83 HEATH
MILLER
PRO
(62-61/8-8): Arguably one of the most complete tight ends in
the NFL with his blocking and pass-catching skills...named to USA Today
All-Joe Team following the 2008 season for his unsung efforts...became a huge
part of the offense in his rookie year...gave the Steelers a receiving threat
from the TE position, tying or setting multiple receiving records for tight
ends...continued the Steelers’ tradition of great blocking tight ends...selected
in the first round (30th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft...was the first tight
end taken by the Steelers in the first round since Mark Bruener was selected in
the first round (27th overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft...recipient of the 2005 Joe
Greene Great Performance Award, given annually to the top Steelers’
rookie.
2008
(14-14/3-3): Made 14
regular-season starts at TE...missed two games (Weeks 10 and 11) due to an ankle
injury...were the first two games that he has missed in his pro career...named
to the USA Today
All-Joe team...caught a career-high 48 passes for 514 yards (10.7 avg.) with
three touchdowns... started all three postseason games...caught 11 passes in the
postseason for 156 yards (14.2 avg.) with one touchdown...his postseason totals
of 26 receptions, 348 yards and three touchdowns are all tops on the teams’
postseason chart by a tight end...9/7 vs. Houston: Played in
his 49th consecutive game and made his 45th consecutive start at TE...finished
second on the team with three receptions for 26 yards (8.7 avg.) with a long of
11...9/14 at Cleveland: Played in his 50th career game
and had two receptions for 33 yards (16.5 avg.) with a
long of 19 yards...had one assisted tackle on special
teams...9/21 at Philadelphia: Made his 50th
career start at tight end...finished with four
receptions for 63 yards (15.8 avg.) with a long of 21
yards...surpassed 1,500 career receiving yards
(1,548)...9/29 vs. Baltimore: Made his 48th consecutive start
at TE and had two catches for eight yards (4.0 avg.)
with a long of six...10/5 at Jacksonville:
Started his 49th consecutive game at TE...caught five
passes for 45 yards (9.0 avg.) and his first touchdown
reception of the season...10/19 at Cincinnati:
Started his 50th consecutive game at TE...caught two
passes for 13 yards (6.5 avg.)...his blocking helped
pave the way for Mewelde Moore to rush 20 times for 120
yards (6.0 avg.) with two touchdowns...10/26 vs. New York
Giants: Made his 51st consecutive start at TE...caught
three passes for 52 yards (17.3 avg.) with a season-long
reception of 22 yards...11/3 at Washington:
Made his 52nd consecutive start at TE...did not record a catch prior to
leaving the game in the first half with an ankle injury...11/9 vs.
Indianapolis: Was inactive with an ankle injury, the first time that he
has missed a game in his NFL career... 11/16 vs. San Diego: Was
inactive with an ankle injury...11/20 vs. Cincinnati: Returned
to the lineup after missing two games with an ankle injury...caught four passes
for 44 yards (11.0 avg.) with a long of 19 yards and his second touchdown
reception of the season...was the 20th receiving touchdown of his career, tying
him with Bennie Cunningham for third on the team’s all-time touchdown list for a
TE...11/30 at New England: Made his second consecutive start at
TE...finished with four receptions for a team-high 60 yards (15.0 avg.) with a
long of 21 yards...12/7 vs. Dallas: Made his third consecutive
start at TE...caught three passes for 20 yards (6.7 avg.) with one
touchdown...his touchdown reception was the 21st of his career, moving him past
Bennie Cunningham and into third place on the team’s all-time list for touchdown
catches by a TE...12/14 at Baltimore: Played in his 60th career
game and made his fourth consecutive start at TE... caught three passes for 26
yards (8.7 avg.) with a long of 17 yards...12/21 at Tennessee:
Made his 60th career start at TE...caught a career-high eight passes
for 69 yards (8.6 avg.) with a long of 17 yards...12/28 vs. Cleveland:
Made his sixth consecutive start at TE...caught five passes for 55
yards (11.0 avg.)...AFC Divisional Game 1/11 vs. San
Diego: Made his sixth consecutive postseason start at
TE...caught three passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg.) with an eight-yard touchdown
reception in the third quarter...AFC Championship Game 1/18 vs.
Baltimore: Made his seventh consecutive postseason start at TE...caught
three passes for 62 yards (20.7 avg.) with a long of 30 yards...Super
Bowl XLIII 2/1 vs. Arizona: Made his eighth
consecutive postseason start at TE...caught five passes for 57 yards (11.4 avg.)
with a long of 21 yards.
