In 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin partnered with Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) in an effort to help raise awareness and push for an end to child sex trafficking. During 2018 training camp for the Steelers, Tomlin introduced the CEO and founder for OUR, Tim Ballard, during a press conference.

For the past two years, members of OUR have visited the Steelers at the teams training camps, and Steelers players have also recorded clips with the organization and have been seen sporting their logo when out and about. Since the beginning of the partnership, Ballard has called upon Steelers fans worldwide to take part in the mission.

“Obviously, we talked about this being very divisive times in sports and in really, society,” Tomlin said at the time of the press conference (via 247 Sports). “We wanted to focus our intentions as Pittsburgh Steelers in a couple different areas. No. 1, we want to be active participants in making life better in the community in which we live and in the communities that we care about. No. 2, we wanted to focus on things that were not necessarily divisive. Things that we all could agree on. We can spend a lot of time, we can waste a lot of time talking about things that we can disagree on.”

“Particularly when we come into setting like this, in training camp, we're working on team development, we like talking about things that every man, to a man, can agree upon. That's why we've developed a relationship with Tim and OUR. Their fight against sex trafficking and child slavery is a significant one, one that we all can agree on to a man. I've been highly involved with his mission since the time I introduced him to you guys (in November). I participated in a big gala, a fundraiser, out in Southern California…I had an awesome opportunity to accompany this great company to Haiti on a few service missions and so forth. Just really have had an opportunity to grow immensely with what I've been able to see and hopefully (have) been able to help.”

Tomlin also took time to write the forward in Ballard’s book, “Slave Stealers: True Accounts of Slave Rescues Then and Now.” The book, which deals with Ballard’s experiences with a child that was forced into slavery, also talks about modern day slavery and the efforts that people can put forward to stop it.