A special moment 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/V3G1ux7F6Q
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 4, 2022
Now this is cool. The late “Iron Head” Craig Heyward rose to prominence in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints (playing 68 games from 1988 to 1992, including the playoffs), but his children grew up in Georgia while he played for the Atlanta Falcons later in his career — and two of his sons played a part in taking down that same Falcons team on Sunday.
The younger son Connor scored his first career touchdown as a pro in the 19-16 win, scoring on a 17-yard reception. It was the same venue in which he caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to start Michigan State’s comeback win over the Pitt Panthers last season. The elder Heyward reflected on Sunday’s emotional moment after the game while wearing his father’s No. 34 Falcons jersey.
“This morning, me and him went to my dad’s grave and we got to share a moment there. So I was already pretty emotional when he got the touchdown. I don’t like to be Mr. Softy, but like, that really hit me. Luckily there wasn’t a camera on me, because I was a mess,” Heyward said during his postgame press conference. “I don’t like to be the soppy person, but it was one of those moments. Back home, this is where they had the Peach Bowl last year, and he got his touchdown here. I like to think God and my Dad are always working together.”
Moments like this are what make sports special. It would be nice to see Heyward wearing his dad’s Saints jersey instead of the dirty birds’ red and black, but it’s tough to hold that against him given the circumstances and how much this means to their family. It sure helps that this all follows a Falcons loss in the very-muddled NFC South.
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