I grew up the first-born daughter of Pittsburgh Steeler offensive lineman, #73 Craig Wolfley. People ask me all the time what it was like to grow up the way I did, and honestly, I thought everyone's dad played football! I never understood why people would always want to have him "draw" on footballs or take pictures with my dad when we he would take us to a McDonald's playground or anywhere! I always wondered why they didn't want to take a picture with me? (I mean, I was a lot cuter at 5 years old in pigtails and missing teeth!) As I grew older, I realized who my dad was and what the Steelers meant to this city.
Being my dad's daughter and being associated with the Steelers brought a lot of pressure later in my life when I was first approached by one of the producers to audition for a reporting role for Steelers TV. Not only was I carrying my dad's legendary last name (in the Steel City) but now I had the opportunity of a lifetime to actually work for them and when I started to think about it, it was pretty scary. I had a lot to prove and being a woman in a man's world (I don't care what other people think, you are in a man's world when it comes to sports broadcasting) and showing people that I didn't have my job just because of who my daddy is.
So after that audition, I was also asked to take over 2 new positions that were opening up. I was to become an assistant on the McDonald's Steelers KidZONE Show and work in graphic design and updating stats on the jumbotron for all home games. I had A LOT to learn very quickly, but I was not going to let this opportunity pass me up. I was, after all, being offered to work for not only the BEST franchise in the NFL, but also the team that provided for my family. Even though I had to work along side my dad (which was difficult at times, especially for the poor guys who didn't know I was Wolf's daughter but quickly found out) it really has been a dream job.
It is a family at Heinz Field and everyone looks out for one another. I work with wonderful, amazing, talented people every week during the season who all work so well together to benefit, not only the team, but each other. I could go on forever and name each person I work with and talk about how they benefit the franchise, but that might be for another post. But my point here is, you don't see us behind the glass in the control room every game, controlling everything going on in the bowl. You don't see or really recognize all the hundreds of people it takes behind the scenes who make gamedays as magical as they are for the thousands of fans that pay good money to come cheer on their favorite team. I don't think most of the headliners in the lockout recognize who else they are affecting.
One of the benefits of working for one of the best franchises in the league is you get paid very good money when you work for them. I am a single mom and I depend very much on the money I make from Steelers. With this lockout still not being resolved, I am very nervous about when it will. I don't know whether or not I should think about looking for another job in case it's not ended? What about if we have a shortened season? I have bills to pay and a child to take care of and I know everyone that I work with has the same concerns. We can't even make future plans because we don't know what is going to happen! It's the people who work security at the stadiums, the vendors, the concession stand operators, the camera men, the freelance reporters, the men and women who clean up after drunken fans, the people who work in all parts of in game production that are being affected and most likely are just as concerned as I am about our job security.
I am not down playing how the players are affected, especially those who are not making $1 Million and up a year, I understand what they are going through. But I'm talking about people like me, who are not part of a union, who freelance and can't file for unemployment or get any sort of compensation if we do not have a season or miss part of it. It's the little people that the big guys aren't thinking of. It's the people who stand behind the scenes, behind the cameras and make the magic happen for all the amazing fans across the country, at every stadium, every gameday. Our paychecks may not be that much to sign off on compared to the players, but my job and that check means so much to someone like me.
