RUSSELL WILSON | PHOTO BY TAYLOR OLLASON/PITTSBURGH STEELERS

The Steelers’ 57th summer at Saint Vincent College has fostered the camaraderie among players and coaches the team seeks from such a sequestered environment — and has afforded fans an otherwise unprecedented proximity to the players.

It also included T.J. Watt signing babies.

“Too many, it’s getting out of hand,” Watt maintained. “The amount of babies getting hoisted over, like, barricades is ridiculous.

“They’re trying to get me to hold them, they’re holding their kids over and people are pushing and shoving. I’m hot and sweaty after practice, it’s not the cleanest thing to be doing.

“They’re crazy fans, that’s for sure, but that’s what makes them the best.”

Veteran Steelers such as Watt are well familiar with the dynamic by now.

The fans make their annual pilgrimage to Saint Vincent from all across North America, some even from across the pond, to bond with the players, get autographs and take selfies — or to simply share a moment or an exchange.

They cheer from the hillsides surrounding the practice fields.

They applaud at the conclusion of a hard day’s work.

They connect again with the team for which they share an obsession.

The organization doesn’t take this part of the fan-franchise dynamic lightly or for granted.

It’s one of the reasons the Steelers have been coming to Saint Vincent every summer since 1966 (two COVID camps held at Acrisure Stadium are exceptions to the Saint Vincent connection).

But to those who have never experienced it in person, it’s nothing short of a revelation.

Never is this more apparent than the team’s annual “Friday Night Lights” practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium, held this year on Aug. 7.

This summer’s event drew an overflow crowd of 12,268.

And it made quite the impression.

“Just the turnout each and every day at practice, it’s crazy,” new quarterback Justin Fields maintained. “And I’ll tell you one thing, the ‘Friday Night Lights?’ I’ve been in the league for, this is my fourth year now, and I’ve never experienced anything like that.

“They talked about it a little bit. But when we actually pulled up on the bus to the stadium, I did not expect to see that many people out there, just the energy. Even on the way there, people standing outside their houses waving and stuff like that, that was a really cool moment for me. That was definitely one of the biggest highlights I’ve seen in my career.”

And this for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in seven seasons.

New quarterback Russell Wilson is entering his 13th NFL campaign and has been to two Super Bowls, including one that he won.

But, like Fields, Wilson emerged from “Friday Night Lights” dumbfounded.

“I literally felt like I was sitting in the ‘Field of Dreams’ from the football perspective.” Wilson gushed. “There should be a movie on the Pittsburgh Steelers just on that part.

“Coach [Tomlin] talked about it. He said, ‘Listen now, guys …’ But Coach is a great story-teller, so let’s see how this really is. I was like, ‘Is this a college football game? Is this tailgating?’ The whole city was shut down.

“I think that was pretty cool to be a part of. I felt like it was old school football back in 1933, when the Pittsburgh Steelers were created, so it’s just like, ‘Here we go.’”

New linebacker Patrick Queen has arrived from the Ravens, the Steelers’ most hated rival and a team that plays in front of an every-bit-as-passionate fan base.

But it didn’t require much time for Queen to appreciate the difference.

It only took a couple of weeks at Saint Vincent.

“Honestly, I don’t know what it is, but you just sense it,” he said. “It’s just a feeling. I think it’s just purity.

“They just love the Steelers, purely love the Steelers.”