2007 (16-16/1-1):
Started all 16 games
for the second consecutive year…has started 44 consecutive games dating back to
his rookie season…established career highs across the board with 47 receptions
for 566 yards (12.0 avg.) and seven touchdowns…set personal single-game
postseason highs with eight receptions for 85 yards (10.6 avg.) in the loss to
Jacksonville…also scored his second career postseason touchdown in that game…9/9 at Cleveland: Was the starting
TE…led the team in receptions with four and had a 22-yard TD grab from Ben
Roethlisberger…was his third straight season opener with a TD catch...9/16 vs. Buffalo: Had his
30th consecutive start at TE…had two catches for 34 yards (17.0),
with a long of 29…helped pave the way for Willie Parker to have his
15th career 100-yard rushing game of his career...9/23 vs. San Francisco: Made his
31st consecutive start at TE and led the team in catches (four) and
receiving yards (82), which gave him an average of 20.5 yards per catch…went
over the 1,000-yard mark in career receiving yards, with a total of 1,011 total
yards...9/30 at Arizona: Had his
35th start at TE with the Steelers and had four catches for 46 yards
with a long of 28 (15.3 avg.)...10/7 vs.
Seattle: Made his 36th career start at TE and had four catches
for 44 yards (11.0 avg.) with a 13-yard long for a TD…his catches and yards gave
him 90 career catches and put him over 1,100 career receiving yards (1,101)…also
helped pave the way for Willie Parker to have his 17th career and
fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season...10/21 at Denver: Started at TE for the
37th time in his career…registered five catches for 50 yards (10.0
avg.) including a 27-yard long…was on the receiving end of two of Ben
Roethlisberger’s four TD passes…his two receiving TDs marked the second time he
has had multi-TDs in a game in his career...10/28 at Cincinnati: Made his
35th consecutive start at TE…had two catches for 42 yards (21.0 avg.)
including a 23-yard long...11/5 vs.
Baltimore: Made his 36th consecutive start at TE…hauled in his
team-leading fifth TD of the year to put Pittsburgh ahead 7-0 in the first
quarter…that TD catch was the 16th of his career…had two catches for
17 yards (8.5 avg.)...11/11 vs.
Cleveland: Made his 40th career start at TE…had five receptions
for 71 yards (14.2 avg.) with one TD…his two-yard reception with 3:13 left in
the game proved to be the game-winner…his five receptions put him over 100
career catches (104)...11/18 at N.Y.
Jets: Registered his 38th consecutive start at TE…finished the
day with two receptions for 36 yards (18.0 avg.) including a 19-yard long...11/26 vs. Miami: Posted his
39th consecutive start at TE but did not record a catch…12/2 vs. Cincinnati: Tallied his
40th consecutive start at TE…finished the game with four catches for
30 yards (7.5 avg.), including a 10-yard long...12/9 at New England: Made his
41st consecutive start, while playing in his 45th career
game…hauled in four catches for 28 yards (7.0 avg.)...12/16 vs. Jacksonville: Made his
45th career start at TE…finished with two catches for 24 yards (12.0
avg.) with one TD…hauled in an 18-yard TD pass from Roethlisberger in the second
quarter to give him seven TDs on the year, passing his career high of six
TDs...12/20 at St. Louis: Started in
his 43rd consecutive game at TE…registered one catch for seven
yards...12/30 at Baltimore: Made his
44th consecutive start at TE…finished with three catches for 20 yards
(6.7 avg.), including a long of 10 yards...AFC WILD CARD 1/5/08 vs. Jacksonville:
Registered his 5th consecutive postseason start at TE and
finished with eight catches for 85 yards and one TD…his 85 yards and eight
catches were new career highs in the postseason.
2006
(16-16): Started
all 16 games…finished with 34 catches for 393 yards (11.6 avg.) with five
touchdowns…9/7 vs. Miami: Caught
three passes for a career-high 101 yards (33.7 avg.) and one touchdown…eclipsed
100 yards receiving for the first time in his career…caught an 87-yard touchdown
pass from Charlie Batch late in the fourth quarter to give the Steelers a 21-17
lead…87-yard TD is the longest touchdown reception at Heinz Field…touchdown was
the Steelers longest TD play since Kordell Stewart hit Bobby Shaw for a 90-yard
touchdown (Dec. 16, 2001) and was the longest touchdown reception for a tight
end in 32 years (Joe Namath connected with Rich Caster for 89 yards against
Miami in 1974)…also became the first Steelers' TE to gain 100-yards receiving
since Eric Green (119 – 12/26/93 at Seattle)…9/18 at Jacksonville: Started at TE and
caught one pass for 11 yards…9/24 vs.
