First, can you let readers know what you are doing with yourself since you’ve retired from the NFL, and how you got started doing so?

I’m still in the speaking circuit. It’s been an ongoing thing since I retired. I’m also the owner of a construction company – RBVetCo – we are a general contractor that does design-build and construction management. We work on both the private and pubic sectors with a focus on healthcare. That takes a lot of my time – we work with the Federal government as a commercial contractor. Thirdly, I own a small insurance company with my son. He really runs that. But between those and my two girls, grandkids…I’m always busy!

How did the NFL help you prepare for post-NFL life?

There’s a story from my playing days – it’s mostly true I think! Sister Mary Louise Catholic School called the Rooneys when the Steelers were just starting to win in the early 70’s. They asked Mr. Rooney if Terry Bradshaw would come speak to them. He said he would ask, but Terry charges $500. They asked then if that nice Mr. Joe Green would come speak to them, he said again, he could ask, but he charges $500 too. So they asked if they could get anyone to speak for nothing, and he said we can send you Bleier!

We’d get a number of requests then from high schools for  their sports banquets. So, you go. If you’re a single guy, you don’t pass up a free meal, no matter where it is. And maybe they’d even give you $25 – you could live for a week on that! And I had my story to tell…as we got popular and won more, we were more in demand.

After I retired, I worked for Channel 11 for four-five years.. When I left the station, it was Katie-bar-the-door. I let the agents know I was available to speak and did that full time. And have been doing that ever since.

How hard of an adjustment was life after the NFL for you?

I think that always depends on what happened in your career and how you retire. Your contribution to the team, your playing time….People who really miss the game are missing some aspect of their career.  Maybe their career got cut short by injury, they got cut…. I had the chance to play for a four-Super Bowl team and was able to contribute. Not that I was an All-Pro or Hall of Famer, but I contributed.

I got to say when I wanted to retire. My last season was  a conscious choice. After Super Bowl XIV, a sportswriter asked me if I was thinking about retiring. I asked him why. He said I was 34, I had been around and there were a lot of young backs in the game. I didn’t start at the beginning of that season….it got me thinking. Maybe I should go out on top. The wheels were turning.

So, I thought I’ve give it one more year. Twelve years was a nice even number….go out at 35 years-old… I went into the season then knowing it was my last. It worked out well for me, from an emotional point of view. I knew every game was the last I’d play there. I was mentally prepared. It wasn’t an abrupt ending like with some players.

You were drafted by the Steelers in ’68. Where you surprised to be drafted by Pittsburgh? Bill Austin was coach at that time – what was he like to work with as a player and how did the team respond to him as a coach/motivator?

Bill was in his third season of a three-year contract. I didn’t know what to expect when I got drafted, I didn’t know anything about the organization. I just wanted to make the team. My rookie season as like most then – we just wanted to make the team. I was the 417th person picked in the draft. I looked at my competition on the team. The coaching was secondary. As the season went on though, you could see he lost his leadership. He lost control of the players – there were arguments and confrontations in meetings between players and coaches.  We were 3-11. That was the end of it….Bill I think was just out of his realm as a head coach. He was a great assistant coach at Green Bay. But he was rough and edgy as a head coach. He played football in the military…. I think my experience is that losing after a while creates a losing attitude…and it all starts to go downhill.

You were drafted to Vietnam of course after that rookie season. What did the Rooneys tell you then about your status before you left for the war?

It was an evolution when I came back. When I left, it all happened pretty quickly. I got my draft notice Wednesday and left Friday. When I told the Rooneys they just wished me good luck. Not much to be said really. I do remember when I was recovering in the hospital, the Rooneys sent me that card saying they needed me and wanted me back.

You came back, of course injured from the war. You also came back to a new coach. What were your thoughts on this new guy, Chuck Noll – how did you and the rest of the team respond to him in his first season?

When I got back Dan Rooney was President and was running the team. He gave me an opportunity and put me on injured reserve. He bought me a year. I made the Taxi Squad the following year – they wanted me to get bigger and stronger. I was then activated in ’71. I put on strength and weight, and made the team on my special teams play in ’72. We had a terrific year and won the division. In ’73 I made the team again with my special teams play. Then in ’74, during the fifth game, there was an injury and I went in and played. We went to the Super Bowl, more afterwards, 1,000 yards…

What was your opinion then of Chuck Noll?

Again, from my perspective, I was just trying to make the team. I didn’t have an opinion. I can remember, in ’69, I met him for the first time. I was back on leave and stopped by to say hi to the Rooneys. Dan told me I should go introduce myself to the new coach. So, I stop over and his first question to me was, “What do I think of Brian Stenger?”. They had just drafted him out of Notre Dame.  I asked him why he didn’t ask Ara Parseghian -the Notre Dame coach then. He told me that he wanted my opinion because – and this is a good look at Chuck’s insight – he felt coaches had a hard time being objective about their players. He told me that I played with him and maybe saw something differently in him.

