Getty Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt received an apology on social media from a 3-time Pro Bowl left tackle.
Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan appears to really want to be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he seems set on ensuring nothing within his power prevents that from happening.
Even if that means apologizing to Steelers 3-time All-Pro T.J. Watt.
Lewan attempted to mend his relationship with Watt with a plea in a Twitter post on February 1.
“I know we’ve a couple negative encounters TJ, but let’s turn the page brother,” Lewan wrote in the post. “This is bigger than both of us.”
A video accompanied the offensive tackle’s caption. Lewan also apologized in the video.
“We’ve had our past. Yeah, I spit in his face. I hit him in the nuts one time,” said Lewan in the video. “Listen, hand up, that’s on me.
“But d*** boys, can we turn a page? Let’s just turn a page and move on.”
Steelers fans want me to come to Pittsburgh but @_TJWatt just denied coming on our podcast for the 3rd time.
I know we’ve a couple negative encounters TJ, but let’s turn the page brother. This is bigger than the both of us.
Lewan’s Attempted Apology to Watt
It’s not clear when the two incidents Lewan described with Watt occurred, but the Steelers and Titans have played each other with both Watt and Lewan active just twice.
The first meeting was on a Thursday night during Watt’s rookie year in 2017. The second was a December matchup in 2021. Watt posted 1.5 sacks with 5 tackles, 4 quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. The Steelers upset the Titans, who eventually earned the AFC No. 1 seed, 19-13.
The safe bet is Lewan grew frustrated with Watt and his dominance during the more recent matchup. If that’s when Watt received some unpleasantness from Lewan, it was more than a year ago.
Lewan’s apology came only this week after Watt allegedly turned down a third straight opportunity to appear on his podcast, Bussin’ with the Boys.
Apparently that was the final indicator to Lewan that Watt may not like him very much. But the problem with the offensive tackle’s apology was he didn’t actually say, “I’m sorry.”
Lewan did plenty of begging, though. He even tweeted about being “pretty desperate.”
@rainbowrandi @_willcompton @_TJWatt Honestly, pretty desperate.
Lewan’s podcast partner, Will Compton, suggested Watt could come on the show without Lewan present for the interview. He also added that Lewan could donate money to Watt’s charity as another form of an apology.
@_willcompton @_TJWatt I would agree to these terms, I would love to be apart of this pod but it’s not always about me.
Lewan a Potential Free Agent Target for Steelers?
The offensive tackle’s effort to make amends with Watt came at an interesting time.
On January 31, Lewan publicly expressed his desire to play in Pittsburgh for the second time in the last few weeks. While on The Steel Here podcast, he offered Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin a lot of praise.
“Mike Tomlin was the head coach of the Pro Bowl, I think, in 2017 or something like that. He is a fantastic individual,” Lewan said on the podcast. “I think he is so cool, he’s calm. I hear about the guys talk about him and how great he is in the locker room and how he handles the locker room.
“Being a leader of men is a very difficult thing to do, and when I was around him for that short week in a very calm and relaxing setting, I thought to myself, ‘Man, this is a cool coach to play for.’”
Lewan isn’t even a free agent yet. He still has a year remaining on his contract with the Titans, but he expects to be released this offseason and is already campaigning to play for the Steelers next season.
“Those colors so go hard,” Lewan quote tweeted a picture of himself in a Steelers uniform on January 17.
Lewan is an interesting possibility for the Steelers. Dan Moore played every snap at left tackle for Pittsburgh during 2022 and showed signs of improvement. However, the Steelers are expected to at least add depth to their offensive line this offseason.
Whether the Steelers identify Lewan as the best choice to address that need and are willing to offer him the monetary value he is seeking are the biggest obstacles for Lewan landing in Pittsburgh.
But apparently his beef with the Steelers’ best defensive player could be an issue too.