Cincinnati: Started at TE and caught three passes for 34 yards (11.3 avg.)
and a long of 13. 10/8 at San
Diego: Recorded two
receptions for 22 yards and a long of 15…started at TE…10/15 vs. Kansas City: Started at
TE…caught one pass for 16 yards…helped the running game gain 219 yards on 42
rushes (5.2 avg.) and three TDs…10/22 at
Atlanta: Caught two passes for four yards and a touchdown…scored on a
one-yard toss in the second quarter to give Pittsburgh a 17-7 lead…10/29 at Oakland: Started at TE and had
two receptions for 10 yards and a long of five…11/5 vs. Denver: Grabbed five balls for
34 yards (6.8 avg.) with a long of 11…11/12 vs. New Orleans: Had three
receptions for 30 yards (10.0 avg.) with a long of 22 and a TD…caught a two-yard
touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to give the Steelers a 14-0 lead…helped
block for Willie Parker to gain 213 yards (the second highest total in Steelers
history)…11/19 at Cleveland: Started
at TE and two passes for 32 yards with a long of 16…11/26 at Baltimore: Grabbed three
passes for 35 yards (11.7 avg.) with a long of 16…12/3 vs. Tampa Bay: Caught two passes
for 27 yards and one touchdown…grabbed a 16-yard pass for a touchdown from a
scrambling Ben Roethlisberger…12/7 vs.
Cleveland: Started at TE and helped the offense gain 303 rushing yards on 52
carries (5.8 avg.) and two touchdowns…helped Willie Parker rush for a
single-game team-record 223 yards…snapped his streak of consecutive games with a
reception at 15…12/17 at Carolina:
Caught two passes for 25 yards with a long of 20…helped spring Willie Parker for
a 41-yard touchdown run in the third quarter…12/24 vs. Baltimore: Caught three
passes for 12 yards (4.0 avg.) with a long of six…caught a one-yard touchdown on
fourth-and-goal with seven seconds left in the first half…12/31 at Cincinnati: Started at TE and
helped the offense rush for 207 yards and possess the ball for 40:41.
2005
(16-15/4-4):
Finished the season tied for third in the NFL among all rookies
(non-kickers) in scoring with 36 points (six touchdowns) and was fourth among
all NFL rookies in receptions (39)…his 39 catches were the most by a Steelers'
TE since Eric Green caught 46 in during the 1994 season…finished second on the
team with 39 receptions for 459 yards (11.8 avg.) and six touchdowns…caught a TD
pass in four straight games, tying a team record for a TE…started 15-of-16 games
as a rookie…caught six touchdowns in his first seven games, becoming only the
third TE in NFL history to reach that feat (Green in 1990 and Raymond Chester in
1970)…earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 8 vs. Baltimore after
recording his first career multiple touchdown game (2)…9/11
vs. Tennessee:
Started in team's two-tight end set…caught first career pass for a 3-yard
touchdown…9/18 at Houston: Started in team's
two-tight end set…did not catch a pass…9/25
vs. New England: Made his
third-consecutive start in a two-tight end formation…had one reception for 13
yards…10/10 at San Diego: Caught a
career-high four passes for 36 yards and a TD…scored on a 16-yard TD pass, his
second of the season…his four receptions ranked second on the team behind Hines
Ward…10/16 vs. Jacksonville: Started at tight end for the fourth
time in five games as the team opened in a two-tight end set…had the most
productive day of his young career…led the team in three categories with four
receptions for 72 yards and a long of 27…the 72 receiving yards sets a new
career high…caught a 15-yard touchdown in which he bulled his way into the end
zone…marked the first time since 1994 that a Steelers' tight end led the team
outright in catches and yards in a game…10/23 at Cincinnati: Started his fifth game of the year and
led the team for the second straight game with six receptions for 58 yards (9.7
avg.) and scored one touchdown…had a long of 21 yards and become the first
Steelers' tight end to lead the team in receptions in two consecutive games…10/31 vs. Baltimore: Started his
sixth game of the year…finished with three catches for 18 yards with two
touchdowns, the first multi-touchdown game of his career…extended his streak of
consecutive games with at least one touchdown to four, tying the Steelers' tight
end record…marked his fifth and sixth touchdowns in his first seven games…the
only other tight ends in NFL history to catch six TD passes in their first seven
games in the league are Raymond Chester (Oakland Raiders, 1970) and Eric Green
(Pittsburgh Steelers, 1990)…his touchdown catches covered four and eight
yards…earned AFC Rookie of the Week honors…11/6
at Green Bay: Started as the
team's only tight end…caught two passes for 11 yards (5.5 avg.) with a long of
nine…also had a reception for the sixth straight game…11/13 vs. Cleveland: Started at tight end for the fifth
straight game and for the eighth time in nine games…was held without a catch for
only the second time this season…11/20 at Baltimore: Started at tight end and caught five
passes for 37 yards (7.4 avg.) with a long of 19…11/28 at Indianapolis: Tied for the
team lead with four receptions for 26 yards (6.5 avg.)…12/4
vs. Cincinnati: Started at
tight end…caught three passes for 44 yards (14.7 avg.) with a long of 21…12/11 vs. Chicago: Started at TE for the ninth straight
game...helped team amass 190 yards on 46 carries (4.1 avg.) and two
touchdowns…12/18 at Minnesota: Started at TE for the 10th
straight game…caught two passes for a team high 58 yards, including a game long
of 50 to set up the Steelers' first field goal…his 50-yard reception was the
longest by a Steelers' TE since Eric Green hauled in a 71-yard touchdown in
1993…12/24 at Cleveland: Started at tight end and caught one
pass for 21 yards…1/1 vs. Detroit: Started at
TE…caught a team high three passes for 62 yards (20.7 avg.)…had a 43-yard
reception, his second longest catch of the season…AFC
Wild Card Game 1/8 at Cincinnati: Started at TE and caught two
passes for 15 yards…AFC Divisional Game 1/15 at
Indianapolis: Caught three
passes for 61 yards (20.3 avg.), including a long of 36…caught a seven-yard
touchdown pass, his first career postseason TD…AFC
Championship Game 1/22 at Denver: Started at TE…caught two passes for 31
yards (15.5 avg.)…had a long reception of 24 yards…Super Bowl XL 2/5 vs. Seattle: Started at TE and helped team gain 181
rushing yards on 33 carries (5.5 avg.) and two TDs.
