Pat Freiermuth calls Renegade tradition 'sick'

Pittsburgh Steelers fans will never press skip when Renegade by Styx hits their radio, and neither will tight end Pat Freiermuth.

The Steelers’ tradition of blasting Renegade through the stadium to pump up the crowd and the team late in games has become one of the best in the NFL. While the franchise’s AFC North rivals don’t love it, football fans around the globe can appreciate its electricity.

During an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take earlier this week, speaking with the famed Big Cat and PFT Commenter, the former Penn State star explained his true feelings on the tradition, and what he felt when he heard his first rendition of Renegade in Pittsburgh.

“It’s sick,” started Freiermuth. “I remember my first Renegade I was like, this is — like I grabbed a towel and started doing it myself. It was sick, it was sick. It’s cool man, it’s cool.”

Perhaps the star tight end should make that tradition. That would certainly pump up the crowd, if he joined in on the towel waving during the game.

Nevertheless, Pat Freiermuth is certainly right, Renegade is sick. We’re already chomping at the bit to see one of the NFL’s best traditions once again this Fall.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 playoff chances revealed

Meanwhile, postseason percentages have been revealed for Pat Freiermuth’s Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the 2023 season, for better or for worse.

The Steelers are looking to build on their nine-win season in 2022 — but based on some of their percentages, Pittsburgh’s season could come down to how well they perform against divisional opponents. 

Here are the main percentages, courtesy of BetPennsylvania.com.

• Playoff chances — 43.5 percent
• Miss playoffs — 56.5 percent
• Super Bowl chances — 2 percent
• Win AFC — 3.8 percent
• Win AFC North — 18.2 percent

“I calculated the Steelers playoff picture using the implied probability of the team’s odds to make the postseason. For this particular chart’s data, I used DraftKings Sportsbook PA. Converting the Steelers’ current odds of +130 to make the playoffs provided the 43.5% chance highlighted above,” BetPennsylvania’s Michelle Magdziuk wrote on how she went about calculating the percentages.

Pittsburgh’s 18.2 percent chance to win the division is the lowest out of all AFC North teams, though the Steelers has had a winning record in every season since 2003 — giving them a fairly decent shot to make the playoffs based on history, especially under head coach Mike Tomlin. 

Still, the Steelers have missed the postseason in three of the last six seasons and haven’t won a playoff game at all in that span — Pittsburgh’s longest winless streak since the 1970s. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Steelers are favorites to win 10 of their 17 matchups during the 2023 season. More often than not, a 10-7 record is decent enough to earn a spot in the postseason.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.