PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — It was two and a half weeks ago that Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie Alameda Ta’amu was arrested on Pittsburgh’s South Side following a pursuit that left one person injured and several cars damaged.

On Wednesday, he returned to practice and spoke publicly for the first time since the arrest.

“It was a big mistake, one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made in my life, and it will never happen again. It was a bad night,” said Ta’amu. “I let a lot of people down, my family, fans, especially my teammates. There’s nothing I can do now but just keep moving forward and work on getting better.”

Sitting in jail following his arrest, Ta’amu began to realize what else comes with getting arrested, like telling his parents what had happened.

“It was rough. I was embarrassed to call my family, and you know, it was just out of my character to do something like that,” he said. “And I just promised the guys it will never happen again.”

Ta’amu remains a Steeler, but he says if the team had decided to cut him, he would have understood that decision.

“Either way it would have been a life lesson, and I’m still here, I’m learning, and like I said, hopefully we get better,” Ta’amu added.

Meantime, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders has been summoned to the NFL offices in New York for a play in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals when Sanders suddenly suffered an injury at a time when the Steelers needed the clock to stop.

“I mean, like I said, it’s an in house situation and we’re going to handle it from there,” Sanders said about the situation.

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