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Calvin Austin Keeps Proving Size Doesn't Matter

The Pittsburgh Steelers rookie has proven everyone wrong his whole career.

Noah Strackbein

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PITTSBURGH -- Size doesn't matter. In football, people try to make it matter, but it doesn't - and Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Calvin Austin is another example of why. 

Being recruited out of high school, Austin didn't get any scholarship offers to go play Division I football. Why? Size. 

"I would go to camps and have great showings. I'd run a fast 40, but they'd also be like 'your size,' and 'you need to get bigger,'" Austin said. "I wrote down in my phone in my notes all the things that coaches and people have said to me in the past about that. That's kind of my motivation." 

That motivation pushed him to be a promising fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Sauce Gardner named him the most difficult matchup he had in college. And even when a 6-foot-3, top-five pick compliments Austin, the focus remains his size. 

"The most respect a player can get is from other players," Austin said. "For him to have high regards for me, it means a lot. I also have high regards for him."

Coming into the NFL, Austin will be talked about plenty for his 5-foot-9 frame. He's used to it. But even when bigger players get a good hit on him, he's all about making sure they know he's getting back up. 

"I've took plenty of big hits," Austin said. "The best thing about that is popping up after and flexing on them. After you make that catch, take that big hit, get up and flex on them a little bit."

The Steelers' rookie has a resume better than most receivers over 6-foot. And on the field, no one is talking about his size.

"Against a couple teams, I've had some double and triple coverages," Austin said. "I've seen some crazy stuff."

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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