Steelers' Rookie Is Looking To 'Build My Own Legacy' And Be More Than His Last Name

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be expecting a lot of production from their 2025 draft class, especially after the lack of additions via free agency, as well as all of the injuries that have plagued the 2024 rookies. The end of that season was completely unacceptable, so this new batch of young players will have a lot of pressure to perform and make sure that collapse does not happen again. It doesn't matter if it's a first-rounder, a third-day pick, or an undrafted free agent; everyone will have to contribute. 

That goes for seventh-round pick Carson Bruener as well, whom many saw as a pick that was based on nepotism due to his father, Mark Bruener, being a former first-round pick of the Steelers, as well as a current scout that contributed to his son getting selected. Carson Bruener may appreciate his father helping him out, but he wants to be known for his own accomplishments, as he told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

“I feel like a lot of people will put their own pressure on me,” Bruener told Batko. “Like, ‘Oh, his dad was a first-round pick, he started for nine years,’ all those different things. It was my challenge to build my own legacy at U-Dub [Washington]. That’s something I feel like I accomplished, and now it’s just the same thing. It’s something I feel like I’ve already done. Obviously, we’re now at a higher level, higher stakes, but it’s still my own legacy and still my story."

Bruener was not drafted just for his father to walk around and show him off. He is still expected play well in any role that is asked of him. It's all but set in stone that he will begin his career as a special teams ace, as Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith mentioned right after he was drafted. Smith wants the rookie to play on punt and kickoff, whether the Steelers are receiving the ball or giving it away, and that's how he will get his start in the NFL. 

The Steelers do have a crowded linebacker room, which means Bruener will not get many chances on defense in 2025. Patrick Queen will still wear the green dot, while Payton Wilson checks in for passing downs and Malik Harrison comes in to help stop the run. That means the seventh rounder will be competing with Cole Holcomb for that fourth inside spot. Holcomb has not played in the last season and a half due to a gruesome knee injury from 2023. 

If Bruener does well on special teams in his rookie year, he could move up the depth chart in his second year, as the linebacker core is only going to get older from here. Queen and Harrison will be on the final year of their contracts, and Holcomb most likely won't be brought back. That would open up more chances for him to build his own legacy, but he has to prove himself as a key contributor on special teams first. 

Bruener mentioned that he struggled to be anything more than Mark Bruener's son in college, but he eventually made himself known without having his father's name attached to him. He's looking to do the same thing at the professional level. TJ Watt was able to make himself known by something other than JJ Watt's little brother, so it's still possible.

Steelers Mean No Disrespect To Mark Bruener

While Carson Bruener says he wants his own legacy, that is not meant to be a jab at his dad. There is still plenty of love and mutual respect between them. He just wants everyone to call him by his own name, as opposed to being known as someone's kid. Mark Bruener will still be there to support him and do what he can to help his son become a star at the NFL level.