Donny's Exclusive Interview at Super Bowl 59 with Miles Kilibrew

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00:00Live from Radio Row, Super Bowl 59, New Orleans Convention Center. Donny right

00:03side here, Miles Killebrew with me today. What a great guest we have. How you doing?

00:07Hey, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Let's have some fun to get

00:10right into it. I always like to get the background of the players, right? Okay.

00:12High school, obviously, you're in the pros. You're probably very good in high school.

00:15We know that. Where did you wind up in college and how did you get there? I was

00:19okay in high school. Okay. Wasn't very highly recruited. Mm-hmm. People in Vegas

00:23know my story. I didn't lift any weights. My dad didn't let me do

00:28that. So, I only had one offer. Wow. And that was the Southern Utah University.

00:31Yes. Great school, great program. Yep. Went there, studied engineering. Mm-hmm. And

00:37thought I was gonna be an engineer. And one day, you know, some scouts came and

00:42they checked us out my junior year. And then I got drafted to the Lions. Yeah.

00:47Fourth round. So, I mean, that was it was exciting time for me, for my family, for

00:52my friends and the rest is history. Now, I'm in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. Now, talk

00:58to me about Detroit because you see the success right now and you are connected

01:01that organization. Yep. That town was bleeding for a winner for decades and

01:04decades and decades. How do you feel even though you're not there? Right. Still a kinship

01:08with them feel good for the organization? 100%. You know, their

01:13success, I couldn't be more excited for, first of all, the ownership of the team.

01:18The Forts have always been terrific. Yeah. Great people. But a lot of the support

01:23I am still very, very close to, very connected to. And so, I have a lot of

01:28friends there. I'm excited for their success. That's good stuff here. Now,

01:31getting to Pittsburgh, how did you leave Detroit? Was Pittsburgh the destination

01:36you wanted to go to? How did you find yourself in the Steel City? Sure. I had

01:39finished my contract with Detroit. And dude, I gotta tell you, I've

01:46always admired the Steelers. You know, when you hear Pittsburgh Steelers, I

01:50think it's synonymous with just tough, hard-nosed football, a legacy of winning.

01:54Yep. And I wanted to be a Steeler. And so, from the moment I put on that helmet, I

02:00knew it was the right fit for me. I consider it a match made in heaven. You

02:04know, I have Coach Tomlin, Coach Danny Smith is my personal coach, dude.

02:10And he's amazing. He's amazing. I couldn't ask for a better situation for me and

02:14my family. Now, safety by trade, but one of the toughest jobs in professional

02:18sports that the people don't know are the special teams. That is the heartbeat

02:21and the soul of the team. You're an all-pro, two-time pro bowler. How did you

02:25find your niche there? And is it just more of a want? Like, you have to want to

02:29be on special teams and be dominant. I mean, dude, I have always loved special

02:33teams. Yeah. My coach who drafted me to college told me he was gonna take a

02:38chance on me because of my special teams film. And so, I've been doing this for a

02:42very long time. I was blocking punts in college. I love teams. And so, when

02:48I got to do it in the league, I consider it a privilege. Yeah. I didn't

02:53skip a beat. I've been loving it ever since. And to get these Pro Bowl nods

02:57that I have had in the recent years, I think is reflective of just a solid team

03:02that I've had around me. I've had some awesome guys on my units that have just

03:07been truly phenomenal. And I think it's honestly a team effort whenever a guy

03:11gets the Pro Bowl nod from a unit. It's great to hear, too, because I know

03:15Danny Smith. He used to be with the Philadelphia Eagles. Gum-chewing there.

03:17But Mike Tomlin. You want to talk about legendary in one city? It's Mike Tomlin

03:21at Pittsburgh. When you go to that organization, he says the standard is the

03:25standard. What are the expectations of just being a Pittsburgh Steeler? Well,

03:30when I first got here, I knew that the expectation was to win, right? You had to

03:35be dominant. You had to be one of the best at what you do. Yeah. To be a

03:40Steeler. Now that I have spent a couple years here in Pittsburgh, I

03:46understand that if you really want to be a Steeler, you have to know what it means

03:51to be involved in the community. It has to be a desire that comes from within to

03:55serve your community in Pittsburgh. And so that's something that I've really

03:58tried to take on and showcase is, hey, listen, we have a strong community in

04:03Pittsburgh, but it's only as strong as some of our weakest links. And so how can

04:07we really band together and support those who might need that support the

04:11most? Absolutely. Love the Pittsburgh Steelers. Great fan base all together

04:14there. But obviously as we talk the Super Bowl, we'll get there in a moment. You're

04:17doing some big things off the field as well. Tell the people out there what you

04:20have going on. Well, I'm here today partnering with a organization called

04:26Cafe Momentum. Yes. I actually partnered with them for my cause, my cleats, this

04:30year. And oh my goodness, they're doing great things in the city. I mean, they

04:35have a brick and mortar location there, but essentially what they are is a

04:40restaurant. And they bring in youth who have been involved in the justice system.

04:45And so, you know, from incarceration, they come out, they are given an opportunity

04:50through Cafe Momentum to kind of rebrand themselves. They're taught culinary,

04:54communication, leadership skills, and they just become these well-rounded

04:58individuals that are no longer bound by this idea that they are who they were at

05:03their lowest point in their life. Some of the mistakes that they've made, they're

05:06no longer identified as just that. And so, it's great stuff that they're doing.

05:10I'm excited to be a part of it. And, you know, for anyone who wants to get

05:13involved or learn more, please, cafemomentum.org is a great way to

05:17start. Doing big things off the field, maybe bigger things off the field. Thank

05:20you. Miles Killebrew, Pittsburgh Steelers, Maven on the outside, and All Pro, by the

05:24way. Congratulations. Thanks for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you.

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