Steelers veteran Cameron Heyward got in some good-natured, national television-sized digs Thursday against his little brother and teammate Connor Heyward during an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”
While the elder Heyward and Meyers discussed their families getting dinner together, Meyers said about Connor Heyward: “He also seems, I hope this is OK to say, like a trouble maker.”
“I think you put it lightly,” Heyward replied. “Conner is definitely the knucklehead of the group. Him and my mom would battle all throughout high school and they would both call me and I would have to play mediator. To have him now in the locker room, I see what she had to deal with.
“He’s a pipsqueak. Hi, Connor,” Heyward said waving and smiling at the camera.
During an interview on the NBC program, Heyward, a defensive tackle, discussed the shock of winning the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award in February recognizing his charity work off the field and meeting Prince Harry, who presented the honor.
Had a blast catching up with an old friend today! Great seeing you @sethmeyers
Make sure to catch tonight’s episode of @LateNightSeth ????
???? Lloyd Bishop/NBC pic.twitter.com/OXURTVDP8D
— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) May 10, 2024
Heyward said he didn’t know he was going to win and didn’t have a speech prepared once he realized it was his turn after being previously nominated five times. After the ceremony, Heyward recalled taking photographs with Prince Harry, comparing the moment to a picture session before high school prom.
“It was very, very euphoric, where I was like, I never thought I was going to be in this situation at all,” Heyward said.
He and Meyers also talked about the NFL draft — Heyward’s own in 2011 when he was selected in the first round by the Steelers and the one last month, where Heyward announced the team’s first-round pick Troy Fautanu, an offensive tackle.
Heyward said he didn’t go to the draft in 2011, he had just undergone surgery on his elbow and didn’t want to be embarrassed if he didn’t get picked by a team. Amid text messages from friends toward the end of the first round, he finally got a phone call.
“Seeing that 412 coming across that screen, I knew I was going to be a Pittsburgh Steeler,” he said.
Heyward helped to bring that moment home for Fautanu, but first, he had to get the pronunciation of his new teammate’s name right in the announcement.
“I was very nervous, you watch (NFL commissioner) Roger Goodell go up … and he’s so confident about it and so I’m like, oh this is going to be easy,” he said. “But then I start thinking what if they give me a Nigerian name that I can’t pronounce.”
He leaned on other tricky past teammate names — Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu — to get Fautanu’s name right.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.