In Friday’s “On Sports,” one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ best players gets his Hollywood moment. A former Pitt superstar known for his arm makes the guest list at the Pirates’ season opener in Miami.

Among the Steelers, Cam Heyward clarifies his tune on Aaron Rodgers, while Mike Tomlin continues to make high-profile stops checking out players.

And Pitt’s basketball brothers say their goodbyes on social media.

(B)ryan Reynolds

Arguably going on a half-decade now as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ best player, Bryan Reynolds is well-liked among teammates in the clubhouse. But Reynolds’ quiet, laidback nature doesn’t necessarily lend itself to extroverted expressions of personality.

That’s what made Reynolds’ performance in an ad for a spirit owned by actor Ryan Reynolds so surprising.

Selected surely because of the obvious similarity in their names, in the ad the Pirates’ Reynolds is said to be reaching from a script written personally by the “Van Wilder” Reynolds. The latter Reynolds — a Canadian – is always open about his passion for hockey and soccer. He plays off that in releasing this ad on social media on MLB’s Opening Day, (presumably) feigning a complete lack of knowledge of baseball.

Bryan Reynolds perfectly deadpans his lines.

During the Pirates’ opener, incidentally, the baseball-playing Reynolds went 1 for 4 with a two-run single that made him the first Pirates player to have at least one RBI in three consecutive season openers since Willie Stargell in the 1970s.

Of course, the Pirates blew a three-run lead and lost, 5-4, to the Miami Marlins.

Dan’s right arm

The bullpen – and defense – once again foiled a potential victory for Paul Skenes, a familiar and ongoing theme. Skenes allowed only five baserunners with seven strikeouts in 5⅓ innings. He averaged 98.1 mph with his four-seam fastball and induced 17 swings-and-misses.

In short, Skenes put on another display as to why he has arguably the Pittsburgh sports scene’s most talented right arm in a generation – perhaps, since a kid from Oakland was slinging a different kind of ball around Pitt Stadium more than four decades ago.

That man threw a pitch from the Loan Depot Park mound Thursday before Skenes did. Dan Marino was the special guest, the announcement of the honor noting that Marino’s first pro home stadium as a Miami Dolphins young quarterback was the Orange Bowl – on the site where Loan Depot Park stands now.

Marino was good enough as a pitcher for Central Catholic High School that was a fourth-round draft choice by the Kansas City Royals.

Marino announced his retirement as the NFL’s career passing leader in March 2000. Incidentally, he’s only than 22 years older than the presumed Steelers starting quarterback this season.

Cam v. Skip

It was the topic of that man, Aaron Rodgers, that ultimately led to a social-media sparring between longtime Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward and longer-time TV sports talking head Skip Bayless on Thursday.

Heyward last week on his podcast seemed perturbed by Rodgers dragging out his decision to sign with the Steelers, saying, “If you (Rodgers) want to be part of (the Steelers), so be it. If you don’t, no skin off my back.”

Wednesday, though, Heyward during an appearance on “Good Morning Football” sung a different tune: “It would be really cool to have a guy like Aaron Rodgers.”

That drew a post on X from Bayless, one of television’s GOATs for yelling and screaming nonsensically about sports.

“Amused by Cam (sic) Hayward’s backtrack on Aaron Rodgers,” Bayless wrote. “He realized exactly what I said on my show - that it has come to this for the Pittsburgh Steelers … they now desperately need what’s left of Aaron Rodgers. It’s looking like that or Mason Rudolph.”

Though the collateral damage landed at the feet of Rudolph – no one alive seems to catch more strays than him – it was the misspelling of Heyward’s last name by Bayless that gave him the opening to needle him back.

“I’m amused you can’t @ me or (sic) atleast spell my name right.”

If the Steelers and Rodgers would finally just make consummate their marriage, there’d be no need for anyone to be talking about this on podcasts or X.

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Tomlin eyes Irish

No NFL head coach makes the rounds at college Pro Days more often and more conspicuously than the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. He continued to make high-profile stops Thursday, getting spotted at Notre Dame.

Tomlin was at Texas’ Pro Day on Tuesday and was in Columbus for Ohio State’s event Wednesday.

Goodbye x2

Two days after word broke that the Diaz Graham twins had entered the NCAA transfer portal, both Guillermo and Jorge made their respective departures from the Pitt basketball program social-media official.

The more prominent player of the two brothers from the Canary Islands, Guillermo’s seven-paragraph statement came on X.

“After spending time reflecting on my future and discussing it with those closest to me, I’ve made the tough decision to enter the transfer portal and explore new opportunities,” Guillermo’s post read. “Over the past few years, I’ve grown in ways I never imagined on but (sic) specially off the court. Wearing the Pitt jersey was a true honor, and I’ll always take pride in having been a part of this program and culture.”

Jorge opted to post on Instagram. His message was similar.

“After much reflection and conversations with my family, I’ve made the difficult decision to enter the transfer portal and pursue new challenges,” Jorge’s post read. “These past three years at the University of Pittsburgh have been some of the most important and transformative of my life. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to wear the Pitt jersey and represent such a historic program.”

The Diaz Graham twins had been part of the program 2022 and as freshmen were significant contributors to Pitt’s lone NCAA Tournament appearance over the past decade. They each have one season of eligibility remaining.