- - 'I know who I am.' Steelers' Connor Heyward proving he's far more than Cam Heyward's little brother

WILL GRAVES January 2, 2026 at 2:34 AM

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1 / 2Dolphins Steelers FootballPittsburgh Steelers' Pat Freiermuth (88), Connor Heyward (83) and Darnell Washington (80) celebrate Heyward's touchdown run in the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Pittsburgh, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — There's a legacy that comes when your last name is Heyward, and you play football for a living.

Especially when you do it in Pittsburgh.

Connor Heyward has known this basically his entire life. The Steelers tight end/fullback grew up hearing the stories about his father, former NFL running back and University of Pittsburgh great Craig “Ironhead” Heyward. He watched from afar as older brother Cam evolved from a first-round pick by the Steelers in 2011 into one of the best defensive tackles of his generation.

It's a lot to live up to. Particularly when what you do on the field is hard to define.

Connor Heyward doesn't bulldoze opposing linebackers as his dad did. He doesn't overwhelm offensive linemen on the way to the quarterback — and maybe one day the Hall of Fame — like his brother.

There's no one more aware of this than the 26-year-old who has spent the past four seasons trying to show that his roster spot isn't merely the result of the name on the back of his jersey.

“I always feel like I have something to prove,” Heyward said. “Whether that’s to myself or just my peers, teams we’re competing against, just showing them that I belong.”

Even now, after being selected as an alternate to the Pro Bowl as a fullback for the first time, Heyward is hardly ready to exhale and say he's arrived. While he points out he's stuck it out longer than most sixth-round picks, all it takes is one search of his name on social media to make sure the chip on his shoulder never leaves.

There were times, particularly earlier in his career, when the online vitriol directed his way that he was the NFL's version of a nepo-baby would get to him.

“You can’t hide from that,” he said. “You see it. It sucks."

A ‘true football player’

He wasn't the only one who noticed. Asked if he thinks it's hard for Connor to be his little brother, Cam Heyward nodded.

“He gets a s—- ton,” of criticism, said the older Heyward, a seven-time Pro Bowler and the NFL's 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year. “I kind of walked in here with it myself, being my dad’s son. (Connor's) just got it both ways. He’s got to deal with both (me and my dad). And it’s not always easy, but I think he’s answered it and he’s on his way.”

And he's done it by being himself. At 6-foot and 230 pounds, he is hardly the biggest, the strongest or the fastest player on the field. Yet Heyward has consistently found a way to be impactful whenever — or wherever — he lines up.

He's a fixture on special teams but is just as comfortable taking the snap from center in the Steelers' version of the “tush push” (dubbed the ‘Pittsburgh Plunge’ in honor of a ride at a local amusement park), something he does when he's not running routes at tight end, setting up at fullback and clearing space for Kenny Gainwell and Jaylen Warren.

“He is a true football player,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said. “It’s unfortunate to see he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves outside the building, but everyone in the building knows what he can do.”

And as a result, everyone in the building is fine asking Heyward to do a lot, including the kind of dirty work that rarely makes its way to a highlight package but stands out in the team's film room.

“The more we put on his plate, the more he executes," Freiermuth said. “It's awesome.”

Which makes the moments when the ball is in Heyward's hands feel earned, not given. Last week against Cleveland, the Steelers unveiled their latest wrinkle on the “Pittsburgh Plunge” by having Heyward take the snap and race to his right for 29 yards to help set up a field goal.

Heyward has learned there is no pleasing everyone. That no matter what he does, it will never be enough for some. He'd be lying, however, if he said he doesn't get some small level of satisfaction out of having his mentions go silent, at least for a little while.

“It’s not like, ‘Shut up,’ but it’s, like, ‘I told you so,’” Heyward said. “And sometimes it's just to yourself, like just that reassurance that you sometimes need.”

A tightening bond

Heyward will be a free agent this offseason. It seems almost a given he's done enough for the Steelers — who have long reserved spots on the roster for players willing to do what Heyward so capably does — to earn a contract to return.

If he sticks around, it would give him a chance to spend perhaps one final season alongside Cam, who will be entering the last year of his current contract and turns 37 in May.

Connor Heyward described Cam as “like a dad to me,” while growing up, thanks in part to their 10-year age gap. That has shifted during their time together in Pittsburgh, where Cam has become the big brother careful not to overstep his bounds and Connor has turned into the self-described “cool uncle” to Cam's and wife Allie's three kids.

It's telling of how comfortable they are with each other that Connor never asked the team to move his locker, which has been a stall or two over from Cam's during the entirety of his career.

Asked why he never bothered to move — it's worth noting that former Steeler brothers/teammates Nick and Nate Herbig and Trey and Terrell Edmunds had lockers on opposite sides of the room — and Connor points to the demands of their lives away from the facility that make getting together during the season difficult.

Those quiet moments together have been invaluable, and render all the noise that comes with being considered the “other” Heyward just that: noise.

Yes, if he were somewhere else, maybe there'd be a little less hate sent his way. But there also wouldn't be the same sense of family. It's a trade-off he will happily deal with.

No, he's not his dad. No, he's not his brother. That doesn't make him less than. It just makes him different.

“I’m glad I'm here in Pittsburgh,” Connor Heyward said. “I'm glad to continue to build off what I’ve started and what Cam has done. I know who I am.”

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Source: “AOL Sports”