COLLEGE: Was the
first ACC player to win the Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end…also
became the school's first major award winner since 1941…holds every receiving
record for a tight end in school history and also established new conference
career records for receptions, touchdown catches and yards gained by a tight
end…closed out his career as the first two-time first-team All-ACC tight end in
school history…started 39 consecutive games for the Cavaliers…scored at least
once in each of his first five games at Virginia and his nine scoring grabs set
a school season-record for tight ends…in 39 games as a Cavalier, caught 144
passes for 1,703 yards (11.8 avg) and 20 touchdowns…only Billy McMullen (210,
1999-2001) had more catches in a career for the Cavaliers…his 1,703 yards rank
seventh on the school's career-record list and his 20 scoring grabs rank fourth,
behind McMullen (24), Herman Moore (27, 1988-90) and Tyrone Davis (28, 1991-94).
2004: Winner of
the Mackey Award, given to the nation's best tight end…first-team All-American
selection by The NFL Draft Report, the American Football Coaches Association,
the Walter Camp Football Foundation and Football Writers Association of
America…first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice…led the team for the
second-straight year with 41 receptions for 541 yards (13.2 avg) and five
touchdowns in 12 games…served as team captain…25 of his receptions came on
scoring drives. 2003:
All-American first-team selection by The NFL Draft Report, adding
second-team honors from College Football News…first-team All-ACC
pick…added first-team All-State honors from the Virginia Sports Information
Directors Association and the Roanoke
Times…set school and conference season records for tight ends with 70
receptions for 835 yards (11.9 avg) and also scored six times…overall, his 70
catches ranked second on the school's season record list behind Billy McMullen's
83 grabs in 2001…his 835 yards ranked seventh on Virginia's annual record
chart…joined Bruce McGonnigal (1989) as UVa's only tight ends with two 100-yard
games in a season and the first one to do it in consecutive games (Georgia Tech,
Virginia Tech)…sixty percent of his catches went for either a first down or
touchdown (42 of 70). 2002:
Second-team All-ACC choice…freshman All-American selection by
Scripps/Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and
College Football News…first-team All-State pick by the Virginia Sports
Information Directors Association...honorable mention ECAC All-Star…started
every game as a redshirt freshman, leading all ACC tight ends with nine
touchdowns and 33 receptions, good for 327 yards (9.9 avg)…also threw for a
20-yard score and made two assisted tackles on special teams. 2001: Was
redshirted…was in uniform for the Richmond game…majored in sociology.
PERSONAL:
Attended
Honaker (Swords Creek, Va.) High School... was a quarterback and safety at
Honaker High School, where he earned Associated Press Player of the Year honors
as a senior and was a two-time AP All-State selection...selected Virginia High
School Coaches Association Group A Offensive Player of the Year as a senior and
was a two-time first-team Group A All-State selection...earned All-Southwest
Virginia first-team honors at quarterback and was a second team All-State
selection at defensive back, adding Region D Offensive Player of the Year
accolades... passed for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns and rushed for 901
yards in 2000...as a junior, passed for 1,872 yards and 26 touchdowns, and
rushed for 643 yards and 12 scores, leading Honaker to an 11-2 record that
season...played first base on the Honaker baseball team and was a forward on the
basketball team...earned Black Diamond District first-team honors, and was an
All-Region and All-State selection in baseball...also earned All-District and
All-Region honors in basketball...son of Earl and Denise Miller... married
(Katie)...Full name: Earl Heath Miller.
