Ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers set out to reshape their secondary, and one player shot up their board: Minkah Fitzpatrick.
It’s not hard to see why.
From the time he was a highly touted, five-star recruit out of St. Peter’s Prep in New Jersey, Fitzpatrick established himself as one of the best defensive backs in the country. Twice he earned consensus All-America honors at Alabama. Twice he won the national championship. By the end of his junior season, he received the Jim Thorpe Award as college football’s best defensive back and the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player.
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Just one problem. The Steelers weren’t picking until No. 28.
“We realized that we didn’t have a draft pick high enough to seriously consider him,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said this week. “But it didn’t stop me from going to Tuscaloosa twice that year and kind of getting to know him.”
Those interactions left an impression on Fitzpatrick, too.
“I remember coming back and telling my family that he’s a coach that I really liked talking to,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was a brief conversation, but just the way that he carries himself, I could tell that he was a coach I would enjoy playing for.”
Sure enough, Fitzpatrick got snatched up by the Miami Dolphins with the 11th pick, well before the Steelers were on the clock to select Terrell Edmunds late in the first round. But Tomlin’s prep work paid off.
Just one year later, Fitzpatrick requested a trade. Reportedly, he was unhappy with the way the Dolphins deployed him. Surely, the losing culture must have also played a role. Whatever the reason for the fractions in Miami, Pittsburgh pounced. A Steelers team known for its build-through-the-draft approach went off script and swung one of the more significant deals in franchise history, acquiring Fitzpatrick for a package of picks that included a 2020 first-rounder.
We have acquired DB Minkah Fitzpatrick and draft picks from the Dolphins in exchange for draft picks.@BordasLaw TRANSACTION:
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 17, 2019
“(The previous relationship with Fitzpatrick) probably helped us in terms of making a quick decision about being interested in him,” Tomlin said. “That’s why oftentimes in draft prep, we do our due diligence, whether it’s something that’s realistic or not.”
On Sunday, that trade and the Pro Bowl safety will be in the bright lights of prime-time football, as Fitzpatrick enjoys a homecoming of sorts in Miami. The “Sunday Night Football” matchup marks the first time the All-Pro safety will play in Hard Rock Stadium since that blockbuster transaction. He admits there will be mixed emotions.
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“My first NFL team,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ll definitely be nostalgic, for sure.”
Looking back on the trade with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to argue that it’s been anything less than a slam-dunk deal for the Steelers.
At the time of the trade, many questioned if the Steelers would be better served punting on the 2019 season and using a high draft pick to nab a quarterback to succeed the injured and aging Roethlisberger. An overactive imagination can still take you down a sliding doors rabbit hole where the Steelers don’t trade for Fitzpatrick, somehow finish with a top-10 pick and snag a quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert.
But given the impact Fitzpatrick has had on the Steelers defense, even those who were initially skeptical of the trade would agree it paid off big, with a ball-hawking, game-changing force anchoring the defense for years to come.
Since the Steelers acquired Fitzpatrick, he leads the league with four defensive touchdowns. No one has more interception return yards than his 303. His 18 takeaways (14 interceptions, four fumble recoveries) rank second in the league behind only the Los Angeles Chargers’ J.C. Jackson (Fitzpatrick also had one more fumble recovery his second year in Miami just before the move to Pittsburgh).
“He’s special,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “He’s special in a lot of areas. I can sit here and tick them off, but you guys will get bored.”
From the minute Fitzpatrick joined the Steelers, he’s made his presence felt.
The trade went down on a Monday. Less than a week later, in just his second defensive series in a Steelers uniform, Fitzpatrick intercepted 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Later in that same game, he punched the ball loose from running back Raheem Mostert.
That was just an appetizer. In Week 8 against Miami, he picked off former teammate Ryan Fitzpatrick … twice. In Week 9 against the Colts, he intercepted a pass on the goal line and returned it for a touchdown, a 14-point swing that reshaped the outcome. In Week 10 against the Rams, he returned a fumble 43 yards for a touchdown and later reeled in the game-sealing interception. In Week 12 against the Bengals, Fitzpatrick recovered another fumble.
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The splash plays were so impactful, the Steelers very nearly backdoored their way into the postseason with a duck caller at quarterback.
“When I got here, I didn’t really even know the playbook,” Fitzpatrick said. “I was just back there playing ball. Coach (Tomlin) allowed me to do that.”
Those highlight-reel plays and the eye-popping stats tell only part of the story.
Teammates universally note it’s what happens behind the scenes that sets the stage for game day. Even at Alabama, Fitzpatrick was known for his businesslike approach that endeared him to hardcore coach Nick Saban. To describe his makeup, Crimson Tide teammates eventually came up with the nickname “Saban’s Son.”
“He never really got called on, never really got yelled at compared to other people,” Steelers lineman and Fitzpatrick’s former Alabama teammate J.C. Hassenauer said. “That’s because he did right. He was always getting the love and attention from (Saban) and never really the hate.”
Saban said ahead of the 2018 draft that rarely do players as talented as Fitzpatrick simultaneously possess an “overachieving personality type.” It’s not hard to see that attitude on display around the Steelers’ facility.
On the practice field, when he’s not taking a live rep, Fitzpatrick sits on a knee deep in center field behind the play. Like a lion stalking his prey, he dissects the scout team from a distance.
In the locker room, Fitzpatrick often has a notebook under his arm and some sort of health drink like kombucha or an immune-boosting shot in his hand. And in meeting rooms, teammates universally note his diligent note-taking.
“He’s really all about business. That’s what separates Minkah,” fellow defensive back Arthur Maulet said. “He’s locked in 24/7. All he knows is football. We joke around like, ‘Minkah, what do you spend your money on?’ (He says) ‘Nothing. Food. That’s it.’”
Maulet calls Fitzpatrick a “silent killer” who largely lets his actions do the talking. But over time, his approach has rubbed off on Fitzpatrick’s younger teammates.
“He’s a guy with open arms,” said defensive back Tre Norwood, a 2021 seventh-round pick. “Any question that I ask, he helps me. Any nuggets that he sees on film. He’s been like that since day one. For me, he’s the kind of guy that you gravitate towards.”
This season, the evolution has continued. Shortly after signing a new four-year, $73.6 million deal, Fitzpatrick made it known he was approaching this season with his sights set on defensive player of the year. In Week 1, he turned in another standout performance. He picked off Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and returned it for a touchdown to begin the game and closed it out by blocking an extra point.
“Some guys would look at that as a down off or not go as hard,” Norwood said. “He takes special teams just as serious as being a safety, and it shows.”
When Fitzpatrick returns to Miami, he’ll do so as the finished product the Dolphins imagined when they drafted him — a versatile, all-situations defensive back with an insatiable appetite for more.
“He’s just a professional,” Edmunds said. “You can tell like, he really loves the game. He really wants to go out there and win. And that’s something that drives our defense.”
