Playing defensive tackle in Pittsburgh is always cooler with a nickname. Ask Casey "Big Snack" Hampton.
Steelers third-round pick Javon Hargrave has a pretty sweet one, which he inherited at South Carolina State: The Gravedigger.
Hargrave, who carries the social media handle @grave_digger97 on Instagram, wouldn’t mind using the moniker in the NFL as a force up front.
“When I first got to (South Carolina State), my friends called me Grave because of my last name,” Hargrave said via phone Monday. “In my first year, on my first sack, I smacked the quarterback. I knocked him back a few yards. When I got back to the sideline, my defensive coordinator (Mike Adams) called me Gravedigger. It was pretty dope to me. It stuck.”
After 37.5 sacks in four collegiate seasons, Hargrave wears the nickname proudly. Only NFL production will help Hargrave shed the small-school stigma that followed him throughout the draft process. Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell said he believes Hargrave would have been a higher pick had he played in a power conference.
But the Steelers saw what coach Mike Tomlin calls “unique burst” from Hargrave and didn’t hesitate to select him.
Hargrave, who spent the weekend in Pittsburgh with first-round pick Artie Burns and second-round pick Sean Davis, isn’t concerned about how his game translates.
“I just think I’m a dog,” Hargrave said. “I’m not scared of that challenge. I can rise to that challenge and can play with the best. I’ve just done what I’ve had to do.”
Hargrave believes his nimble feet from an accomplished high school basketball career will help him at the next level. The Salisbury, North Carolina, native was an all-state basketball player out of North Rowan High. He’d play help defense on point guards in the pick-and-roll and learned agility to complement his 295-pound frame.
He liked basketball. He loves football.
In a hometown -- with nothing more than a movie theatre and a few eateries, Hargrave said -- manning the muddy fields for pickup football was always an option. Hargrave’s mentality growing up was to get out of “the mud,” using football as a catalyst.
“This is something I’ve done my whole life. I’ve done it for free and I loved it,” Hargrave said. “I love the bright lights.”
