Long may Heath run
The news didn鈥檛 drop like the typical bad news on a Friday afternoon.
Bad news loves that black hole in coverage, but Heath Miller merely loved the lack of fuss we were able to make.
I can just hear him telling his wife now, 鈥淚 hope Wexell doesn鈥檛 write one of his ghastly tribute columns about me.鈥�
I鈥檝e had to write a few of those lately, but Heath is wrong if he thinks he鈥檚 going to sneak away without a few of my tears falling on the keyboard.
Not that Heath would think so diabolically, of course. As Troy Polamalu once said of him, 鈥淗eath is someone who鈥檚 innately humble. He doesn鈥檛 struggle to be humble.鈥�
Polamalu said that he himself struggles with purity of heart, but not Heath. No way. And, that鈥檚 the biggest reason he鈥檒l be missed.
Forget about his greatness on the field. Heath鈥檚 mark, at least to me, will be his character.
Someone said to me the night of his retirement, 鈥淚鈥檓 sure you know him a lot better than I do.鈥� I answered that, yes, I鈥檝e traveled to Heath鈥檚 hometown, had dinner with his mother and father, met his wife and have sat with Heath as he fussed over his four children. But, I added that you know him just as well I do.
We all do. What we see from Heath Miller is what we get.
I sat in on Heath鈥檚 first interview in Pittsburgh in April of 2005, the day after he was drafted by the Steelers. I was working on a book at the time, specifically the most challenging chapter of 鈥淢en of Steel,鈥� the chapter on Bill Dudley.
Dudley was with the Steelers only a few years, so there wasn鈥檛 much information about his time in Pittsburgh. The archives revealed him only as simple and old-school and team-oriented, just as the phone interview had. And, when Heath stepped to the podium, I felt as if I was trapped in a 1940s time warp. I wasn鈥檛 surprised to learn that Heath was born and raised in western Virginia, in the heart of the Appalachians 鈥� in the heart of Bill Dudley country.
I pretty much had to visit that part of the country to get to know Heath a little better. The first NFL game he ever attended, I learned, was in Cleveland. He sat in the 鈥淒awg Pound鈥� with his dad, Earl Miller, and his high school coach, Doug Hubbard.
Hubbard was an avowed Steelers fans. Heath was a rabid Walter Payton fan.
鈥淗e was a very good high school quarterback. Very good,鈥� Hubbard told me. 鈥淎nd he was a safety. He鈥檇 come up and hit. He doesn鈥檛 shy from contact. And, when you鈥檝e got someone like that playing, everybody around him becomes better. They have to play better, and they did.鈥�
鈥淥ne time he went to the huddle,鈥� Heath鈥檚 mother Denise said,鈥� 鈥渁nd he said something about being lackadaisical. One of the players said, 鈥榃hat does that mean, Heath?鈥� But other than little things like that, he鈥檚 always been quiet.鈥�
I told Mrs. Miller that Heath鈥檚 quiet demeanor tended to frustrate reporters, that we always want more.
鈥淗e won鈥檛 give it to you,鈥� she said with a smile. 鈥淎nd, I鈥檓 so proud of him for that.鈥�
Mr. Miller, a farmer in Swords Creek, answered with a generality when I asked to name his most proud moment regarding his son.
鈥淛ust when he鈥檚 in the tunnel ready to come out onto the field,鈥� dad said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when your eyes well up. That鈥檚 when it hits you, again, that he鈥檚 made it to the league.鈥�
And what a career it鈥檚 been. In 11 seasons, Earl Heath Miller caught 592 passes for 6,569 yards and 45 touchdowns. He ranks second in franchise history in catches, third in receiving yards and fourth in touchdown catches. And he acted like he had been there 45 times, too.
One time, after one touchdown in Oakland, Miller gave fans a little more.
鈥淗e caught that touchdown and he looked right into the Black Hole and he gave them a little flex,鈥� said Ben Roethlisberger. 鈥淭hat was awesome.鈥�
But those stats of Miller鈥檚 didn鈥檛 happen because Heath hounded his buddy Ben in the huddle.
鈥淚鈥檒l ask Heath if he was open and he鈥檒l tell me no,鈥� Roethlisberger once said. 鈥淚鈥檒l look at film, and he was wide open.鈥�
Roethlisberger has called Miller the greatest teammate he鈥檚 ever played with 鈥渁t any level.鈥� But talk like that has always caused Heath to recoil. He hates the spotlight.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to like this interview,鈥� Heath told me once.
I asked him why.
鈥淚鈥檓 so boring,鈥� he said.
And in the middle of the interview I looked up and said, 鈥淵ou know what? You are boring.鈥�
鈥淚 told you!鈥� he exclaimed with a guffaw.
So humble.
And yet, so little to be humble about.
Roethlisberger no doubt can recount hundreds of third-down plays in which Heath bailed him, the Steelers, the city, heck, The Nation, out of trouble. Just this past season Miller took a brutal blow to the head at the goal line, but held on to set up Le鈥橵eon Bell鈥檚 touchdown run against San Diego at the buzzer.
Heath鈥檚 third-down catches against Cincinnati put the team into the playoffs, and then advanced them once they got there.
One of my favorite Heath Miller plays was a block he made on Ray Lewis in the 2008 AFC Championship Game. Miller was in the backfield and stuffed the blitzing Lewis to allow Roethlisberger time to complete a 15-yard pass to Santonio Holmes, who ran and then reversed field and got a block from, well, Heath, of course, and Miller escorted Holmes the final 20 yards into the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown play.
There was the one we all remember from 2012, in Baltimore, when Heath dove for the pylon to score the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Steelers went on to win that game at the buzzer, too.
There were also the headaches. Heath missed two games with a concussion after the most brutal hit I had witnessed sinced L.T. snapped Joe Theismann鈥檚 leg on a Monday night. That hit came from one of the dirty Ravens as well.
Blows like that no doubt went a long way in Heath鈥檚 decision this week. Even though we all wanted to see this selfless superstar play forever, Heath 鈥� with two rings and enough money to give four children more than a proper start in life 鈥� no doubt relied on the wisdom of his wife Katie, who knows a thing or two about the athletic field herself.
She was a soccer player at the University of Virginia. Heath introduced us this past training camp, and I, father of a girls soccer player, was in fan-like awe.
鈥淒o you know,鈥� I told them, 鈥渢hat getting a women鈥檚 soccer scholarship to UVA is more difficult, more prestigious, than getting a football scholarship.鈥�
鈥淭hank you!鈥� said Katie Miller as she looked at her husband as if she鈥檇 been trying to tell him that for years.
Heath just smiled. And he agreed.
He鈥檚 selfless that way.
He鈥檚 beautiful that way.
Long may Heath run.