Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers select Zach Frazier Center of West Virginia. It's
Speaker 1: rare you find a guy with that kind of pedigree
Speaker 1: in his resume and not a snaps he has in college.
Speaker 1: We couldn't be more fired up than to get Zack
Speaker 1: and a B.
Speaker 2: All right, Zach, welcome to Pittsburgh. Take me through your
Speaker 2: draft night experience.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I got the call right when I saw
Speaker 1: fore too, I knew it was Pittsburgh. I actually had
Speaker 1: some trouble with my phone. They couldn't hear me. I
Speaker 1: could hear them, but they couldn't hear me. So I
Speaker 1: got the call, ran upstairs out of the basement, and
Speaker 1: you know, tried to get the phone call to work,
Speaker 1: and it ended up working. But you know, just an
Speaker 1: amazing feeling to you know, have that relief of getting
Speaker 1: the phone call and then you know, end up being
Speaker 1: here in Pittsburgh, you know, an hour and a half
Speaker 1: away from where I'm from.
Speaker 2: Coach Tolland always does on the phone, like, you know,
Speaker 2: you ready to be in Pittsburgh steel Are you're healthy?
Speaker 2: Are you hearing that? And like wait, they can't hear me,
Speaker 2: Like what's happening?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Making you a little nervous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it made me a little nervous. Of course, my
Speaker 1: phone stopped working in the most important time. But yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was all those questions and you know it eventually worked. Yep.
Speaker 2: Does it feel real when you took that drive to
Speaker 2: get here to the Steelers facility? You came for a
Speaker 2: pre draft visit, as you said, not far from Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: growing up. But did this make it like, Okay, this
Speaker 2: is happening.
Speaker 1: Yeah it was. It was definitely special. You know. Obviously
Speaker 1: I didn't have to get on a plane and go somewhere.
Speaker 1: I just got in my truck and drove up here,
Speaker 1: and I think it hit me when I drove through
Speaker 1: the tunnel and saw the city. It's like, this is real.
Speaker 1: It still doesn't feel real, but it was pretty special.
Speaker 2: You talked on your call after you were drafted just
Speaker 2: about the history of the Steelers offensive line. Does that
Speaker 2: add a little pressure maybe to being such a high
Speaker 2: draft pick to continue that tradition at Oline?
Speaker 1: I think it's just knowing that there's a high standard
Speaker 1: of offensive line play here, and you know, that's just
Speaker 1: going to make me work that much harder to you know,
Speaker 1: keep and uphold that standard.
Speaker 2: You were an accomplished athlete in both high school and
Speaker 2: in college. Was there any adversity that you face where
Speaker 2: you thought, okay, this is this is going to help
Speaker 2: me in.
Speaker 1: The long run. I would say, uh, you know, the
Speaker 1: last game of my you know, career, I had had
Speaker 1: an injury that you know, going into this pre draft
Speaker 1: process definitely wasn't easy. But I just attacked the rehab
Speaker 1: and you know, got back to being healthy. Definitely was
Speaker 1: a curve ball, but just taught me a lot.
Speaker 2: Was it hard going through it?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: You can say, okay, I got passed in, I got drafted,
Speaker 2: But at the time, how hard was it to keep
Speaker 2: it together and to keep your eye on the prize?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Definitely not easy. You know you're worried about going
Speaker 1: to the Senior Bowl. Obviously I wasn't able to participate there.
Speaker 1: I got to go, but wasn't clear for contact. And
Speaker 1: then you know, at the combine, I wasn't able to
Speaker 1: do everything. But then you know, I was able to
Speaker 1: do everything at per day. So it ended up working out.
Speaker 2: When you went to West Virginia and eventually became the
Speaker 2: starting center, what did you learn about what the key
Speaker 2: is that center quarterback connection? And relationship that you.
Speaker 1: Have to have. Yeah, it's all about communication. The center
Speaker 1: in the quarterback has to be on the same page.
Speaker 1: We have to know where the protection is, who's the mic.
Speaker 1: Everyone just has to be on the same page so
Speaker 1: there's no no miscommunications.
Speaker 2: And how much on your part is that being able
Speaker 2: to read the defense and different things and your prep
Speaker 2: work and just the extra things they go into it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot of film study throughout the week,
Speaker 1: also studying the game plan for that week, and then
Speaker 1: it's knowing the calls and communicating that across the line
Speaker 1: so everyone can hear me clearly and you know, even
Speaker 1: when it's loud, just so we're all on the same page.
Speaker 2: Have you talked to any Steelers quarterbacks?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I talked to Russell last night. He called
Speaker 1: me again my phone wasn't working great service. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but that was pretty cool moment.
Speaker 2: I guess take us through why you have your name
Speaker 2: and why you wore the number that you wore, what
Speaker 2: your parents kind of decided there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, special that was.
Speaker 2: Maybe for you.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So my dad was originally from Florida and they
Speaker 1: were Dolphins fans, So my dad named me after Zach Thomas,
Speaker 1: who were fifty four just got inducted into the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame. You know, that's always been special for me.
Speaker 1: I've more in fifty four since tea ball.
Speaker 2: Did you start wrestling first or playing football or did
Speaker 2: they start happening at the same time when.
Speaker 1: You were younger, same time, around four or five years old?
Speaker 2: And what was that like growing up just being in
Speaker 2: a very sports centric family.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you go straight from football season the
Speaker 1: rest of the season to baseball for a while until
Speaker 1: I stopped playing that. But you know, it was just
Speaker 1: just a fun time to be a kid and you know,
Speaker 1: play all these sports and really at that time, I
Speaker 1: just had had fun to on it.
Speaker 2: Arthur Smith, your new oc he said, woodworking is also
Speaker 2: something else you do, So is that another hobby? Is
Speaker 2: there anything else?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I like to build things, like to work
Speaker 1: with tools. I also like to golf.
Speaker 2: Okay, so yeah, there's a lot of golf on this team.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's fun to do. Its fun to do,
Speaker 1: that's for sure.
Speaker 2: And why do you feel like now that it's real
Speaker 2: that you were meant to be a Pittsburgh Steeler just
Speaker 2: based off of your mentality and how you like to
Speaker 2: play the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I played with toughness and grit, and you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's, you know, how the Steelers have played
Speaker 1: throughout the years. I think that's kind of their identity.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think I can follow it up
Speaker 1: all right. Well, thanks forgetting welcome yep, thanks for having me.