Carson Bruener spent the third day of the NFL Draft sitting in the same seat of the same couch at the same family cabin in coastal Washington state that his father sat in when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995.
The method of telephone has surely changed over the past three decades. But the result of the call to the man in that seat stayed the same.
An inside linebacker from the University of Washington, Carson Bruener was taken by the Steelers with their first of two seventh-round picks Saturday. The 6-foot-1, 227-pound Bruener went 226th overall.
Carson’s father, Mark, was the Steelers’ first-round pick exactly 30 years and four days prior. A tight end, he played nine seasons with the team and now works as a scout for the organization.
Both Brueners were born and raised in Washington state and played at the University of Washington. Carson said it’d been several years since he’d been in the Steelers’ facility but that while he was in high school the Steelers allowed him to sit in in “the war room” during the second day of a draft.
???? 12 TKL
???? 2 INTCarson Bruener was everywhere in @UW_Football's win over USC ????#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/29v6waIWzZ
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 3, 2024
Though Bruener was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree this past season for his play on defense — a team-high 104 tackles, three interceptions, five pass breakups — the Steelers signaled where Bruener initially will play when they brought out special teams coordinator Danny Smith (along with inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley) to discuss the selection of Bruener with the media.
Though he made at least one start during each of his first three seasons he played (Bruener redshirted as a freshman in 2020), Bruener was a “core four” special-teams player in 2022 and 2023.
The third-leading tackler on Washington’s national finalist team in 2023, Bruener was a team co-captain this past season.
