Steelers Resigning Greg Warren a Safe Bet

Of course the Steelers signed Greg Warren to another 1 year deal.

If it’s not broke, then don’t fix it. Greg Warren has been snapping long in the black and gold with little interruption since 2005, 165 games all told. Warren has been remarkably consistent over his long career and there’s no reason to believe he’ll be anything else in 2016.

Greg Warren is part of a pretty exclusive club too actually. He’s one of four current Steelers who were on both the 2005 and 2009 Super Bowl teams. The other three members of this group are of course Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison, and Heath Miller.

Warren is 34 years old but his position is one of skill, not athleticism. So, although age robs many of their athletic talent, it does not prevent someone from executing a skill. That’s why people who run track or box have a limited lifespan but things like golf or pool you can play for a lifetime. Warren really has a nice little racket going on in Pittsburgh. Just look between your legs and spin that ball, collect the checks.

But it’s not quite that simple, is it? Upside down, push, spin. Ok, fair enough. But then you do it again, and again, and again. It’s been 11 years now and Warren has been throwing that ball back their without incident. That’s quite a remarkable stretch. Maybe it’s happened but I don’t recall a messed up snap in that entire period, not from Warren anyway.

So who is this mysterious guy? Where did he come from. How has he stowed away on the Steelers Super Bowl adventures for all these years? His lack of notoriety actually speaks to his skill. A great long snapper is one you don’t notice, as you only really notice them when something goes wrong. Nonetheless, who is this Greg Warren character?

Well, Warren was a multisport athlete in high school. He did track and played center in football. He walked on as a long snapper at UNC and after a year became the starter. Eventually his play earned his a scholarship. Warren did well academically and was a double major. His senior year he finished his college career as special teams captain.

More from Steelers News

• Mel Kiper Jr. makes predictable pick for Steelers in first NFL mock draft
• Steelers news: Brian Flores odds to land HC job, no projected compensatory picks, and more
• Why Jordan Addison to the Steelers is a good idea
• 4 reasons Steelers would have been embarrassed in the NFL playoffs
• The easiest cut the Pittsburgh Steelers will make in 2023

After graduation Warren tried to make a run at the NFL. He came in aged 24, standing 6’3″, and weighing 252 pounds. He’s got decent size and he was strong in the weight room. He didn’t get drafted but as an undrafted free agent he got picked up by the Steelers. He entered camp competing for the job and won it.

Warren played all 16 games that year. He hit the ground running. He did have a fumble that year. Woops. But he must’ve learned his lesson as that was the only one of his career.

That year, he also won the Super Bowl with the Steelers, their first Super Bowl ring since the Steel Curtain days. Heath Miller was a rookie that year too. Quite a way to start his career.

In 2008 Warren signed a 3 year, 2.3 million dollar contract. Typically however he’s been on one year deals for, or for near, the veteran minimum. Ironically, the next couple years were the toughest of his career. Warren played fine when he was on the field. He just wasn’t always on the field.

In fall of 2008, Warren’s value became pretty apparent. He injured his knee and was out the rest of the season. In the game he was injured in, the Steelers had to think fast. Not a lot of teams are keeping two long snappers on the sidelines. The replacement was James Harrison. He threw it over the punters head resulting in a safety. Yikes.

Warren got his job back in 2009 but again had a season ending injury to his knee. Warren, again, came back and got his job back. Since then, the injuries have gone away and except for a few tackles Warren has been pretty much invisible. Which is exactly how it should be.

He and Shaun Suisham were quite a team for a number of years. Suisham said of Warren according to Ed Bouchette of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “It’s a great deal of comfort when you’re working with a savvy veteran like Greg. He’s ridiculously consistent in terms of accuracy and velocity, and those are two critical elements of snapping.”

Next: Steelers Offseason Battle at Kicker

He’s gone through 4 kickers this season though. He didn’t miss a beat the whole time. But Warren’s been in the league going on 12 years. It’s not his first rodeo. Jacob Klinger of PennLive.com quoted Warren as saying, “Just another guy for me to hang out with in practice. There’s very little I have to do between kickers. It’s just more of them getting used to me and I try to stay as consistent as I can and make it easy on them.”