‘My Favorite Time Playing Football’: Kenny Pickett Reflects on 2021 Season

Kenny Pickett is a polarizing figure in Pittsburgh, which stems from his two seasons as the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he isn’t far removed from bringing the city its most recent football championship.

Pickett joined fellow former Pitt quarterback Pat Bostick on the Panther Insider Show on 93.7 the Fan and reflected upon the 2021 season.

It’s coming up on four years since the championship win, and Pickett himself has gone through quite a bit. He was the first round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 and spent two seasons with the organization. It was a tumultuous tenure that ended with him being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles last season.

And of course, the season ended with a win in Super Bowl LIX.

But Pickett talked to Bostick about those memories of the 2021 season and the lasting impact that it still has on him.

“It was incredible,” Kenny Pickett said. “Especially in 2017, coming in together as freshmen and all the guys, all the veterans that were on the team, all we talked about was winning the ACC championship. We broke down on ACC champion … all we did was talk about trying to win the ACC. We believed that we could do it, it took some time, but sometimes in football, it does take a little bit of time.

“We had incredible players, incredible coaches and to see everybody come together that senior season and do exactly what we knew we were capable of doing and what we said that we were going to do, it was unbelievable. My favorite time playing football was in 2021 at Pitt, some of my best friends, life-long friends, coach Duzz I talk to every other week, coach Whip I talk to every other week still.  It was truly a family atmosphere, and they’ll be just like family to me for life.”

Pickett was one of the best quarterbacks in college football in 2021, completing 334-of-497 pass attempts (67%) for 4,319 yards with 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions — adding 241 yards and five more touchdowns on the ground.

He finished his Pitt career as the all-time leader in passing yards, completions, total offense, touchdowns responsible for and passing touchdowns. He’s thrown the most 300-yard passing games (16) and 400-yard passing games (five) and his 32 wins are the most as a Pitt starter.

Pickett completed 20-of-33 pass attempts for 253 yards and two touchdowns, and added the 58-yard “fake slide” touchdown run, in a 45-21 win against Wake Forest in the title game.

Kenny Pickett completed 1,045-of-1,674 career passing attempts (just over 62%) for 12,303 yards and 81 touchdowns, to just 32 interceptions, in 52 career appearances (49 starts). He also added 809 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.

There were some tough moments along the way, battling inconsistency in 2018 and 2019 and injuries in 2020, but Pickett said that his time at Pitt helped prepare him for the NFL 1,000%.

“It’s great to go through adversity and learn how to handle it,” Pickett said. “If you have success the entire time of your college career, you’re going to have adversity in the NFL. Everybody does. I’m grateful that I had the injury in 2020, I’m not sure if I would’ve been back in 2021. So, I think everything happens for a reason … so, 100% grateful I had those adversity moments in college to prepare me for the NFL level.”