Old Man Jokes and Wrestling: How Richard Sherman Taught Steelers Jamel Dean the Ropes

Dean Meshing in Perfectly in Pittsburgh

Latrobe, PA – Jamel Dean looks every bit like an NFL cornerback before the ball is even snapped.

Big. Long. Physical.

Then there’s the smile.

Dean has one of those expressions where his eyes usually give away the rest of the story. Football is his job, but watching him work, it’s pretty evident he still gets a kick out of doing it.

That showed again against Green Bay.

After weeks of Steelers-on-Steelers work at Chuck Noll Field, Dean welcomed the chance to finally see another jersey across from him.

“You know, it’s always great when you get chances to go against other colors because now the intensity level picks up extremely,” Dean said. “You want to win. So, anything else is still fun, man. It gets you excited for the upcoming season.”

With Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey unavailable, Pittsburgh also got another look at the depth it has been building in the secondary.

Dean wasn’t interested in excuses.

“No matter who we have out there, everybody gonna meet the standard.”

Dean Is Now the Mentor

That sounds like a veteran talking.

And that is where Dean’s story gets considerably more interesting.

Dean embraces being one of the players younger defensive backs can lean on because, not that long ago, he was the young corner soaking up everything he could from somebody else.

“I do my best to mentor the young guys because I know I wouldn’t be here in this position I am without the mentors I had in my early years in the NFL,” Dean said.

One of them happened to be his idol.

Richard Sherman.

Sherman arrived in Tampa Bay in 2021 for the final season of a remarkable NFL career. By then, he had already been a Super Bowl champion, five-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro.

Dean was still establishing himself.

Suddenly, a player he had watched growing up wasn’t on a television screen.

Old-Man Jokes and His Idol

He was in the same meeting room.

“I had my coaching staff, and then also had Richard Sherman to teach me and show me the ways of what it’s like to be a good corner in the league,” Dean said.

Imagine getting the opportunity to learn your craft directly from one of the players who made you fall in love with it.

Dean didn’t waste it.

“Oh yeah, for the most part, man, it’s best to listen to the guy because he’s been there and done it,” Dean said. “He was also my idol growing up too, so to be able to have him take me under his wing, man, it was very beneficial for me.”

Sherman could teach Dean technique. He could teach him preparation. He could show him how an elite NFL defensive back studies opponents, handles a work week and carries himself as a professional.

Dean, meanwhile, apparently had something else to offer Sherman.

Old-man jokes.

“I was always making old jokes with him,” Dean said.

There was, however, a problem with repeatedly reminding Sherman that he was the old guy in the room.

Sherman could still get his hands on him.

“He always felt like he could rough me up,” Dean said. “So, we wrestled every single day.”

Yes.

Richard Sherman and Jamel Dean wrestled.

No entrance music.

No characters.

Just wrestling.

“We went from that to us wrestling every single day,” Dean said. “So, we had that bond.”

Even before kickoff on Thursday the antics would continue.

“Every Thursday night game, before like during pregame we wrestled,” Dean said laughing.

Asked whether there was any WWE-type theatrics involved, Dean smiled.

“No, just wrestling.”

Maybe that’s the best explanation of Dean’s veteran presence in Pittsburgh.

The lessons that stick aren’t always delivered with a projector turned on inside a meeting room.

Sometimes they come from an idol who becomes a teammate.

Then a mentor.

Then a friend you’re comfortable enough with to call old until he decides it’s time to put you in a headlock.

Years later, Dean finds himself on the other side of that relationship.

He keeps his own game understated.

“I just try to play consistent and do the best I can to add value to the team,” but his value doesn’t have to stop when a play ends.

There are younger Steelers defensive backs watching him now.

Because once upon a time, he was watching Richard Sherman.

And apparently getting wrestled by him, too.