Ex-Steeler's Pittsburgh attitude displayed with response to interview question

The Pittsburgh Steelers front office completely overhauled the inside linebacker position throughout the 2023 offseason. Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Nick Kwiatkoski were all brought in on either one- or two-year deals, while the three from the 2022 campaign, Myles Jack, Devin Bush and Robert Spillane have moved on from the Steel City. Bush signed a one-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks, while Spillane will look to play out his new two-year, $7 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. Jack does not yet have a home and still remains a free agent.

Spillane is an extremely interesting character, as he showed some awesome flashes from time to time including the hit heard around the world on Derrick Henry at the line of scrimmage in 2020. He never really caught on in Pittsburgh, but started 16 total games during his four-year tenure and contributed 191 tackles and eight passes defended.

ESPN currently has Spillane in the No. 1 spot and playing middle linebacker on the Raiders depth chart. He will attempt to help lead a defense that was dead last in 2022 with 13 turnovers, while also ending the season 30th in sacks and red-zone touchdown percentage, 29th in pass yards allowed, 28th in total yards allowed and 27th in touchdowns allowed.

It's safe to say the unit needs some help, and they will likely look to Spillane to wear the green dot in the middle of the defense. As a bonus for Spillane, he will get to enact his revenge on the Steelers in Week 3 when the two teams meet on the national stage for a "Sunday Night Football" game in Las Vegas. He may want to beat them, but that doesn't mean he has lost his Pittsburgh blood.

Steelers Former Linebacker Still Has Pittsburgh-Like Attitude

Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal caught up with Spillane back in June and talked to him about a few things regarding his journey to the Raiders. One of his first questions was in relation to the vast difference in weather when comparing Pittsburgh to Las Vegas. While it can get chilly in Vegas, it's nothing like Pittsburgh in the winter months.

Spillane answered in one of the most Pittsburgh ways someone could, despite the fact that he's not even on the Steelers anymore. His response was Mike Tomlin-esque and will make any fan of the black and gold grin from ear to ear.

“We embrace the heat. We embrace the cold,” Spillane said. “We embrace the rain. We embrace the snow.”

A seemingly annoyed Spillane continued, and it's no joke that if someone well-versed in NFL knowledge heard the quote, Tomlin would likely be the first person on someone's mind, not necessarily Spillane.

“Circumstance does not dictate our behavior. We know any given day we’re going to go out on the field, it’s going to be 100 yards long, 53.3 yards wide," Spillane continued. "So the weather doesn’t have any outcome on that.”

There's no reason to believe Spillane was being spiteful or rude in his response, but it probably wasn't an answer that Bonsignore was expecting. Spending four years in Pittsburgh can lead one to talk like a Yinzer does.

Spillane is used to the cold weather after playing high school football at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Ill., and going on to play at Western Michigan for all four years of college. His new head coach, Josh McDaniels' thoughts on Spillane also echo that he still embraces that Steelers' type of playing style.

“Rob’s one of those old school football players that just wants to hit people. He’s not going to mind if his mouth or nose is bloody a little bit.”

The former Steelers defender may have never stood out as one of the best on the field, but it's hard to deny his love for the game and he certainly embraced the Pittsburgh style of play: hard, smashmouth football.