Cam Heyward has had a legendary career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, ever since they drafted him out of Ohio State in 2011. Despite having a stacked individual resume, Heyward has had some bad moments in the playoffs with the Steelers. He holds a 1-9 record in the postseason, with his only win while on the roster coming in 2017, the year when he was not playing due to injury.

While the losses have been hard to digest, the 2020 season, when they were defeated in the Wild Card round by the Cleveland Browns, was tough to overcome for the 7-time Pro Bowler. The team suffered a disappointing 48-37  loss at the hands of the Browns. They had gone 28-0 down after the first quarter, but tried putting on a comeback only to fall short in the end. Having lost a lot of games in the postseason by then, that loss in particular triggered feelings of retirement for Heyward.

“It’s one of the saddest pictures to watch Ben and Pouncey sit on that bench after that game because there weren’t any fans. We had maybe like 50 family members there. And for that game to play out like that, that was… boy… I thought I was retired after that game,” Heyward said on the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast.

At that point, Heyward was only 31 and playing some of his best football. However, what brought that thought to his mind was the feeling of disappointment, as the Steelers had one of the best starts to the season, winning 11 straight games. They ultimately finished with a 12-4 record, but it was enough to get them a place in the postseason. Browns themselves had a decent season and finished with an 11-5 record, but the Steelers had a stacked roster.

However, the game itself started on a false note for the Steelers when Pouncey’s errant snap on the opening play sailed over Ben Roethlisberger’s head for a touchdown. Cleveland used that momentum and built a seemingly unassailable 28-0 first-quarter lead. From thereon, there was a fightback, but not enough to win the game.

And since Heinz Field was operating under COVID-19 restrictions, there was not a large audience present, amplifying the hollow nature of the proceedings.

A moment that did not sit well with Steelers fans, and even Heyward was the image of Maurkice Pouncey and Roethlisberger sitting by themselves on the bench, processing the devastating loss and their futures together. At that moment, it appeared to be the last time they would both play in black and gold. Part of that did come true as Pouncy announced his retirement shortly after the season, while Roethlisberger came back for one more.

Why the Steelers’ leadership core was impossible to replace

The loss carried further significance as Heyward believed that it marked the end of that era of Steelers football that consisted of Pouncey, Roethlisberger, and himself. His fellow guest on the podcast, Eric Ebron, who was their teammate at that time, highlighted how important Pouncey was to the locker room.

“I thought it was over for the Pounce talks. I knew that s*** was c***d. It was over for just what he brings. Besides Megatron, Pounce is probably one of the best leaders I’ve seen. And it has nothing to do with talking. It’s nothing to do with talking. It’s like aura, presence, what I do when I’m here. All of that… I was gonna miss all of that.” Ebron said.

Pouncey was the anchor of the Steelers’ line for more than a decade. He made nine Pro Bowls in 11 seasons in the league and will almost certainly make it to the Hall of Fame, but as Ebron mentioned, his leadership and presence in the locker room were so crucial to the team itself.

“The talks with Pouncey on how to become a Steeler, what I need to do, how do I become Ben’s favorite target. Like all of those leadership qualities on offense, we were losing that. That was tough. I knew that was gonna hurt us bad.” Ebron said.

More than the playoff loss itself, it was the realization that the Steelers were losing one of the defining voices of their locker room that briefly made Heyward believe his own time in Pittsburgh had come to an end.

The Steelers, after Roethlisberger’s retirement, have also been in somewhat of a quarterback purgatory. After swinging and missing on Kenny Pickett, the Steelers have used a revolving door of veteran quarterbacks, including Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers, to fill the gap, but they are still looking for their next homegrown franchise QB to take them into the future.

And after Big Ben retired the following year, Heyward is the last remaining vestige of that era of Steelers football. And now, as the Steelers enter a new era under new head coach Mike McCarthy, Heyward will be in charge of shepherding the next era of football in the Steel City.