Life in the NFL: Steelers share their adventures in moving to Pittsburgh
Published November 5, 10:34 EDT
by Bo Marchionte
Pittsburgh – Moving is rough, even when it goes well.
The upheaval of packing up and moving is a daunting task for anyone. It’s a reshuffling of everyday life. The normal known is now unknown as you get reacquainted with normalcy all over again.
Walking through the locker room after practice on the southside of Pittsburgh at the Steelers facility – I was curious.
How does hassle of moving go for players in the National Football League?
“It’s so fast paced,” Myles Jack said.
Drafted out of UCLA in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Jack spent the first six NFL seasons in Jacksonville playing for the Jaguars.
Jack awoke in the sunshine state on March 15th a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He would be released by the team later that same day. Two days later (March 17th), he would sign a two-year contract with the Steelers.
Jack has tried to maximize his money. Making dollars and sense a reality.
“Me personally, I got drafted, went in the second round and went a bought a house,” Jack said.
“In a golf and country club. I had the house for like four years and then I ended up buying another house and even further out and just rented the other one.
“After two years of that I got shipped up here, so I just rented a house up here. So, just moving around. A lot of financials. Making good decisions. Good investments. Trying to get equity in the houses that you buy, you know what I mean. You know me. I’m always talking that money.
“Just trying to make good decisions with money and everything. For example, the house in Jacksonville I’m renting that out and still getting money for that. It’s actually paying for the rent for this house (Pittsburgh). So, it’s cool.”
The Steelers’ leading tackler this season, Jack is still in the process of making his new house his home.
“It’s set up a s basic as possible,” Jack said. “I got like a couch a couple of pictures. A couple of decorations but nothing crazy like a real man type of set up. The TV is mounted and everything. You just try to make it as nice as possible. Then over time add certain things.
“Even this weekend I went and bought bigger TVs to put up and just try make it more homing. Instead of coming home to like the TVs on the ground and stuff.”
Despite doing his best to avoid any hiccups during the move and having experience from being a highly touted rookie and settling in comfortably in Jacksonville, Jack has had his fair share of nuances since arriving in Pittsburgh.
“Even when I just got here, I originally got an apartment downtown,” Jack explained. “I ended up having to break that lease and going to get the crip at where I’m at now. There’s a lot of work but it’s part of it. There is a lot that goes into especially between moving from city to city.
“I’ve been fortunate in kind of being in a better predicament than some other guys. But there are guys who are journey men who bounce from here to here to here. They got to break leases.
“Trying to navigate a new city. You got to get the lawn people. The utilities that you got to pay for. Just learn how to be an adult pretty quick.”
Jack is not alone among the bounty of new faces in Pittsburgh.
Veteran receiver Miles Boykin was waived by the Baltimore Ravens on April 18th of this year. The next day the Steelers claimed Boykin off waivers.
Boykin’s tenure in the NFL along with language in the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) made his move expense free. He made it a point to leave nothing behind since the CBA was going to cover the moving cost.
“So, I took everything (from Baltimore),” Boykin said.
“Since I was claimed the team (Pittsburgh) had to pay for me to like move here. Everything from my Baltimore place got moved here. Pretty much the same place but pretty much just here. I got a lot of stuff.”
The former third-round pick out of Notre Dame in the 2019 NFL Draft still faced some of the headaches all movers deal with.
“The most important thing to do is get your internet set up,” Boykin said. “So, I can watch the film. Actually, the first week I had my place. I couldn’t get the wi-fi or internet people to come. So, I was going to Starbucks and downloading all the film.
“So, I was like at Starbucks for an hour a day just downloading all the film. Then go back home and watch it. I don’t even like coffee and I’m in there just drinking like tea or something. That’s my horror story of procrastinating. I should of did that ahead of time.”
Boykin says procrastinating is something he does a lot.
“In Baltimore. The draft was in April,” Boykin laughed. “I didn’t get mine (house) until August. Here (Pittsburgh) I moved in the second week (of the season) into a townhouse. Obviously, I procrastinate a lot. I was in a hotel. I was in the hotel just chilling.”
His Fighting Irish teammate between 2015-18 Chase Claypool gave Boykin the option to move into his place.
“Chase (Claypool) offered me to stay with him, but I wasn’t going through all that,” Boykin laughed.
Boykin shared some similarities of Jack. The season can be overwhelmingly busy. It’s a roller coaster ride that doesn’t end. The constant Groundhog Day keeps these guys going without much time to take in the amenities while being a professional athlete.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Boykin said.
“You get into football season and it’s just – I don’t want to say repetitive, but you get on such a schedule that you feel like you really haven’t moved in. At the end of the day, it feels like the place you stay is just a place to lay your head. All you need is a bed, a TV and a couch.”
He said he doesn’t mind the peace and quiet. The bachelor life suits him just fine at this juncture in his life.
“I don’t have a family,” Boykin said. “So, it’s not like I’m doing much. I ain’t got anybody to take care. Sometimes my mom will come into town but other than that, I just – Nap, watch TV and get on the iPad and study some film.”
Another new face is center Mason Cole.
He signed a three-year contract in March at the onset of free agency in the NFL. Originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals, in the 2018 NFL Draft, Cole would get traded the Minnesota in March of 2021. Cole spent one season with the Vikings before signing with Pittsburgh.
“We will feel settled,” Cole said of third team in three years.
“I have a wife and a kid. Look over there and look at Cam (Heyward) staring at me (laughing). Weirdo. (Heyward was giving Cole crazy eyes trying to get him to laugh) The Steelers did a really good job of helping us find a place and get comfortable with the area.”
Unlike bachelor’s Jack and Boykin.
Cole is not alone in the process of getting acclimating to his new surroundings. He credits his wife Madison in helping the family properly situated.
“She takes care of a lot,” Cole said. “She does a really good job. She has a fulltime job of taking care of our kid and taking care of me too. So, being able to have her at home has been really helpful for me in my career.”
The couple has shown the ability to adjust on the fly.
“We got engaged my rookie year,” Cole said. “Married after my second season. Then a kid after my third season. I think having a wife and kid makes it easy. It’s comforting to know.”
While Jack and Boykin are trying to add a touch of life to their new places. Cole has the advantage of having Madison making their place into a home.
“Especially now she is decorating,” Cole said. “Now beginning of the season, she is getting ready for fall. She’ll be decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. She has enjoyed it too. We love the area we are in. She has made some good friends with other wives on the team and other wives outside of football to. So, I feel she feels happy about it.”
Hard to imagine.
Despite the incomes that are much larger than most, it certainly appears that these guys have dealt with the exact challenges as anyone else when packing up from one place and moving to another destination.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt