Kozora: Cam Heyward’s Contract Was Earned, Not Given

Cameron Heyward Friday Night Lights Steelers training campCam Heyward and his three-year contract extension is a feel-good story. The man born in Pittsburgh, raised in Atlanta, coming back to the Burgh and being the rare “one-helmet” guy for his career. The poetic justice of going back to Georgia this weekend for his first game off his contract. The place he grew up, where his father played and now rests, the stadium where brother Connor caught his first touchdown (in very similar fashion to his dad’s first receiving score). That makes Tuesday’s news all the sweeter.

But Heyward’s new deal isn’t just a feel-good story. It isn’t the gold watch for 30 years of hard work. It’s not charity for…