Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joe Haden has been around the NFL since 2010, but he never once played in a game after Week 17. Haden, however, will finally get his postseason baptism on Jan. 14 when the Steelers take on the highest seed coming out of the AFC Wild Card round.

As expected, Haden is excited about getting a taste of the playoffs for the first time in his career. He sounded that way when he talked about the opportunity with Katherine Terrell of ESPN.

“I was telling [my teammates] that I was watching them play against the Patriots last year,” he said. “I was just sitting in my crib and I'd always been doing that, watching good teams. … I'd been in my offseason for two weeks, in my offseason for three weeks, and teams are still playing football. …

“And now other teams are looking at me like, ‘Oh he's still playing.' And I'm like ‘Yeah, we're still out here.'”

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Haden played his first seven seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, where wins were scarce, let alone playoff appearances.

Despite playing for a perennial underachiever in Cleveland, Haden managed to become one of the best cornerbacks in the game, as evidenced by two Pro Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014. When the Browns released him back on August 30, Pittsburgh did not think long before inking him to a three-year, $27 million deal that same day.

This season, Haden, 28, has played in 11 games and has an interception with 20 tackles and seven passes defended.