Former Steelers center Dermontti Dawson — a seven-time Pro Bowl selection who played for the team between 1988 and 2000 — was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and has since moved on to a career <a href="http://www.coltsshopauthentic.com/shop-by-players-10-donte-moncrief-jersey-c-1_3.html">Donte Moncrief Youth Jersey</a> consulting with potential NFL draft picks about the draft process in addition to remaining active within the NFL community. He sat down with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports podcast to discuss topics including his new line of work, his thoughts on today’s Steelers and some memories of former teammates. Below are some excerpts from our conversation, which you can listen to in its entirety by clicking the play button on the SoundCloud file embedded above, or by downloading it and taking it on the go with your smartphone.

On Maurkice Pouncey, the man who now plays Dawson’s old position for the Steelers and has made four Pro Bowl appearances...

“Comparing Maurkice to myself, I think is kind of unfair, but Maurkice is one heck of an athlete, man. And looking at him now, being<a href="http://www.authenticbroncosshop.com/shop-by-players-trevor-siemian-jersey-c-1_47.html">Trevor Siemian Youth Jersey</a>  healthy, he’s playing at that same high level ... I’ll tell you what. He is a phenomenal player. And I think if he keeps at the same level that he’s playing right now, there’s no doubt that he’s going to be making Pro Bowls year after year if he stays healthy. He is a phenomenal athlete.”

On “Concussion,” the movie released earlier this year centered around some of his former teammates who struggled with CTE...

"All three of those guys, with Mike [Webster], Terry Long and Justin Strzelczyk, all three of those guys I played with. So I had tears in my eyes, when you’re seeing how things progressed with Mike, because I didn’t know that Mike was suffering from some of the symptoms that he was, nor did I know Justin was suffering as<a href="http://www.authenticsteelerssale.com/shop-by-players-ernie-stautner-jersey-c-2_51.html">http://www.authenticsteelerssale.com/shop-by-players-ernie-stautner-jersey-c-2_51.html</a>  well. It’s really tough to see that because you’re around those guys all the time, and you think that you would pick up on certain things, but Mike, I only got a chance to play one year with in ‘88, and then he went to Kansas City in ‘89 and ‘90. And then he retired. Justin Strzelczyk, I played with him for quite a few years, and then Terry Long, I played with him for just a few years, and even though we were close, sometimes you still don’t see it because guys kind of hide what’s going on and really, us as men, I think our downfall is sometimes we’re too prideful. And we don’t ask for help and we don’t let people know that things are going on in our lives. And pride comes before the fall. That’s what happened. And as tragic as it is, it was a tough thing to watch. ... I liked the movie.”

On the importance of the Pro Bowl for today’s players...

“It’s cool just to go there as an honor and be there amongst some of the best players in the NFL and be able to just kind of socialize with them. Get to know them better. Get to know their families. Even today, being retired for 16, 17 years, I still keep in touch with some of those guys at all these other events that I go to. ... That’s the reason why it’s important for guys to go experience the Pro Bowl, and I think they should honor their nomination of playing in the Pro Bowl, because those are life-long<a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-javon-hargrave-jersey-c-2_28.html">http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-javon-hargrave-jersey-c-2_28.html</a>  friends that you’ll have for the rest of your life. Because it is almost like a fraternity.”