During the season, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel rocks one of the most glorious beards in professional sports, but he says goodbye to his facial hair every offseason during a charity event to benefit Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at UPMC where he shaves off “da beard.”
This year was no different as Keisel held the fourth annual Shear Da Beard at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille, which sold out for the event.
Keisel’s wife Sarah and daughter Grace, Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin, coaches Dick LeBeau, Keith Butler, John Mitchell and Randy Fichtner, teammates Heath Miller, Cam Heyward, Ziggy Hood, Kelvin Beachum, Fernando Velasco and Shaun Suisham all participated in this year’s event, where they took out some clippers and each took a snip out of the beard.
“There is definitely an identity crisis going on at first,” said Keisel, via the team’s official website. “Luckily for me it grows back really quickly. For a while I walk by the mirror and I don’t know that guy that is looking back at me.
“The other day I was talking to Grace and she was talking about my beard. I told her in a few days I was going to shave off my beard and she told me that’s crazy dad, you don’t want to do that. That is how they see me; that’s how they know me. When it’s gone it’s almost like there is a stranger around the house.”
Of course, each year after the event is over, everyone wants to know what Keisel looks like without his beard. Luckily, there is social media and he was able to share his new look once again for everyone to see on his Facebook page:
This is a great and entertaining charity event that benefits a great cause and brings the Pittsburgh community together, so we applaud Keisel for once again following through and sharing the moment with his biggest fans.