At the time when Terrell Pryor was coming out for the supplemental draft, there were rumblings that head coach Mike Tomlin had strong interest in Pryor.
Pryor today confirmed that interest, telling Pittsburgh reporters today the Steelers interest in drafting him was “100 percent”.
“Mike said I will draft you if you want to play here,”Pryor said. “But he gave me a story about when he was in Tampa Bay about a quarterback and he ended up being in the same hometown as the NFL team and it was just hard for him because of all the distractions around him.”
“I don’t know what the guys up top were thinking and whether they wanted to take me or not. {Mike} gave me an opportunity to say if I wanted to play for Steelers or not and I ended up saying no because at a young age I didn’t want to be near home and have distractions around me.”
Pryor was selected in the third round of the 2011 supplemental draft by the Raiders. Despite Pryor confirming the Steelers interest, there’s little chance the Steelers would have taken him before the 5th round.
He’s made the 2-4 Raiders at least watchable due to his excellent athleticism and playmaking ability. While prone to making young quarterback mistakes, the Steelers, though, could be in for a rude awakening if the team takes Pryor lightly.
In five games, Pryor is completing 64.5% of his passes with 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. A great running threat, Pryor has 285 rushing yards.