Shaun Suisham | From Wallpaper To Playoff Run

We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.’ It’s a strange coincidence that, after five years, Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham may very well finish exactly where he started. When the struggles of former kicker Jeff Reed became too much for the Steelers to risk their season on, they reached out to Suisham who said with a humble smile, “I was stripping wallpaper. You know…the honey-do list” That’s when he got the call to come try out for the Pittsburgh Steelers and on November 16, Suisham signed to take over for Reed as the man to put the ball through the uprights.

Suisham was born in Wallaceburg, Ontario, which is known as the ‘Glass Town of Canada.’ Suisham said, “It used to be Libby Glass, but it’s gone.” A local company was bought out by foreign competitors and closed in 1999, leaving the once-proud glass manufacturing town with a little of an identity crisis. Sort of like the collapse of the Pittsburgh region’s steel industry. I bring that up because this kid is from up north, where the current temperature as of this writing was zero. So the balmy 28 degrees in downtown Pittsburgh on December 23^rd, 2010 hardly fazes the Canadian. He comes from the type of town that identifies the Steelers fans: hard working and unafraid of the elements that Mother Nature brings during the winter months. Heck, his town even ends in ‘burg.’

Suisham, a graduate of Bowling Green State University, was undrafted in 2005 but received an invite to Steelers’ camp. However, he was cut and since then has been a member of the Dallas Cowboys (twice), San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins (twice), Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams. He auditioned for the Lions after Jason Hanson went down injured, but ultimately didn’t land the gig.

“Hockey and soccer,” Suisham said were other sports he enjoyed playing growing up. “Football was a last minute deal. I had a scholarship opportunity so I went to school and kicked footballs,” adding that it “was not anything I ever expected to do.”

Heading into week 16 of the NFL season Suisham, in his five games with Pittsburgh, has been perfect on all ten of his field goal attempts. He says, “I feel good and don’t plan on changing anything.” Oh, and you list his game-winning field goal in overtime in Buffalo to his list of 2010 credits while you’re at it. Things are looking good for Suisham, just like his kicks. “Two or three times a week,” Suisham responded when asked how much time he spent practicing when he wasn’t on an NFL roster, “I just stayed ready and treated it like ‘you’re playing really well. Just stay ready for when that phone call comes.’”

Suisham added, “It’s a lot more uncomfortable being at home not playing,” on Sundays when comparing it to coming in as the new guy on the roster. “It was easy to adjust and come in here.” In January of 2010 he was playing for the Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, was then signed and released by both Cleveland and St. Louis by the end of summer before landing the audition with the Lions. “To be perfectly honest, I thought I would have been with a team sooner than I was. But the Pittsburgh Steelers were worth the wait.”

“We know he takes his job real serious,” defensive back William Gay said about Suisham’s approach. “He knows the pressure of our kicks and we know it too. We want to see the ball go through, and we just let him take care of the job.”

With five years of experience and the playoffs right around the corner for Pittsburgh Steelers, Suisham couldn’t help but be pleased with his current situation, “There are a lot of good football players, a lot of fight in this team. It’s fun to be part of it.” In other words, kicking for the Steelers comes with a lot of pressure…but it sure beats stripping wallpaper.

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