Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: ‘The energy here is crazy’: In his first season with the team, this Steeler is making a difference on and off the field
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-
New Steelers defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day has been to two Super Bowls in his career, winning one and losing one.
Now in his ninth season in the NFL, he is grateful.
“The average career in the NFL is two and a half years, so I am really thankful,” Joseph-Day said last week during a visit to the Boys & Girls Club in Lawrenceville. “Especially for me because I am a sixth-round pick.”
The Stroudsburg, Pa. native is making an impact on and off the field in Pittsburgh. He sealed the Steelers win on Sunday.
With Pittsburgh ahead by 3 points and less than a minute remaining, the Cincinnati Bengals were driving. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow looked to pass, but second-year defensive lineman Derrick Harmon hit him, jarring the ball loose.
Joseph-Day beat a Bengals offensive lineman to the loose ball and held onto it as players leaped onto the pile and tried to claw it loose. The fumble recovery allowed the Steelers to kneel out the 30-27 victory at Acrisure Stadium.
Five days before that, Joseph-Day spent an afternoon with kids at the Boys & Girls Club in Lawrenceville. He talked about his career during a question-and-answer session with some of the older kids at the club.
He also spent time reading “Better Than a Touchdown,” a children’s book written by fellow NFL player Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, to the youngest kids. His cardio for the day was a competitive game of Sharks and Minnows with the elementary school kids in the gym. He also provided pizza.
“I truly believe that kids are our future,” Joseph-Day said after the event. “If you give them something to hold onto … then they can be successful and hopefully use it in whatever way they can to be whatever they want to become.”
He grew up in Stroudsburg, Monroe County, before playing collegiately for Rutgers University. Joseph-Day was selected with pick No. 195 in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He played alongside Penn Hills High School and University of Pittsburgh graduate Aaron Donald on the Rams’ defensive line, and Joseph-Day called Donald “a really good friend of mine.”
He bought a 2014 Jaguar after he was drafted, and he’s still driving it.
In the last of his four years with the team, the Rams defeated the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI in February 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
He stayed in Southern California, spending one season with the Los Angeles Chargers, before heading north to join the San Francisco 49ers the following year. In his second Super Bowl appearance, the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
“It is way worse losing,” Joseph-Day said in response to a question from a child. “You see grown men crying … because you work so hard for something, and it doesn’t come to fruition, and you put everything into it.”
He spent two seasons with the Tennessee Titans before joining the Steelers this offseason.
“The energy here is crazy,” he told the group. “I was shocked. My first game here, I was looking around like ‘This is crazy.’
“In my nine-year career, this is the best experience I’ve ever had. That game against the Falcons, that was surreal. The energy, the ‘Renegade’ spot, it was great.”
Giving back is nothing new for the NFL veteran. He hosted a back-to-school event in his Pennsylvania hometown this summer, giving away backpacks to students in the stadium where he played for Stroudsburg High School, Ross-Stulgaitis Stadium.
His Bashing Hunger Foundation has done work in the communities he has played in throughout his NFL journey by “increasing food rescue, raising money and awareness as well as providing nutritional education,” according to his website. His foundation’s mission is deeply personal. The son of Haitian immigrants, Joseph-Day has seen how food insecurity can affect an entire nation.
At the Lawrenceville clubhouse on Sept. 22, he fielded a question regarding his future after football. The 6-foot-4, 310-pound athlete has already started planting the seeds. He has co-hosted a podcast with former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson called “Hotboxin’” and he has his own YouTube show, “Dine N’ Bash.”
For now, his focus remains on the Steelers, where he’s splitting time between defense and special teams and has recorded three tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit. Oh, and one big fumble recovery.
“[Harmon] being aware and knocking the ball and Sebastian finishing … what a critical play,” Steelers defensive captain Cam Heyward said after the game.
“We stayed true to ourselves and made big plays when they counted.”
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