Depot After Dark: Bettis Helps Out, Najee Interviewed, Remembering The Steagles

A Steelers Depot daily segment. A quick hit of some Pittsburgh Steelers-related stories that may not require a complete article but nuggets worth mentioning and passing on to you guys.

Your Depot After Dark for June 20.

Bettis Lends A Hand

Jerome Bettis and Charlie Batch remain active in the Pittsburgh community long after their Steelers playing days. Per KDKA’s Bob Pompeani, Bettis spoke at a Batch Foundation event Tuesday on the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

Bettis was joined by the Steelers’ rookies.

Batch and Bettis were teammates for years in Pittsburgh and have continued that friendship. The “Best of the Batch” Foundation has done great work in and around the city for years.

Najee Harris Speaks

Pittsburgh Steelers RB Najee Harris declined to speak with reporters throughout the team’s spring practices, explaining he’d speak at training camp instead. But Harris has done at least one offseason interview, talking with an Alabama reporter at this year’s Fam Jam softball game in Birmingham.

Harris was not asked and did not talk about the Steelers. He offered his thoughts on new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and evaluated his own “trash” baseball skills.

Remembering The Steagles

A day late but I gotta talk about Steelers history whenever I get the chance. Yesterday marked the anniversary of the team’s WWII-forced merger between the Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. Dubbed the “Steagles,” the teams combined rosters due to not having enough players to field a team on their own. Many of their players had been drafted or signed up to fight in the war.

The team was a surprising success, technically recording the first winning season in Steelers history, going 5-4-1. However, the Steagles failed to make the playoffs.

The Steelers attempted to do the same in 1944, merging with the Chicago Cardinals. That team was a disaster, the coaches spending more time at the racetrack than in the meeting room, and it went 0-10. The club was unofficially referred to as the “Carpets” for the way teams walked all over them, outscored 328-108 on the year.

Pittsburgh would return to solely being the Steelers in 1945.