Zach Banner was not born and raised a California boy, but did become one of the USC Trojans playing for the USC during his college career. Now, in his fifth NFL season and his third with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he’s going to be a Yinzer. Now born and raised Pennsylvanian Matt Feiler has packed his things and headed west.
Former Steelers who started guard and tackle, earned a three-year $ 21 million deal that offseason to sign with the Los Angeles Chargers. This brought mixed feelings for his friend and former teammate in Banner, who spoke to Brian Batko for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this off-season.
“I was so happy for him,” he said of the former three-year-old practice player for his ability to land a significant long-term contract. “I was so mad we couldn’t get him, but that’s the deal, and that’s the opportunities that arise one day.”
Originally not occupied from Bloomsburg of all places, Feiler signed with the Houston Texans in 2014, where he played guard and duel, but only stayed in the training team. He was with the Steelers for the next two years, but wasn’t able to crack the 53-man roster until 2017.
Feiler played little on the squad that first year, but would emerge as a starter in 2018, Banner’s first year in Pittsburgh, and replace the injured Marcus Gilbert in a real duel. There he would start 25 games in the next two seasons.
When Ramon Foster retired in 2020, Feiler’s versatility opened the door for banners to rise to the starting line-up. The former slipped from the right to the left guard and the latter defeated Chukwuma Okorafor in a training camp battle for the vacant right tackle job.
Banner suffered an ACL tear at the start of the season and has a lot to prove. But if the Steelers get him back on a two-year $ 9.5 million deal, he’ll get that chance. But he will also miss not having Feiler with him, with whom he trained during the pandemic last off-season.
“When he had Emery, his daughter, we trained this off-season. COVID just happened, ”he said to Batko. “We trained together in Schenley throughout the pandemic [Park] and walk all over town, or we’d go to his house up in Wexford, go to his house every day and lift weights in his garage. “
As Banner wishes him all the best in the next chapter of his life and in the life of his family, he couldn’t help but poke him, noting that the Pennsylvania boy on the west coast will stick out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, there seems to be a growing number of Steelers fans getting tired of Banner’s California boy routine, based at least on the article comments every time I write about him. As always, the best way to silence people is to prove yourself in the field.
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