“His best days were ahead of him“ - Adam Schefter reveals Steelers' brass thought Haskins had a shot at starting in 2022
Dwayne Haskins passed away over the weekend as a result of a car accident on a highway in Florida. Over the last several days, seemingly the entire NFL has poured out support for the deceased quarterback. On his podcast, NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed how highly the team thought of the quarterback.
According to the insider, some in the Steelers organization thought he had a shot at becoming the starter in 2022. Here's what he had to say while speaking about the player's time spent with the Steelers:
"Most recently, Dwayne appreciated the opportunity that the Steelers had given him, and he was responding to it. Every day when he left practice, he would bump fists with head coach Mike Tomlin, with general manager Kevin Kolbert, and with team president Art Rooney, which was his way of showing that he was grateful to be a part of the organization."
An apology and a tribute to Dwayne Haskins. https://t.co/QxjShC4ZYu
He went on, saying the quarterback fully bought in to the city of Pittsburgh:
"They grew incredibly fond of him, and there was a mutual respect and appreciation. Dwayne loved living in Pittsburgh. He adopted it as his home and rarely left. He was in the Steelers training facility every day after this season ended, working to make himself better, to give himself a chance to compete for the team's starting quarterback job."
Schefter continued by saying some thought the quarterback was well on his way to taking over the franchise:
"There are those in the organization who are convinced he was on his way to doing it, and that his best days were ahead of him. Dwayne was with the Steelers quarterbacks Coach Mike Sullivan every day watching film. And when he wasn't taking steps there in the film room, he was in the weight room working out."
When you think of Dwayne Haskins, think about his smile. Think of the positive impact he wanted to have on the people around him.
Our tribute from SportsCenter this weekend https://t.co/h6Jf7SWev5
He went on, talking about Haskins' good spirit off and on the field:
"He was making a difference, not just on the field, but off it, where he was known to be incredibly selfless. He was as active as any Steeler in the community. Never saying no to anything the team requested, going to food drives around Thanksgiving with turkeys, and taking kids shopping for toys around Christmas.”
Adam Schefter's apology about Dwayne Haskins' death announcement
Schefter was one of the first to break the original story. While doing so, the insider appeared to take an insensitive jab at the state of the quarterback's career in the same Tweet announcing his death. The post has since been deleted, but the insider didn't shy away from what he did. He gave an apology on his podcast before talking in-depth about Haskins' life.
Here's how he put it:
“First, I wanted to address the death of Dwayne Haskins and the tweet that I posted this weekend. It was insensitive. It was a mistake. And I can assure you [it was] not my intention. I wish I could have that tweet back. The focus should have been on Dwayne, who he was as a person, a husband, a friend, and so much more."
He also apologized to Haskins' friends, family, coworkers, and anyone he offended:
"I wanted to apologize to Dwayne's family, his friends, the players in the National Football League, and offer my condolences to everybody close to Dwayne and in the way I failed Saturday."
We here at Sportskeeda continue to send our deepest condolences to Dwayne Haskins' loved ones during this difficult time.