Little do we know about how hard the day-to-day lives of NFL players are in the season.
Often labeled as playing a child's game for a King's ransom, the vast majority of NFL players realize the privilege it is to play in the league.
No one embodies that more than Pittsburgh Steelers LB Elandon Roberts, who revealed how he battled through injury for much of last season out of respect for the rest of the roster:
Roberts Peels Back the Curtain
"I am not going to leave my guys hanging," Roberts told Teresa Varley of Steelers. regarding his injury status in 2023. "If I can go, I am going to go. I am going to try my hardest. I won't go if I am going to put my team in jeopardy, but I am going to go if I have good faith that I am good enough to get the job done for my teammates."
Injuries plagued stars on the Steelers' defense, with Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and T.J. Watt all missing either significant time or meaningful games. But no position group dealt with more attrition than the inside linebackers.
By the end of the year, Roberts was the only starter and one of only two players on the week one roster to even take snaps at the position. Pittsburgh was relying on practice squad players to just fill in the gaps.
"It hit our position group," said Roberts. "I just feel like my injury was bumps and bruises. That is everybody. You get little nicks. But I think the guys in the inside backer room made a good effort to establish what we could in the later part of the season."
Clearly being humble, Roberts dealt with a major groin injury that limited his overall movement and functional athleticism, yet he still battled and made plays en route to leading the team in tackles at 101 to go along with 2.5 sacks and two pass breakups.
A two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots who is on the doorstep of turning 30, Roberts has seen his fair share of locker rooms and knows winning culture.
He believes that is innate within Pittsburgh:
"I love the guys here, the locker room. I love it each day. I know we all talk about guys like T.J., Cam and Minkah, but the young guys, some of the other guys, playing with Nick Herbig, all those guys. The guys on the offensive side. You see how they go about things and want to see team success on special teams. The collective of what we are all doing. You understand why the locker room is so close."
And while the Steelers just signed LB Patrick Queen to the largest free agent deal in franchise history and have LB Cole Holcomb making progress in his recovery, Roberts figures to still play an integral role in the final year of his deal, with everyone's sight on the stairway to seven.
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