The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to Paul Brown Stadium for the first time since Ryan Shazier suffered a severe spinal injury in December last year that left him temporarily paralyzed. 10 months later, he was able to walk under his own power to visit the physicians who treated him in Cincinnati. And to walk off the field with his teammates as a victor.
Head Coach Mike Tomlin has been resolute in his denial that outside noise is a distraction for his team, talking about adversity as simply a part of the game, but he was open about the variable of returning to this stadium today and not knowing how that would play a role.