3 forgotten former Steelers players who are miraculously still in the NFL

Our focus is on the present, but here are three former Pittsburgh Steelers still paying in the NFL that you might have forgotten about. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers are an old-school team with philosophies that have stuck around through the generations. One of those is retaining their own players. If they feel like they have a really talented football player, they will typically do everything in their power to keep that player around for the long haul.

Most of the players who miss that mark seem to bounce around the league for a while before they’re never heard of again. A select few manage to become better football players on their new team.

However, some former Steelers are rarely talked about. It’s been years since these players have been in Pittsburgh, but I find it impressive that these three guys are still sticking around the NFL:

Former Steelers OT Kelvin Beachum

This is a late-round gem that doesn’t get talked about enough. As a former compensatory pick all the way back in the 2012 NFL Draft, nobody ever gave Kelvin Beachum much of a chance. At 6’2” flat and 303 pounds, Beachum was remarkably undersized for an NFL offensive tackle and many projected him as a guard at the next level.

However, Beachum quickly rose up the ranks to become the starting left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2014, Beachum earned an 82.6 overall grade thanks to his stellar pass protection as Ben Roethlisberger’s blindside protector.

A decade after being drafted, Beachum is still listed as the starting right tackle for the Arizona Cardinals. Who would have ever thought he would have had such a successful NFL career.