It would be easy to mistake Nate and Nick Herbig for Pittsburghers solely based on how they talk about their Hawaiian upbringing.
“We just come from a place where we have a lot of pride,” said Nick, a Steelers linebacker and recent fourth-round draft pick. “Wherever we go, we carry that with us.”
He was drafted by the Steelers in April shortly after the team signed his older brother, Nate, a veteran guard who previously played for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets, in free agency.
Both Herbigs grew up on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and knew they had to do something after a series of historically devastating wildfires raged across their home state and claimed at least 97 lives (revised down from 115).
Since football has given them so much, they decided to be there for another group of young athletes — specifically, the Lahainaluna High School football team, whose 2023-24 season was in jeopardy after the school’s facilities were destroyed and many players’ homes were damaged by the wildfires. That’s what led the Herbigs to recently partner with the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation to present the Lahainaluna football team with a $25,000 grant that helped fund their upcoming season.
“Football is a big thing in Hawaii,” Nate told the Post-Gazette. “It means a lot to a lot of people there. We heard [Lahainaluna] may not be able to play, so we did our best to help them and support them.”
The Herbig brothers revealed the grant via a Sept. 1 Zoom call with Lahainaluna players, who erupted in thunderous applause after Nate explained how the money would allow them to continue working toward their goal of winning a Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I championship.
The Lunas won four consecutive Division II state titles from 2016-19 before moving up a level in spring 2020 and immediately making the Division I state title game in 2021.
“We deeply appreciate the Dick’s Foundation for their amazing grant to support the Lahainaluna High School football team,” athletic director Jonathan Conrad said in a statement to the Post-Gazette. “The generosity and support from the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Herbigs has been very moving.
“With everyone’s support, we are moving forward into our season with a glimmer of hope and resilience to support our community with the culture and pride that is Lahainaluna.”
Nate described his childhood as being “just what you think of when you think of Hawaii.” The Herbig family also includes their older brother, Jake, and parents Bruce and Robyn.
Nick and Nate reminisced about always being outside playing with their cousins and the joys of being able to run around barefoot year-round. Kauai is a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other and are instantly “bonded in a special way,” as Nick put it.
Both Herbigs made it clear that they didn’t want it to seem like they had any way of truly understanding what so many folks back home have been going through. Hawaii Gov. (and Pittsburgh native) Josh Green has been forced to lead a mass rebuilding effort after as many as 1,700 structures burned down, including Lahainaluna’s school building and football field.
Lahainaluna may be in Maui, but that didn’t stop the Kauai-raised Herbigs from springing into action when they caught wind of its football team’s plight. Nate said that sports “changed my life tremendously” and both he and Nick were more than happy to “help them to get back to playing football.”
“It was about those kids having the opportunity to live out those dreams and play together one last time,” Nick added. “I’m glad that me and Nate were able to assist in any way possible.”
That $25,000 grant came courtesy of the Dick’s Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Pittsburgh-based Dick’s Sporting Goods. The Herbigs worked directly with the foundation’s Sports Matter program that gives “access to under-resourced youth to play sports,” according to Kristen Garmey, director of Sports Matter and community relations.
She said that a few other institutions and organizations in Hawaii also received Sports Matter grants and that Lahainaluna’s is “unrestricted,” meaning that the team can use the money for any of its wildfire-induced needs.
Sports Matter has provided more than $80 million in grant support since its inception in 2014 and benefited more than 1.6 million kids over the last few years, according to Garmey. In her experience, it’s rare for individual athletes to reach out to the Dick’s Foundation in the way that the Herbig brothers did. She loved “that the Herbigs want to give back to their community” just as much as she will never tire of witnessing “kids being surprised and seen” like the Lahainaluna football players were in that video reveal.
“I think it’s important for any of us, in sports or not, to be seen,” Garmey continued. “It felt like they’d been going through so much. When that moment happened for them, the joy that filled their eyes and hearts made it feel like all our work is worth it.”
The Post-Gazette caught up with the Herbigs as they and the whole Steelers team were still regrouping after a 30-7 Week 1 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Nate took that early-season wake-up call as a sign that “I just got to keep working and get better so I can help the team.” Nick said that “everyone in the locker room knows what we’re capable of” and that they “just have to come out and perform” going forward.
Whether the Steelers lived up to their full potential in Week 2 is debatable, but they at least escaped with a 26-22 win over the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football.
The brothers encouraged Pittsburghers and Steelers fans to message them via social media if they also want to provide aid for those whose lives were upended by the wildfires. In Nate’s mind, the Herbigs always “try to represent with love and pride for Hawaii” in everything they do for both their original and adopted communities.
“We’re all family,” Nick said. “We’re just trying to be a light for people in need right now in any way possible.”
