Joe Sargent/Getty Images Zach Banner, #72, celebrating a touchdown with his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates during a game in 2019.
If you follow Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner on Twitter you know that he periodically holds Q&A sessions where he responds to followers.
Yesterday he offered one of those sessions, and it yielded a number of hilarious exchanges.
Zach Banner’s Twitter Q&A
Most notably, when asked by a user if he’s “ready to go 0-2 against Cleveland this year??” he responded:
“I went 0-16 when I was playing there so…”
I went 0-16 when I was playing there so…
Banner is making reference to the time he spent with the Cleveland Browns, which was his second stop in the NFL after being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. After being released by the Colts in early September 2017, the Browns picked him up on waivers. He spent the 2017 season in Cleveland—an especially bad year for the Browns, even by their standards—because the team went 0-16 under head coach Hue Jackson, including losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers that bookended their season.
Yet that Browns-related quip was hardly the only funny exchange. Another user asked Banner how long he planned to grow his hair “on a scale from 1 to Troy Polamalu?”
His response?
Imagine if Troy had extensions … that long.
And yet another wondered which teammate gets picked on the most?
“Specialists,” he answered, a reference to Steelers placekicker Chris Boswell, punter Jordan Berry and long snapper Kameron Canaday.
Finally, another follower inquired as to who he believes would win in a fight between backup quarterback Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges and wide receiver Ryan Switzer. All he posted was this:
Zach Banner to Appear on Virtual Panel
Meanwhile, Banner has been attracting more than his share of positive attention recently thanks to his willingness to speak out against racism, sexism and anti-Semitism. Most notably, perhaps, he was among the first NFL players to respond to hateful anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Desean Jackson.
In the process, he has helped bring attention to all of those issues, and he hopes to inspire others to speak out as well.
“No matter how big my platform is, I’m just one voice,” Banner told Julia Felton of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “What we need is more. More voices speaking out against injustice. More commitment to changing systems that perpetuate this violence and hate. More empathy and understanding and inclusion for one another. I’m eager to participate in a conversation that is about just that, how we can make Pittsburgh a place where healing can happen.”
To that end, Banner plans to participate in a virtual panel on Thursday, July 23 to discuss solidarity between Black and Jewish communities.
The other panelists include: Pittsburgh hip-hop artist Jasiri X; Julie Mallis, director of the Pittsburgh office of Repair the World, a Jewish social justice group; sportswriter Jonathan Mayo; and Graie Hagans, national organizer and training coordinator at Bend the Arc Jewish Action. The event will take place on Bend the Arc Jewish Action Pittsburgh’s YouTube channel.
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