The Steelers have a new folk hero on their hands, an undrafted, mostly unwanted rookie who has become one of the remarkable stories of
this training camp. Isaac “Redzone” Redman, fans are calling him. Redman, from Bowie State, got yet more chances to deliver on the goal line yesterday and he came through as he has done since he first set foot on the Saint Vincent College campus in Latrobe with the Steelers. Redman scored all three times against the Steelers’ first-team defense on the second live goal-line drill of training camp yesterday. And, in an unprecedented move, coach Mike Tomlin had him carry the ball on each of the seven live plays run from the 1 in that drill. Redman scored on five, came close on a disputed call on another and was stopped one time up the middle by the second-team defense. He first attracted attention when he scored on his only two chances in that drill a week ago. Then on Thursday, against the Arizona Cardinals, he scored the Steelers’ only two touchdowns, from 3 and 5 yards in a 20-10 victory. “It gives me a bit of a confidence booster,” Redman said of his first three scores yesterday. “They told me I was going to get in with the first team to see if I could repeat the same thing. The offensive line had some great blocks. The fullback had a great block and I basically walked in on a couple of them.” Redman said the Steelers were the only team that really wanted to sign him after he went undrafted in April. If he makes it, he would become the first player from Bowie State to play in the NFL.
The Steelers have been looking for a short-yardage back, unsuccessfully, since Jerome Bettis retired after the 2005 season. They drafted Frank “The Tank” Summers (5 feet 10, 240 pounds) to possibly handle that role. Redman (6-0, 230) is giving him a run for it.