First off congrats on retirement – what’s next for you?
I covered some high school games for the local paper after I retired in 2021, then last year I had enough. Now I walk five miles a day, I ski and fish and help my mom out. That’s why I came back. I keep busy.
I covered so much good stuff over the 40-plus years now- now it’s sad to see how the newspaper industry has gone down. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s going on – we’re like malls – on the same path. It’s just not looking promising for newspapers now.
You worked at the P-G, Tribune-Review and Toledo Blade – were there mentors early on? How so?
My second job was with the Valley News Dispatch – Rick Starr hired me out of college. He was fantastic – he covered three of the four Steelers Super Bowls. Then there was Ed Bouchette – he helped me the most covering the Steelers. He showed me how to conduct good interviews – how to phrase things. He owned the beat then and had all of the stories – he had good sources and showed me how to develop sources. You got more time then with the players – you could talk to them for 20 minutes at their locker then – now you don’t get 20 minutes a year with players!
As I got older I tried to pass it down to others – I hope I did a good job doing that.
Did the fun of covering sports lessen as it became more about who is first versus long-form writing?
It’s funny you say that. Now it’s about getting scoops. I remember in 1988 when the Steelers were 1-6 and I went to see Bubby Brister give a speech in New Kensington. That’s when he gave that quote that the Steelers might as well punt on first down! When I ran that quote Chuck Noll wouldn’t speak to me! Bubby was mad at me too. But 10 years later I went to Denver to cover the Steelers-Broncos game and Bubby was playing for Denver. He couldn’t have been nicer then.
Noll respected you no matter who you wrote for – the New York Times or the local paper. He treated you with respect. He was fantastic with me. In 1991 I got a divorce and he found out somehow. He came into the media room – then it was just five of us around a table – and handed me an envelope and walked away. I was like “Ok. This is weird.” I looked at it later that night and there was $300 in it and a note saying he hoped this helps me out, and that if I needed anything to let him know. Nobody does stuff like that now.
I went to the Hall of Fame a few years later in Canton, Ohio – he was out there doing some coaching at camp – he was there with Gale Sayers, Ray Nitschke and some other Hall of Fame guys. When I was talking with him he handed me a football with all of their autographs on it. He was just that kind of guy! I wonder what that ball is worth today!
A funny story about that too. When I was in camp my wife cleaned out my house when she left me. So, a year later I went back to camp – one of the PR guys there – Pat Hanlon – he’s with the Giants now – he had a guy sneak into my dorm room and jump out at me when I got to the door yelling “Welcome home Ron!” I told him I have heart palpations now whenever I hear a U-Haul backing up! It wasn’t that funny then, but it makes me chuckle now.
What are some of the toughest stories you wrote about and why?
The strike was tough. In 1987 a bunch of the reporters were in Johnstown where the players were practicing – we were trying to ID them. One guy had headphones on – we joked about that. Could you imagine Chuck Noll allowing a non-striking player to wear headphones in practice?
That was the same year Rod Woodson held out for 95 days before he finally signed his contract – four years for $1.8 million. That’s total! And that was the biggest signing bonus in Steelers history then – $700,000! That also was the year Noll shook his finger at Oilers coach Jerry Glanville and threatened to punch him for trying to injure his players.
Any funny or poignant moments you can share?
Reporters flew with the players on the charter flights then. Brian Blankenship was a player that made the team out of the strike – he was an Academic All-American out of Nebraska. We were all huddled around a TV on the plane watching the Nebraska-Oklahoma game and I asked him what the “N ” on his hat stood for and he said “Knowledge!” Everybody cracked up at that.
That was also when there was a beer room where the coaches and reporters would hang out after practice some days. Darryl Sims had his car towed one day and we asked what that was about. One of the coaches – I won’t say who – was a bit tipsy and told us. That’s how that story got out!
Those conversations were so valuable and the off-the-record information gathered in that room was so valuable. You just don’t get that now. I remember the Chief used to hand out cigars. But as he got older he wasn’t doing so well. One day he came in and said “I wonder what bum we’ll draft this year?” We all knew that wasn’t something you should quote – we all knew not to use that. After he died in 1988 I was the first to talk with Joe Greene – Joe shared some great stories about the Chief with me.
