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Linebacker Tegray Scales may be an NFL vagabond, but much of his career has been spent bouncing around the AFC North. On July 25, Scales signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, per the NFL’s daily transaction wire, having spent time with the Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns in 2021.
Scales’ only regular-season NFL experience has come with the Steelers, who utilized his services in a total of five games in 2020 and 2021, with virtually all of his snaps coming on special teams. His most recent stay in Pittsburgh lasted from January to May of this year. After the Steelers plucked him off Cincinnati’s practice squad on New Year’s Day, he was re-signed to a Reserve/Futures contract, only to lose his roster spot on May 10, the same day he turned 26 years of age.
The bulk of his NFL playing time came in 2020, when he appeared in four games before getting waived prior to Pittsburgh’s playoff loss to the Browns. The Steelers brought him back in January 2021, but he was released when then-G.M. Kevin Colbert traded for linebacker Joe Schobert on August 12 at the cost of a 2022 sixth-round pick.
Scales has indicated that he plans to pursue a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) career when his NFL career comes to an end. He played collegiately at Indiana, where he was credited with 325 tackles (218 solo), including 46 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, eight interceptions, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and eight passes defensed.
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Chad Brown Cites His Favorite Steelers Linebackers
Speaking of linebackers, former Steelers outside ’backer Chad Brown appeared on the Geoff Calkins Show (ESPN 92.9 FM) on Monday and named his Top 3 Steelers linebackers of all-time.
“No slight to Hall of Fame Steelers linebackers Jack Lambert and Kevin Greene,” offered Brown, but “Jack Ham was maybe the first version of the incredible ‘space linebacker’ that we now see in today’s game, where guys can cover and guys feel comfortable in space…. Jack Ham was able to do that a long time ago,” he said, referring to the Pro Football Hall of Famer, who played for the Steelers from 1971-82 and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 1988.
As for choice No. 2, “Let’s go with Greg Lloyd,” intoned Brown, calling him the “textbook definition of a Steelers linebacker. “For five years in a row, Greg Lloyd was literally the baddest man in football,” he concluded, making reference to the period from 1991-95, when Lloyd made the Pro Bowl every year and was thrice named first-team All-Pro.
“I don’t know if they come tougher, meaner and more intimidating than Greg Lloyd, unless you’re talking about the next guy I’m going to talk about, and that’s James Harrison,” he said, speaking about the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, who has long-since transitioned from football to acting and says he hopes to one day land a role as a “super supervillain.”
Of course, Chad Brown wasn’t too shabby himself. A second-round pick in the 1993 draft out of Colorado, Brown spent five of his 15 NFL seasons in Pittsburgh and was twice named first-team All-Pro, in 1996 and ’98.
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Ward and Woodson Have Their XFL Assignments
Meanwhile, on Monday the XFL revealed which (previously named) head coaches will lead which teams. Former Steelers Pro Bowl wide receiver Hines Ward will be coaching the XFL’s San Antonio team, while former Steelers cornerback/kick returner (and Pro Football Hall of Famer) Rod Woodson will be leading the Las Vegas club.
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