Steelers Selection of Eli Heidenreich Caps Big Pittsburgh Weekend

Steelers Selection of Eli Heidenreich Caps Big Pittsburgh Weekend

The Steelers’ last selection in the first NFL Draft held in Pittsburgh was memorable as they chose Navy running back/wide receiver Eli Heidenreich with their second pick in the seventh round.

Heidenreich, from suburban Mount Lebanon, Pa., wore his full Naval Academy dress uniform when commissioner Roger Goodell introduced him to the crowd. More than 800,000 fans attended the three-day event in the shadow of Acrisure Stadium.

"It was pretty incredible," Heidenreich said. "The biggest thing for me is I turned that corner, and you see the city skyline in the background, and the crowd is like 90 percent black and gold. It's all Steelers fans out there. It was such a cool moment. Everything just kind of came together.

"I was pretty overwhelmed with emotions, but I'm just thankful that I had this opportunity that the NFL invited me to be in the green room and allowed for this moment to be even more special."

The 6-foot, 198-pounder earned second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors last season after totaling 1,440 yards. He recorded 51 receptions for 941 yards and six touchdowns, and also rushed 77 times for 499 yards and three TDs.

Heidenreich joined an exclusive group of major college players—just three in 70 years—to record at least 400 rushing yards and 900 receiving yards in a single season. The others were Tennessee’s Randall Cobb (2010) and West Virginia’s Tavon Austin (2012).

For the second straight year, Heidenreich tied the school record with six receiving touchdowns. He memorably recovered a fourth-quarter fumble in the Army-Navy game to keep possession and caught the game-winning touchdown two plays later.

In three seasons in Annapolis from 2023-25, Heidenreich established school career receiving records with 1,994 yards and 16 touchdowns. He had 109 receptions and rushed for 1,157 yards while starting 30 of 38 games.