On Wednesday, the Steelers celebrated the 14th anniversary of their 21-10 victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. The win, the franchise's fifth Super Bowl victory, was the team's first Super Bowl win since the franchise's glory years of the 1970s. Kevin Colbert, the man who helped construct that and future championship teams in Pittsburgh in 2008 and in 2010, signed a contract extension on Wednesday that will keep him with the organization through the 2021 draft. Colbert's contract had been set to expire following the 2020 draft.
"I am happy to announce we have extended Kevin Colbert's contract for an additional year," Steelers President Art Rooney II said in a statement. "Kevin continues to play a key role in our success and his dedication to our personnel efforts is unparalleled. We are pleased he will lead those efforts for at least one more year."
Colbert, 63, has been a major contributor to Pittsburgh's success over the past two decades. During his 20 years with the organization, the Steelers have won two Super Bowls, three AFC championships and nine division titles. The Steelers have qualified for the playoffs 12 times and have had just one losing season during that span. Pittsburgh's current run of 16 consecutive non-losing seasons is the second-longest streak in the NFL.
"It's hard to quantify how fortunate I am to have been part of this organization for the last 20 years," Colbert said on Wednesday. "I look forward to the challenge of getting our team back into playoff contention while never losing sight of our ultimate goal – winning a Super Bowl."
A Pittsburgh native who grew up cheering for the Steelers during their run of four Super Bowl wins during the '70s, broke into the NFL as a BLESTO scout in 1984. He then spent five seasons with the Dolphins' scouting department before spending 10 seasons as the Lions' pro scouting director. Colbert returned to Pittsburgh in 2000, become the Steelers' director of football operations in 2000 before being named the team's general manager in 2010.
Under Colbert's watch, the Steelers have drafted many future Pro Bowl players that include Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, Maurkice Pouncey, Ryan Shazier, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Emmanual Sanders, Mike Wallace, James Conner, David DeCastro, Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt, Casey Hampton, and Heath Miller, among others. He also traded up in the 2006 draft to acquire receiver Santonio Holmes, who two years later would turn in an MVP performance in Pittsburgh's win over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII.
Polamalu will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer (his first year of eligibility). Roethlisberger, who owns just about every significant franchise passing record, is a near-lock to one day receive enshrinement in Canton.
Colbert, who has won Super Bowls with two different head coaches (2020 Hall of Fame inductee Bill Cowher and current Steelers coach Mike Tomlin), is coming off one of his most impressive seasons in Pittsburgh. Despite injuries to several key players, Pittsburgh still managed to go 8-8 while being in the thick of the AFC playoff race before being eliminated from postseason contention during the final weekend of the regular season. Watt (Pittsburgh's first-round pick in 2017) enjoyed an All-Pro campaign, while Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was acquired by the Steelers after Colbert traded the Steelers' 2020 first-round pick to the Dolphins, also flourished into an All-Pro player.
Devin Bush, who was acquired by the Steelers after Colbert traded up to select him with the 10th overall pick, was named to the NFL's All-Rookie Team. Fellow rookie Diontae Johnson, a third-round pick, earned a spot on the NFL's All-Pro team as a specialist.
