Nick Eason is a big man. He has to be. He plays in the NFL -- defensive line to be exact.

Nick has a couple years under his belt in Cleveland with the Browns. He still has, at least he did a few weeks ago when I last checked, a home in the Cleveland area.

But this week, he is entering his second training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here's his http://news.steelers.com/team/player/75279/" target="_blank">bio.

He has a unique dilemma -- similar to ours here at the Vindy. Strong Cleveland allegiance. Strong Pittsburgh allegiance.

You've likely seen him around town this summer. In a two-week period, I saw him at the DeBartolo golf outing and dinner, and a Mooney bocce fundraiser. I talked to him one night and he was leaving some event in Warren.

We'll all get even more acquainted with Nick this week when we launch his blog on vindy.com.

Here's an excerpt from the first days of training camp this week:

... This morning, I forgot that I had a steroid test at 6 a.m. I was awakened by a knock on the door. It was two intern athletic trainers sent to my room to awaken me to give a urine sample. ... They looked very scared and nervous. I could only imagine how they would feel if they had to awake a 6-foot, 4-inch, 300-pound lineman out of precious sleep ...

... Special teams practice was good. I love special teams. I try to participate on as many teams as I can. I'm a starter on the kickoff return, field goal protection, and field goal block. My philosophy is "the more you can do!" In the NFL, teams like to have guys who can contribute on offense or defense and on special teams. I will fight my butt off to stay on as many special teams as possible until they kick me out of the NFL ...

I can imagine what the interns felt like waking Nick for the pee test. Nick is a big dude. So is his personality.  

I'm excited for him to start blogging for us. It's a test. There's no commitment. But I think relating the rigors of the NFL suits him fine.

We should have the blog launched by Wednesday or Thursday. We''ll run excerpts of them in print on Sundays or Mondays.