PITTSBURGH — Having a powerful and burly professional athlete who's every bit of 6-foot-6, 235 pounds walking around the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex isn't new, especially three days before the Steelers play the Denver Broncos.

But the uniqueness of it came with that man's profession: starting pitcher for the Pirates and not a tight end or outside linebacker.

Paul Skenes stopped by the Steelers' practice facility on Thursday to watch practice, meet some people (including coach Mike Tomlin) and swap signed jerseys with T.J. Watt.

"It was cool. Always cool to be around a winning program, winning people," Skenes said on Saturday. "Just a cool day."

It was Yinzer nirvana in a way, one of Pittsburgh's best feel-good sports stories in years clashing with our annual fall obsession. The excitement surrounding what Skenes has done certainly wasn't lost on the Steelers.

"Big dude, man," Watt said. "Cool guy. He's electric for this whole city, for the team. I'm just excited for his future and the Pirates' future, as well."

Tomlin met up with Skenes around the middle of the day, outside the Steelers weight room, and complimented the 22-year-old on the seriousness with which he approaches his work.

On Friday, I asked Tomlin to expound a little on those thoughts.

"I'm a big fan," Tomlin said. "I'm not only a big fan of the product that he's putting out, but from what I hear, I'm a big fan of his approach. He's a young guy with a very mature approach. The consistency of his performance is probably the biggest indication of that."

Inside the locker room, the Steelers have a tremendous amount of respect for Skenes and how he carries himself.

Dean Lowry grew up in Rockford, Ill., and usually roots for the Chicago White Sox. It's been a tough year for the diehard baseball fan. So Lowry adopted the Pirates after signing a two-year deal with the Steelers back in April.

When Skenes squared off with Shohei Ohtani back on June 5, Lowry was in the crowd at PNC Park, taking great delight as the Pirates ace pumped 100 mph heat past the Japanese superstar.

Lowry was also here Monday when Skenes improved to 10-2 with six innings of one-run ball against the Marlins, walking one, striking out nine and dropping his season ERA to 2.10.

"I've been a big fan since his LSU days," Lowry said. "Kind of cool that he came to show support for the Steelers.

"He seems very mature. I'm not surprised because of his time at Air Force. You know he has that discipline about him. I've just really been impressed with his approach on the mound and professionalism out there."

It's been a different perspective for long snapper Christian Kuntz, a Chartiers Valley and Duquesne product who knows better than any of his teammates what Skenes means to the city and fan base.

Kuntz has also taken great delight in watching teammates get excited over Skenes starts and what this place can be like when the baseball team is winning.

"A lot of guys in here are fans with how successful he's been," Kuntz said. "They know he's one of the best in the world at what he does. That he's doing it here in Pittsburgh makes it a pretty cool situation. Obviously I'm a fan. He's also a big dude."

After Skenes met Watt, a couple Steelers came up to the pitcher and said hello: Patrick Queen, Justin Fields, Lowry and Pat Freiermuth.

The last one wasn't surprising. Freiermuth is probably the biggest baseball fan in the Steelers locker room and actually gave Colin Holderman a signed jersey.

Queen was also one I should have seen coming due to the LSU connection. I did not know it ran this deep, though.

Skenes won a national championship and was his team's MVP. Same deal for Queen, who was the defensive MVP of the 2020 College Football Playoff national championship game.

In the video, Queen mentioned someone named Clayton, who's actually Clay Moffitt, son of longtime LSU strength coach Tommy Moffitt. Skenes, the Moffitts and Queen apparently all know each other well.

Not only that, Queen and Skenes somehow have the same financial advisor.

"It's fun being able to hear the stories about him and then meet him in person," Queen said. "He's bigger than I thought. Massive dude.

"We're gonna have to plan a trip — country stuff, fishing or something. But I don't know how he can get outside without people swarming him."

Fair point these days, with Skenes' popularity off the charts. But as long as he stays at Steelers practice, hey, maybe he can actually blend in with some other gigantic human beings.

"He got called up this early for a reason," Queen said. "Not many people have done what he's doing. He's a different breed."

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