That was my first interaction with Chuck. Brian ended up starting his rookie season after Andy Russell for hurt.

How did you like him as  a coach, when you got back?

Chuck kept me all through the first training camp. I was taking a beating.  I came back too soon. I was limping through camp – my foot still wasn’t ok. Between the two-a-days, the hitting….camps were much harder then.

The coaches hadn’t made a  decision yet on me. Then I went to see Chuck at the end of camp and he told me he put me on waivers. That I should go home and get healthy, then come back next year and compete. It was like a punch in the stomach. After  a few breaths, I asked him if he was sure. I couldn’t believe it. I asked him if I could at least practice with the team today, and he said sure, after a moment. So I practiced with the team, even though I was put on waivers. The running back coach – Dick Hoak – was looking at me like, “Didn’t we just waive you?”

Chuck hated that part of the job. He wasn’t comfortable with making decisions on players.

Soon afterwards, you were paired with Franco Harris. With your backstory and tandem with Franco, do you think your ability as a running back/blocker was at all forgotten by some? What would you like people to remember about you as a player?

People remember me for my blocking for Franco. That was kind of my role. It all goes back to playing at Notre Dame. I was taught technique – there was a backfield coach – Tom Pagna – who played for Ara Parseghian at the University of Miami, OH. He was a great technique coach. There were always reasons why, with him. He taught me the left and right hand stance. Why? When you lined up in the backfield, you may be to the left or right of the quarterback, and he wanted your near hand to always be nearest to the ball. It might not seem like much, but like crossing your arms the other way, it was awkward until you learned how to do it.  The reason? If you are on the right side and pulling left, you don’t have to take that extra step back to pull around. That half step could be the difference between making the block or not.

Pagna said that anyone can run with the ball. Even kids can in the backyard. But to be a good back, you had to be able to block and catch the ball. To be an all-round back. At the time, there were no flankers. There were only halfbacks, fullbacks, and wideouts. The halfback became the flanker when they needed a third receiver. I had good hands and a good mindset – I could catch the ball. I didn’t have great acceleration or speed. I didn’t have that extra gear great backs have. But I could get to the hole. We didn’t have area and zone blocking then. We had two, four, and six holes. The offensive line didn’t have to hold blocks like they do today. So, when I came to Pittsburgh, I had skills other backs didn’t have, because of the techniques Pagna taught me.

They also changed the rules my rookie year – no more crack-back blocking. So teams needed running backs that could use that left-handed stance I was talking about. Back then everyone needed to line up in three-point stances. No one could do that. But I could! It made a difference – the coaches made a mental note. When Noll felt there was a weakness in the backfield – he saw no one could block for the fullback – he asked Dick Hoak who his best blocker was. He said Bleier. So Noll told him to start me. So when people look at me, they know that was my role. It’s more distinctive when people see me and Franco together, because I blocked for him, but he towered over me!

How much did humor play a part on the Steelers team you played on, and how so? Can you give a couple of examples of some funny things that occurred, on or off the field?

Anyone in organized sports – you know there’s always a locker room atmosphere at times. There are sophomoric times, of course. If you’ve been there, you understand. It’s hard to explain to your wife though, that sophomoric humor!

It breaks the seriousness of the game. There’s nothing sacred in the locker room – you’re all exposed, mentally and physically. Eventually, because we’re guys, we pick on each other.

Dwight White was a great jokester. He was always saying something – running his mouth. Terry Hanratty was the prankster, with the water in Lambert’s pads and the black wax on the landlines, so when people got a call they’d get it all over them. Stuff like that happened all the time with the guys.

I remember they tied me up to a goalpost with duct tape and left me there after practice. Dwight White and some other guys stuffed me in the golf cart they used for equipment and taped me inside, and rolled me into Chuck’s office and left me there. It was always in good humor.

At some point you moved from young guy to veteran/mentor. A number of former players spoke about the time you spent helping them. How hard was that for you to start grooming players to in a sense replace you?

It’s easier to become a mentor when you are a starter and secure in your position. As an older guy starting, you have a certain security. It was easier for me earlier on. But when you struggled to make the team and fought hard to be there, it’s tough to give that up. You’re still competitive. You got there and worked hard. You help the younger guys and encourage them, but you are still fighting for your job. You help answer questions and try to make the team better, But down deep, it was hard.

Steelers Takeaways fundraising drive!

Help keep these free interviews coming! If you can, please donate as little (or as much!) as you like by contributing to Steelers Takeaways here:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/pittsburghsports

Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades.  To order, just click on the book: