PITTSBURGH — Something seemed amiss. That is why I would not describe the Steelers releasing guard David DeCastro Thursday as stunning.
Surprising? Sure. But hardly stunning. Not if you knew DeCastro was bothered by an ankle injury all of last season. Not when you saw so many veteran Steelers on the field at mandatory minicamp last week while DeCastro curiously watched.
And certainly not when the Steelers brought in five-time Pro Bowl right guard Trai Turner for a visit last Friday. At that point, anything seemed possible.
Turns out DeCastro, 31, is facing another ankle surgery. He seems too young to retire, but don't be surprised if that is exactly what happens.
"I have to get surgery on my ankle a third time," DeCastro said in a text Thursday. "I tried to fix it last year but the bone spurs kept coming back. It nagged me pretty bad all last year."
I asked him if he still wants to play.
"Gotta see how the surgery goes," he said. "But I'd have no problem calling it a day and moving on with my life."
Either way, this guy goes down as one of the greatest offensive linemen in Steelers history. One could easily make the argument that he was their second-greatest guard, behind newly elected Hall of Famer Alan Faneca.
DeCastro piled up six Pro Bowl invitations and two first-team All-Pro designations (plus a second-team spot) in just eight full seasons after the Steelers selected him 24th overall out of Stanford in 2012. He was an imposing combination of size, agility and power.
As recently as the summer of 2018, NFL players voted DeCastro the 44th-best player in the entire league. He was as good as any guard in the NFL at that point. I remember his teammate and close friend Al Villanueva would tell me he would watch tape of DeCastro just to see somebody play the guard position "perfectly."
DeCastro's battles with Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict were legendary. He accused Burfict of spitting on him in the epic 2016 playoff game. One can easily find video of DeCastro burying Burfict on a goal-line play and going helmet-to-helmet with him on another, like a pair of angry rams.
I'll remember DeCastro, too, for having a wonderful, sarcastic sense of humor and an opinion on just about everything. He didn't actively seek to share his opinions, but if you asked him a question, he practically couldn't help but give an honest answer.
Examples ...
— He vehemently defended Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey — who were getting shredded at the time— for skipping their college bowl games to prepare for the NFL draft: "Be smart, you know?" DeCastro said. "Look forward to their future. Makes sense to me. Definitely a good move on their part."
— He ripped the NFL for threatening to enforce a "lowering the helmet" rule among linemen in the trenches three years ago. "You're taught from a young age, the low man wins," DeCastro said. "Get your head lower than theirs. It's like the nature of the game. You might as well take the ball away while you're at it. We're going to look like sumo wrestlers. Put our bellies against each other."
— He lamented the state of the league — notably all the empty stadiums — midway through the pandemic season of 2020: "You're like, 'What are we doing out here?' " he said. "I don't like to make excuses because we're professionals and stuff, but we're still human. We have emotions and not having fans there, it's just tough."
The sight of DeCastro leading a power-run play — sometimes pulling alongside center Maurkice Pouncey to create an especially imposing sight — won't soon be forgotten.
He'll be missed, in more ways than one.
