First Call: Travis Kelce's high praise for Pat Freiermuth; Steelers' value bumps on Forbes list

Friday’s “First Call” has the latest financial value of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pat Freiermuth gets some high praise. The Penguins look to carry over Thursday’s success in Canada.

Plus, we check out this weekend’s slate of games in college basketball and hockey.

Money, money, money, money

Forbes has published its annual list of the top 50 most valuable sports organizations in professional sports. The Steelers are 28th at $5.3 billion, right behind the Liverpool soccer franchise at $5.37 billion.

Liverpool is owned by Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Steelers are 17th in the rankings among NFL franchises. The league has 29 of the 50 teams mentioned.

The Steelers have grown at a 15% clip over the past year. The Dallas Cowboys sit atop the list at $10.1 billion. That’s a 12% bump from a year ago.

Canadian exchange rate

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ first of two games in Canada worked out great. They clubbed the Montreal Canadiens, 9-2, on Thursday night behind a hat trick from Bryan Rust, and three assists from Sidney Crosby.

Bryan Rust picks up career hatty number six! 6️⃣

Hat Trick Challenge presented by @AstraZenecaUS pic.twitter.com/YtSYfNonVx

— NHL (@NHL) December 13, 2024

The Pens improved to 13-14-4 on the season. That’s good for 30 points, but it’s still one off the pace for a playoff spot behind the New York Rangers and Islanders.

The loss dropped Montreal to 11-15-3 (25 points), the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

On Saturday, the Pens play in Ottawa. The Senators have 28 points in 28 games (13-13-2). They beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-1, on Wednesday.

For as mediocre as the Senators have been, they have actually been quite good on home ice. With nine victories at Canadian Tire Centre, they have the third-most in the Eastern Conference. Only Toronto (13) and Carolina (11) have more.

Tim Stutzle leads the way for Ottawa with 36 points. Only 11 players in the NHL have more. Drake Batherson is next on the team with 32 points.

The Sens have an excellent power play. At 27.6% it is fourth in the NHL. The club’s penalty kill is vulnerable though. It tracks at 75.6%, 24th in the NHL.

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In his Muuuth era

A long time ago — in a galaxy far, far away — Travis Kelce wasn’t just known as Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and a podcaster.

He was simply one of the best tight ends in NFL history.

Now Kelce is using his podcast platform and his tight end expertise to praise Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth.

“Pat is actually one of my favorite tight ends to watch,” Kelce said on the latest episode of “New Heights” with his brother, Jason. “He’s savvy in his route running. He is very quarterback-friendly. He knows angles coming out to where he knows he can get a guaranteed catch. Quarterbacks (expletive) love it when you come out of your breaks in certain angles, depending on where the defender closest to you is.”

Kelce says there is a lot of toughness to Freiermuth’s game, but a lot of nuance too.

“He does a great job of filling voids and feeling how to get in and out of breaks,” Kelce continued. “On top of that, he is just a tough football player. He embodies the Steeler kind of way to play — that Steel Curtain kind of toughness you’ve got to play with. He’s willing to stick his face in the fan and do whatever (he) needs to take to help his team.”

Over his past two games, Freiermuth has nine catches, 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Heading home

The Duquesne men’s basketball team is making its annual trip to Akron on Saturday. They’ll play Towson at 6 p.m. in the Morgan & Morgan Classic.

The game will be played at LeBron James Arena on the campus of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. That’s the alma mater of both James and Dru Joyce III. They were teammates together there. The team is also planning a visit to James’ I Promise school in Akron.

Duquesne comes in at 2-8 after a 61-56 loss to Maine on Wednesday. Towson is 4-6. The Tigers have lost four in a row.

As for the women’s team, Dan Burt’s crew has won five in a row and is 7-2. They host Canisius at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Pitt’s men’s team is off until a home date against Sam Houston on Dec. 21. The women welcome Miami at noon Sunday.

Robert Morris’ women’s team is at home against Mercyhurst at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Colonials’ men’s team looks to snap a three-game losing streak on Tuesday when Towson visits Moon.

Holiday road

The Robert Morris men’s hockey team continues its heavy December road schedule this weekend. The Colonials are at Canisius to play the Golden Griffins.

RMU last played at home when the team split a series with AIC on Nov. 29 and 30. Since then, the Colonials also split a series at RIT, they go to Canisius this weekend before having the next two weeks off for Christmas. Then they travel to Arizona State for the ASU Desert Classic with the Sun Devils, Cornell and UMass on Jan. 3 and 4.

Derek Schooley’s club doesn’t play at home again until a Tuesday night game against Canisius on Jan. 14. RMU is 6-7-2 this season, with 12 conference points, ninth in Atlantic Hockey. Canisius is sixth with 17 points.

Meanwhile, the women’s team (5-12-1) is at Long Island University this weekend. Both teams have players who were selected for the school’s athletics Hall of Fame this week. Brittany Howard is going in from the women’s club. She concluded her career as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 181 points on 79 goals and 102 assists.

Zac Lynch is going in from the men’s team. He also became the program’s all-time leading scorer his senior season in 2015-16 with 156 career points thanks to 67 goals and 89 assists.