One of the fixtures in the Pittsburgh Steelers offense that helped lead the way to a pair of Super Bowl titles announced his retirement on Friday. Tight end Heath Miller called it quits from professional football after 11 seasons in the NFL, all with the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
Miller was a steady rock in the Steelers offense and could regularly be counted on to be in the lineup. In the 168 regular season games Miller played for Pittsburgh, he started 167 of them. He also retires as the franchise leader for receptions (592), receiving yards (6,569) and touchdown receptions (45) by a tight end.
Only one other player in Steelers history had more catches than Miller’s 592 career receptions for the black and gold. That would be Hines Ward, who ended his career with a cool 1,000 career catches for the Steelers. Like Miller, he played a role in those two Super Bowl title runs (and a third Super Bowl that ended with a loss) and was named to two Pro Bowl teams.
Miller was a standout at the University of Virginia before jumping to the NFL. The John Mackey Award winner in 2004, Miller also earned unanimous All-American accolades and was named to the Al-ACC team twice.
Drafted with the 30th pick overall in the 2005 Draft by the Steelers, it did not take long for Miller to prove his value on the team. Miller picked up the team’s rookie of the year award in 2005 and later earned team MVP honors in 2012.
So, what does this mean for the Steelers? For starters, it is time to find another solid tight end to fit into the offense. The Steelers drafted Jesse James out of Penn State in the fifth round a year ago and 32-year old Matt Spaeth is under contract through the 2016 season. There are not a ton of great options at tight end coming ou in the NFL Draft this spring outside of maybe Hunter Henry out of Arkansas. Will the Steelers use an early pick on a tight end? We’ll see.
[Steelers]