Jaylen Warren’s running style has a simple rule attached to it: one defender is not enough.
The Pittsburgh Steelers back, who was recently named AFC Offensive Player of the Week, said that mentality goes all the way back to high school, when his uncle - also his coach - laid down a warning that stuck with him.
“I've always played like that,” Warren recalled on the Rich Eisen Show. “There was a playoff game I got tackled by one person, and... we knew we were going to win, but he was like, 'if I see that again, you're running heels after this game. Don't get tackled by one person.'”
Warren said that moment changed the way he thought about contact and effort.
“I remember ever since that moment, I was like, I will not get tackled by one person,” Warren said.
That same edge still shows up every time he takes the field for Pittsburgh, but Warren says he keeps himself from overthinking it. His approach is straightforward: don’t turn football into something bigger than it needs to be.
“When I'm out on the field, I just act like I'm playing backyard football,” Warren said.
He also has a pregame habit that keeps him connected to where it all started. After warmups, Warren heads back to the locker room and watches his high school highlights on his phone.
For Warren, it’s a way to stay rooted in the mindset that has carried from his high school days all the way to the NFL.
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