‘The Chief’ Award, which was established in 1988 in honor of Steelers’ founder, Arthur J. Rooney, Sr., is presented annually to a member of the Steelers’ organization that best exemplifies the spirit of cooperation with the media that he embodied.
Queen is in his second season with the Steelers after signing with the team as an unrestricted free agent from the Baltimore Ravens in the 2024 offseason.
From the get-go, Queen has made himself available to the media, in good times and bad, whether it be one-on-one interviews or group interviews multiple times a week.
Queen is also open and honest, providing insight and true emotion when he speaks.
He recently spoke about the frustration felt on defense when the Steelers were on an up-and-down trend, and how they came together as one, sharing unique insight into the players meeting and talking about it.
“Buffalo was the last straw,” Queen shared a few weeks ago. “Everybody got off what they needed to get off and everybody was basically right Everybody was saying the same exact thing, that we just have to be accountable and do our job.
“It was a little bit of everybody. It was just basically, if you have something to say, say it. Guys just said what they had to say. It wasn’t a ‘come to Jesus’ moment or everybody chewing each other out. It was just, ‘Hey, this is how I see something,’ ‘this is how I see something,’ and then everybody was like, ‘Hey, how about we all do this?’ It was a little bit of everybody just chiming in, saying what they had to say.
“We just come in each and every single day and try to be the best that we can. We try to communicate early in the week through meetings before we get on the field for walk-throughs, come back in, talk about it again, go to practice, just try to do the best that we can so we’re all on the same page.”
In addition to being there for the media, Queen is also always there for his teammates, especially some of the younger players, like second-year linebacker Payton Wilson.
“It’s been really cool,” said Wilson. “Last year, obviously, we were close, but not as close as we are this year. I was younger, just kind of a little quieter. But he’s a great vet. One of the best linebackers in the game. I really enjoy the way he plays the game, the way he runs around, the way he hits, how excited he is.
“It’s just the way you’re supposed to play the game, and a lot of guys feed off of that.
“He’s the quarterback of our defense. He does a really good job of knowing what the calls are supposed to be, what they’re giving us. There’s a lot of calls that change pretty quick and he’s always on top of that.”
Queen was also the Steelers nominee for the 2025 Salute to Service Award, presented by USAA annually to either a player, coach, alumni or staff member of an NFL team for embracing the pillars of the award, to honor, embrace and connect with service members.
Queen has and continues to do his part to help.
Since signing with the Steelers, Queen has been a big part of the team’s military outreach efforts.
He has partnered with the Veterans Leadership Program (VLP), an organization whose mission is to provide military members with much needed assistance, by focusing on housing and career development to wellness and supportive services. Queen supported 100 veterans by providing them with hygiene kits, providing basic necessities they sometimes go without. He also spent time with the group, serving them breakfast so he could personally thank them and get to know them. It’s a relationship that he is continuing to grow and build this season.
This year he is teamed up with Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard, whose mission is to empower veterans’ transition from homeless to home, ending the cycle of homelessness, and to assist all at-risk veterans to become engaged, valuable citizens who contribute to their communities. He also supported 100 veterans by providing them with hygiene kits, a basic necessity they sometimes go without.
For the second straight year, Queen supported veterans’ programs through the My Cause My Cleats program. This year he supported Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard.
If there is one thing he has, it’s respect for all of them.
“All the stuff they went through in the past, and then them coming back home and the stuff they go through,” shared Queen. “I feel like we don’t take care of them enough.
“I feel like there are way more opportunities out there for us to be able to help them out when they come back, having places for them and better ways to help them transition away from that type of life that they had to live.
“This is the best country in the world. The freedom that we have, all of the stuff that we get to do that not most countries get to do and stuff. What I do is just a little token of appreciation.”