What players were the most fun and most difficult? What made them so?
Jerome Bettis and Merril Hoge were great. Steve Bono was a good guy. During the strike we’d go to the By George Inn in Johnstown for drinks and he bought us all a draught beer. .25 cents each! There was not much to do during the strike. Steve threw a touchdown to John Stallworth in one of those strike games – fans were throwing things at us. in Atlanta It wasn’t good.
Thomas Everett, Dermontti Dawson, Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel – they were great dudes. James Harrison was difficult of course and said a lot, but then you looked back and said to yourself, “You know what? He was right about that!” Earnest Jackson was a little quirky, as was Antonio Brown.
Tom Moore and John Fox were fun to talk to as coaches – and Tony Dungy was just 28 as a defensive coordinator, but he was honest. Louis Lipps and Hines Ward were easy to deal with. Bubby would say whatever was on his mind – he would cuss you out at times but then be great with you.
Some of the tougher ones were Brian Hinkle – he was tough to deal with. Greg Lloyd – no one wanted to talk to him. Mark Malone could be tough – he never wanted to take the blame for anything.
You have to be tough in this job.
What was Ben like?
Ben was not easy at times but he gave good interviews. He could be tough to deal with at times but he was also good to talk to. But you only got five minutes a week with him at that point – it wasn’t like in the past.
When Joey Porter Sr. says all those things about him – well, Porter was fired for getting into a fight at a bar. In fact Rooney fired him – Mike Tomlin wouldn’t fire him.
They all talk and blame each other for stuff – everyone wants to point fingers. It’s silly. It’s like Neil O’Donnell. He was told to throw to a spot in the Super Bowl – that was the design of the play. But everyone blames him for throwing the interception at the end of the game that lost it. It just shows that what people say about players isn’t always accurate.
With all of that access – how did you decide what to run and not run?
It comes down really to what you can prove and what you can’t. And who your sources are – that determines a lot of it. If you’re iffy on it don’t write it. And some stories are just not worth printing. If it’s personal – not about the team or the game – just stuff you see at camp, then that’s where I draw the line. If it’s not about football and doesn’t affect the team…
The problem today is there are so many blogs that blur that line – that print anything with no sources or attribution.
What are your thoughts on the direction of sports journalism today – positives and negatives?
The problem now is people are writing stories from their couch – that’s not sports journalism to me. If you’re not there you can’t write about a lot of it – some reporters don’t even go to away games – some don’t even go to the home games! I think that’s misleading when they write articles. They don’t add a dateline to the article – that’s what they say shows people no one was at the game. But how many readers understand that?
I think it was easier back then. There was no social media. Many stories now are inaccurate and not sourced and there’s no accountability. When I wrote I wanted it to be good if my name was going to be on it. I always wanted to make sure I told readers at least one thing they didn’t know before.
What are your thoughts on the Steelers coaches you covered?
Noll was my favorite for many reasons. He may have known as much about wine as he did football.
I liked Cowher and thought he did a good job – but I don’t think he was a Hall of Fame coach. He won a Super Bowl and lost four AFC Championship games at home and barely hung on to win another.. If Cowher is in – then Tomlin has to be in, right?
Cowher had so much energy – he said if he wasn’t a football coach he would have been an English teacher. Which was funny because he gave a speech once and instead of “Circumvent” he said “Circumcised” . Everybody laughed at that. We all thought then that maybe he shouldn’t be a teacher after all!
Tomlin – 19 years is a long time. I think he got stale and just had too much control over the organization and didn’t take responsibility for some bad drafts. Those were his decisions too- you didn’t sneeze without his approval by the time he left. It was hard for Kevin Colbert and Omar Khan to be in charge when you don’t have control.
Art II Rooney- I think it’s time to pass things on to his kid. You can’t say you’re satisfied with making the playoffs. That’s not a good answer. He just doesn’t seem to have the same passion as the Chief and Dan had.