Steelers rookie safety a hot commodity
August 8, 2015
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rookie safety “Hot Rod” Gerod Holliman is busy these days making impressions.
His smile can blind you by flashing 12 gold teeth layered across the front. He whips out his resume and up pop those 14 interceptions at Louisville that led the NCAA in 2014, which upped his nickname from Hot Rod to Hot Robbery among his teammates.
Yet the biggest imprint Holliman, 5 feet 10, 218 pounds, made through the first two weeks of training camp came in practice on Wednesday when he flashed something entirely different.
With questions swirling around his college play about either his inability or desirability to tackle someone, Holliman laid out 260-pound fullback Roosevelt Nix with the help of linebacker Jordan Zumwalt on a pass reception. It ranked among the best collisions of camp.
Secondary coach Carnell Lake immediately checked off one of the unknowns he had for Holliman.
“He answered some questions for me from that,” said Lake, once a hard-hitting polished safety in the Steelers secondary. “It wasn’t a wideout, that was a big guy he hit and he didn’t hesitate. He needed to show that and get that question mark answered and he did that.”
Holliman plays free safety and, with starter Mike Mitchell out and 12-year veteran Will Allen next in line, should get plenty of playing time Sunday in the Hall of Fame Game against the Minnesota Vikings in Canton, Ohio. Coach Mike Tomlin mentioned a couple of other young safeties as well, Alden Darby and Ian Wild.
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