PITTSBURGH -- For the first time in over a decade, there's not a yellow No. 97 jersey on the practice fields outside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for the Pittsburgh Steelers' voluntary organized team activities.
Even stranger, there's not a booming voice joking with the defensive line or heckling young offensive linemen and coaches-turned-referees officiating team periods.
Six-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Cameron Heyward isn't at OTAs as he seeks a new deal to continue playing for the team that drafted him with the 31st overall pick in 2011.
"I have always attended these, but at this time it's just contract negotiations," Heyward said on a May 16 episode of his podcast, "Not Just Football.