INDIANAPOLIS — “Hail to Pitt,” Jordan Addison said at the podium. Wait. What?
Before Addison was able to answer many questions Thursday at the NFL Combine, he gave his former team a quick shoutout. And he confirmed that he’s still close with some old teammates.
“I got a couple of guys out here that I’m real close with, and we always be on the game, like every day,” Addison said. “So, it’s really like I never left. I talk to them almost every day.”
Addison spent two seasons at Pitt, and in those two seasons, all he knew at quarterback was Kenny Pickett. It was a relationship — a quick bond between the star quarterback and wide receiver — that blossomed in large part because of Pickett’s eagerness to work with Addison.
“We had a really good relationship, coming in I wanted to make sure that I was looked at as a focused individual, so once I got there, he noticed,” Addison said. “Say we were going through routes in there, he wanted to make sure I was the first receiver up so we could start that connection. And we just transferred that off the field and we just built it close up.”
The connection between Pickett and Addison was highly productive, resulting in national honors (Bilenikoff Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award), All-American status and an ACC championship — and 160 receptions for 2,259 yards and 22 touchdowns for Addison.
And, of course, the defining moment of Addison’s collegiate career — at least in his eyes.
“I’d say my catch versus Virginia, just clinching that coastal and that just shows a lot of people that in big-time moments, I’m going to step up to the occasion,” Addison said.Â
When Addison looks at Pickett, he sees a great leader who knows when to get the team going, who has unlimited confidence in himself and the swagger that makes teammates rally around him. It’s a match that’s already produced immense success.
As one of — if not the top — wide receivers in the 2023 NFL Draft, he’s on the radar of every NFL team in need of wide receiver help. Which may include the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unsurprisingly, Pickett himself has expressed his desire to reunite with Addison.
“If we reunite, that’d be good,” Addison said. “That’d be real cool. Real easy transition… come get me.”
