Pittsburgh Steelers’ Michael Pittman Jr. On How He Found Out About Trade From Indianapolis Colts

McCarthy is obviously a proven winner having previously won a Super Bowl with Rodgers as his quarterback with the Green Bay Packers. McCarthy not only coached Rodgers and the Packers for 13 seasons, he had a notable tenure with the Dallas Cowboys in which he led them to three consecutive 12-win seasons.

Pittman Jr. reveals that the first two people from the Steelers he spoke to were McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan. The five-year veteran said he’s “excited” to be a part of McCarthy’s west coast offense. The two talked about moving Pittman Jr. all around the field and not just staying on the outside as he normally did during his Colts tenure.

What will also help is the fact that the Steelers already have DK Metcalf in the fold. Metcalf will be entering his second season in Pittsburgh and is one of the better physical receivers in the NFL as a former All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowl receiver. Metcalf posted 850 receiving yards and two touchdowns as Rodgers’ go-to target last season.

Both Pittman Jr. and Metcalf are 6-foot-4 and over 220 pounds, meaning they’re probably the biggest starting receiver duo in the NFL.

“He just said that he was excited about the things that this offense is going to do, because obviously him being a West Coast offensive coach and his history, and obviously he likes to throw the ball, which is what I like too,” said Pittman Jr. of McCarthy. “Just talking to him about the possibility of moving all over the field and not just staying outside and kind of being that guy so excited for that, excited to help his offense in any way that I can. Whether it’s catching passes or throwing blocks, I’m down for whatever it takes.”

Michael Pittman Jr. On Why Flag Football Is A Growing Sport, What Makes It Stand Out

While Pittman Jr. will be preparing for his debut season in Pittsburgh, he’s already becoming entrenched in the city through community events. The 28-year-old will help Toyota host an NFL Draft Flag Football Training Camp in the city of Pittsburgh leading into the NFL draft next Wednesday.

The event will feature invited Pittsburgh area high school female flag football players receiving mentorship from Pittman Jr., the U.S. Women’s National Flag Football team and others – NFL draft prospects Ty Simpson and Jordyn Tyson will be there – as they’ll also have the opportunity to walk to the NFL draft red carpet.

“Next week at the draft, Toyota is rolling out the red carpet and hosting a flag football training camp for youth girls, and I’m going to be out there coaching, and it’s going to be a great time,” said Pittman Jr. “The great thing is Toyota has already donated up to $3 million and been able to support 300,000 youth, which is great. We just want to uplift them and and we just want them to embrace their spotlight and every opportunity that they get going forward, and Toyota is going to do whatever they can to keep on uplifting this game and taking it to the next level.”

Pittman Jr. previously served as a coach during Toyota’s Glow Up Classic during Super Bowl week. Toyota will be covering NFL FLAG registration kit fees for players in the Pittsburgh Flag Football League coed youth and high school girls leagues.

He explains why flag football is such a great and growing sport. Flag football will be a part of the Summer Olympics moving forward starting in 2028 and NFL legend Tom Brady recently hosted a flag football event featuring many current and former NFL stars along with celebrities such as Logan Paul.

“Because it just lets more people into the sport of football,” said Pittman Jr. "Obviously, the NFL and flag are so different. They are two different types of athletes, right? There’s things that flag players do that NFL players can’t. I mean, the way they slide around and they do the limbo and avoid getting their flag pulled, I could never do that. My knees wouldn’t like me after that, for sure.

“There’s room for all of it,” Pittman Jr. continued. "I think that we clearly saw that when the NFL players played the flag football players. Obviously, the flag team won because they specialize in their sport, and we specialize in our sport. There's room for both of them.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com