83 HEATH MILLER

 

2006 (16-16): Started all 16 games…finished with 34 catches for 393 yards (11.6 avg.) with five touchdowns…9/7 vs. Miami: Caught three passes for a career-high 101 yards (33.7 avg.) and one touchdown…eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the first time in his career…caught an 87-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Batch late in the fourth quarter to give the Steelers a 21-17 lead…87-yard TD is the longest touchdown reception at Heinz Field…touchdown was the Steelers longest TD play since Kordell Stewart hit Bobby Shaw for a 90-yard touchdown (Dec. 16, 2001) and was the longest touchdown reception for a tight end in 32 years (Joe Namath connected with Rich Caster for 89 yards against Miami in 1974)…also became the first Steelers' TE to gain 100-yards receiving since Eric Green (119 – 12/26/93 at Seattle)…9/18 at Jacksonville: Started at TE and caught one pass for 11 yards…9/24 vs. Cincinnati: Started at TE and caught three passes for 34 yards (11.3 avg.) and a long of 13. 10/8 at San Diego: Recorded two receptions for 22 yards and a long of 15…started at TE…10/15 vs. Kansas City: Started at TE…caught one pass for 16 yards…helped the running game gain 219 yards on 42 rushes (5.2 avg.) and three TDs…10/22 at Atlanta: Caught two passes for four yards and a touchdown…scored on a one-yard toss in the second quarter to give Pittsburgh a 17-7 lead…10/29 at Oakland: Started at TE and had two receptions for 10 yards and a long of five…11/5 vs. Denver: Grabbed five balls for 34 yards (6.8 avg.) with a long of 11…11/12 vs. New Orleans: Had three receptions for 30 yards (10.0 avg.) with a long of 22 and a TD…caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to give the Steelers a 14-0 lead…helped block for Willie Parker to gain 213 yards (the second highest total in Steelers history)…11/19 at Cleveland: Started at TE and two passes for 32 yards with a long of 16…11/26 at Baltimore: Grabbed three passes for 35 yards (11.7 avg.) with a long of 16…12/3 vs. Tampa Bay: Caught two passes for 27 yards and one touchdown…grabbed a 16-yard pass for a touchdown from a scrambling Ben Roethlisberger…12/7 vs. Cleveland: Started at TE and helped the offense gain 303 rushing yards on 52 carries (5.8 avg.) and two touchdowns…helped Willie Parker rush for a single-game team-record 223 yards…snapped his streak of consecutive games with a reception at 15…12/17 at Carolina: Caught two passes for 25 yards with a long of 20…helped spring Willie Parker for a 41-yard touchdown run in the third quarter…12/24 vs. Baltimore: Caught three passes for 12 yards (4.0 avg.) with a long of six…caught a one-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with seven seconds left in the first half…12/31 at Cincinnati: Started at TE and helped the offense rush for 207 yards and possess the ball for 40:41.

2005 (16-15/4-4): Finished the season tied for third in the NFL among all rookies (non-kickers) in scoring with 36 points (six touchdowns) and was fourth among all NFL rookies in receptions (39)…his 39 catches were the most by a Steelers' TE since Eric Green caught 46 in during the 1994 season…finished second on the team with 39 receptions for 459 yards (11.8 avg.) and six touchdowns…caught a TD pass in four straight games, tying a team record for a TE…started 15-of-16 games as a rookie…caught six touchdowns in his first seven games, becoming only the third TE in NFL history to reach that feat (Green in 1990 and Raymond Chester in 1970)…earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 8 vs. Baltimore after recording his first career multiple touchdown game (2)…9/11 vs. Tennessee: Started in team's two-tight end set…caught first career pass for a 3-yard touchdown…9/18 at Houston: Started in team's two-tight end set…did not catch a pass…9/25 vs. New England: Made his third-consecutive start in a two-tight end formation…had one reception for 13 yards…10/10 at San Diego: Caught a career-high four passes for 36 yards and a TD…scored on a 16-yard TD pass, his second of the season…his four receptions ranked second on the team behind Hines Ward…10/16 vs. Jacksonville: Started at tight end for the fourth time in five games as the team opened in a two-tight end set…had the most productive day of his young career…led the team in three categories with four receptions for 72 yards and a long of 27…the 72 receiving yards sets a new career high…caught a 15-yard touchdown in which he bulled his way into the end zone…marked the first time since 1994 that a Steelers' tight end led the team outright in catches and yards in a game…10/23 at Cincinnati: Started his fifth game of the year and led the team for the second straight game with six receptions for 58 yards (9.7 avg.) and scored one touchdown…had a long of 21 yards and become the first Steelers' tight end to lead the team in receptions in two consecutive games…10/31 vs. Baltimore: Started his sixth game of the year…finished with three catches for 18 yards with two touchdowns, the first multi-touchdown game of his career…extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one touchdown to four, tying the Steelers' tight end record…marked his fifth and sixth touchdowns in his first seven games…the only other tight ends in NFL history to catch six TD passes in their first seven games in the league are Raymond Chester (Oakland Raiders, 1970) and Eric Green (Pittsburgh Steelers, 1990)…his touchdown catches covered four and eight yards…earned AFC Rookie of the Week honors…11/6 at Green Bay: Started as the team's only tight end…caught two passes for 11 yards (5.5 avg.) with a long of nine…also had a reception for the sixth straight game…11/13 vs. Cleveland: Started at tight end for the fifth straight game and for the eighth time in nine games…was held without a catch for only the second time this season…11/20 at Baltimore: Started at tight end and caught five passes for 37 yards (7.4 avg.) with a long of 19…11/28 at Indianapolis: Tied for the team lead with four receptions for 26 yards (6.5 avg.)…12/4 vs. Cincinnati: Started at tight end…caught three passes for 44 yards (14.7 avg.) with a long of 21…12/11 vs. Chicago: Started at TE for the ninth straight game...helped team amass 190 yards on 46 carries (4.1 avg.) and two touchdowns…12/18 at Minnesota: Started at TE for the 10^th straight game…caught two passes for a team high 58 yards, including a game long of 50 to set up the Steelers' first field goal…his 50-yard reception was the longest by a Steelers' TE since Eric Green hauled in a 71-yard touchdown in 1993…12/24 at Cleveland: Started at tight end and caught one pass for 21 yards…1/1 vs. Detroit: Started at TE…caught a team high three passes for 62 yards (20.7 avg.)…had a 43-yard reception, his second longest catch of the season…AFC Wild Card Game 1/8 at Cincinnati: Started at TE and caught two passes for 15 yards…AFC Divisional Game 1/15 at Indianapolis: Caught three passes for 61 yards (20.3 avg.), including a long of 36…caught a seven-yard touchdown pass, his first career postseason TD…AFC Championship Game 1/22 at Denver: Started at TE…caught two passes for 31 yards (15.5 avg.)…had a long reception of 24 yards…Super Bowl XL 2/5 vs. Seattle: Started at TE and helped team gain 181 rushing yards on 33 carries (5.5 avg.) and two TDs.

