Panthers practice squad. Three days later, his world fell apart.
Leota is originally from Falefa, Samoa, but he was raised in Asheville, North Carolina. On Sept. 27, Tropical Storm Helene, which had formerly been a Category Four hurricane before it made landfall near Tallahassee, Florida, dumped over 30 inches in of rain in parts of the Appalachian Mountains in Western North Carolina.
Communities like Asheville have been devastated. Massive flash floods ripped through the mountain valleys, wiping entire communities off the map. Hundreds of people have been cut off from the outside world due to flood waters and mudslides wiping out roads and bridges. A total of 92 deaths have been confirmed throughout North Carolina. In Asheville’s Buncombe County alone, more than 200 residents remain unaccounted for.
The floodwaters were still subsiding on Oct. 1, when the Pittsburgh Steelers reached out to Leota with an opportunity to join their practice squad with Alex Highsmith expected to miss a few weeks with a groin injury. Despite the turmoil at home, Leota took the leap.
The following Sunday, two more Steelers edge rushers were injured against the Dallas Cowboys and now Leota is among the team’s top backup options at outside linebacker.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” the soft-spoken Leota said, in possible the understatement of all understatements.
“I like being active. Being in practice, being in meetings has helped me mentally. It’s definitely something that traumatized my family. But this game has helped me block that out.”
With the Steelers, Leota walked into a locker room of 70 strangers and found a new family to help along this new journey. He already knew fellow Northwestern alum Dean Lowry and shares representation with Isaiahh Loudermilk.
Now, he’s spending his days picking the brains of Highsmith and T.J. Watt, while trying to keep his mind off what’s been going on at home.
“It’s a family atmosphere here,” Leota said. “I feel like I’ve been able to get on pretty well just because I’ve got really good people around me like T.J. helping me feel like I belong in this locker room and just having me work out every day. It’s just been real good.”
At the end of the day, the NFL is a bottom-line business. While the Steelers try hard to foment that family atmosphere and have players around that will help lift up the newest among them, what makes for a long stay in a black and gold uniform is production.
Leota played in 10 games since the stat of last season with the Panthers. In eight games last season, he had just four tackles, but this year, he seemed to be turning a corner, with a sack and three tackles for loss in two games before his release.
The 6-foot-3, 263-pound edge rusher has solid size for his position. He had seven sacks in his redshirt junior season at Auburn before an injury held him to five games as a senior in 2022.
Coming to the Steelers, Leota sees a defense that fits exactly what he needs to succeed at this level.
“They play a lot more freely here, I feel like,” he said. “Less reading and just more going.”
Like he said, he likes going.
