Born in the mid-1990’s in Chicago, Robert Spillane shares something in common with many of his contemporaries who happen to have been raised in the Pittsburgh area.
Super Bowl XLIII made quite the impression on him.
Now a linebacker with the New England Patriots, Spillane while in the Bay Area this past week in the lead-up to this year’s Super Bowl expanded on some of his childhood memories of The Big Game.
“Probably the Pittsburgh-Arizona game,” Spillane said, referencing the Steelers’ wild win against the Cardinals on Feb. 1, 2009, “watching James Harrison run that (interception return) back. That’s probably one of the first Super Bowl memories that I can vividly remember.”
Ask Spillane after another couple decades have passed, he’ll surely have a Super Bowl he will remember much more vividly.
A former Steelers inside linebacker, Spillane is a starter and defensive captain for the New England Patriots headed into Sunday’s NFL championship game against the Seattle Seahawks.
“It’s a long time coming and it’s years and years of dedication, passion and love for this game,” Spillane said while at a podium during Super Bowl media day. “And I’ve just continued to pour myself, trust the process, and just be good to football. And football has in turn been good to me. So I’m just so proud and grateful to be here today.”
Spillane is expected to play despite suffering an ankle injury during the AFC championship game win against the Denver Broncos.
That was the third consecutive playoff win in the career of Spillane, 30, who had twice been on Steelers teams that lost in the wild-card round of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
After four seasons, 50 games and 16 starts for the Steelers, Spillane left via free agency for the Las Vegas Raiders in March 2023. Two seasons as an every-down middle linebacker there led to a three-year, $33 million deal with New England this past spring.
While it would be inaccurate to pin Spillane’s acquisition as the most impactful change, New England made a miraculous turnaround from last place and 4-13 in 2024 to first place, 14-3 and representing the AFC in the Super Bowl in Spillane’s first season with the team.
“He plays extremely hard,” New England coach Mike Vrabel said. “He’s a communicator. When you talk about middle linebackers, these guys coordinate the defense, they run the defense, they communicate. They tie in the back end with the defensive line.
“Robert cares deeply about this football team, and he’ll do anything that he has to help us win.”
It doesn’t take long in hearing Spillane talk to understand how deeply he cares about football. The son of the 1953 Heisman Trophy winner — Notre Dame’s Johnny Lattner, who played one season for the Steelers — Spillane was born and raised into the sport.
He plays like it, too.
“That’s who I am through and through,” Spillane said. “I was born in a blue-collar family. My dad, a carpenter, a tradesman, willing to do whatever it took to get our family through. I don’t look at myself as somebody who’s tough. You know, I see my dad. I’ve seen people go through struggles who are the real tough people in my life. So to be out here playing the game I love, it’s an honor to be able to represent those people, and I just want to do that with pride and joy and really bring honor to my family name.”
Despite missing four games because of injury, Spillane led the Patriots in tackles (97) and had two interceptions, a forced fumble, a sack and five passes defense while wearing the “green dot” as the hub of sideline communication for this season’s New England defense.
He is on the eighth year of his NFL journey that began as an undrafted player out of Western Michigan. He did not play at all on defense as a rookie for the Tennessee Titans, who were then coached by Vrabel.
Spillane the following spring joined the Steelers and gradually worked his way up from training-camp linebacker to special-teamer to a subpackage reserve linebacker to starter.
Spillane’s first career start on defense — coincidentally enough, against the Titans — provided a moment that Steelers fans surely recall. At the goal line during a Oct, 25, 2020, game in Nashville and with 252-pound running back Derrick Henry — in the midst of a 2,000-yard rushing season — barreling in trying to score, Spillane made the one-on-one, head-on tackle.
This is by far one of my favorite plays in 2020. Robert Spillane stops Derrick Henry on the 1-yard line! ???? @14rspillane#Steelerspic.twitter.com/HzndIXuM62
— That Blitz Guy (@ThatBlitzGuy) March 7, 2021
His time with the Steelers set the stage for his ascension with the Raiders and into his current status as a key cog of the defense for the AFC champions.
“I wasn’t drafted. I was a tryout player,” Spillane said. “So I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m still waiting for that moment where it all clicks, where it all comes together. We’re still looking to get there.
“That ability that I’ve never thought that (anything) is good enough (drives him). I’ve never played a game that I’ve been proud of. I’m always just seeking to get better and better each and every week.”