COLLEGE: Was the first ACC player to win the Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end…also became the school's first major award winner since 1941…holds every receiving record for a tight end in school history and also established new conference career records for receptions, touchdown catches and yards gained by a tight end…closed out his career as the first two-time first-team All-ACC tight end in school history…started 39 consecutive games for the Cavaliers…scored at least once in each of his first five games at Virginia and his nine scoring grabs set a school season-record for tight ends…in 39 games as a Cavalier, caught 144 passes for 1,703 yards (11.8 avg) and 20 touchdowns…only Billy McMullen (210, 1999-2001) had more catches in a career for the Cavaliers…his 1,703 yards rank seventh on the school's career-record list and his 20 scoring grabs rank fourth, behind McMullen (24), Herman Moore (27, 1988-90) and Tyrone Davis (28, 1991-94). 2004: Winner of the Mackey Award, given to the nation's best tight end…first-team All-American selection by The NFL Draft Report, the American Football Coaches Association, the Walter Camp Football Foundation and Football Writers Association of America…first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice…led the team for the second-straight year with 41 receptions for 541 yards (13.2 avg) and five touchdowns in 12 games…served as team captain…25 of his receptions came on scoring drives. 2003: All-American first-team selection by The NFL Draft Report, adding second-team honors from College Football News…first-team All-ACC pick…added first-team All-State honors from the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association and the Roanoke Times…set school and conference season records for tight ends with 70 receptions for 835 yards (11.9 avg) and also scored six times…overall, his 70 catches ranked second on the school's season record list behind Billy McMullen's 83 grabs in 2001…his 835 yards ranked seventh on Virginia's annual record chart…joined Bruce McGonnigal (1989) as UVa's only tight ends with two 100-yard games in a season and the first one to do it in consecutive games (Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech)…sixty percent of his catches went for either a first down or touchdown (42 of 70). 2002: Second-team All-ACC choice…freshman All-American selection by Scripps/Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and College Football News…first-team All-State pick by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association...honorable mention ECAC All-Star…started every game as a redshirt freshman, leading all ACC tight ends with nine touchdowns and 33 receptions, good for 327 yards (9.9 avg)…also threw for a 20-yard score and made two assisted tackles on special teams. 2001: Was redshirted…was in uniform for the Richmond game…majored in sociology.

PERSONAL: Attended Honaker (Swords Creek, Va.) High School…was a quarterback and safety at Honaker High School, where he earned Associated Press Player of the Year honors as a senior and was a two-time AP All-State selection…selected Virginia High School Coaches Association Group A Offensive Player of the Year as a senior and was a two-time first-team Group A All-State selection…earned All-Southwest Virginia first-team honors at quarterback and was a second-team All-State selection at defensive back, adding Region D Offensive Player of the Year accolades…passed for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns and rushed for 901 yards in 2000…as a junior, passed for 1,872 yards and 26 touchdowns, and rushed for 643 yards and 12 scores, leading Honaker to an 11-2 record that season…played first base on the Honaker baseball team and was a forward on the basketball team…earned Black Diamond District first-team honors, and was an All-Region and All-State selection in baseball…also earned All-District and All-Region honors in basketball…son of Earl and Denise Miller…he and his wife, Katie, were married this past offseason…Full Name: Earl Heath Miller.