Rick Strom, Steelers Quarterback, 1989-1993

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First, can you let readers know what you are doing with yourself these days and about your broadcasting career?

I am staying extremely busy living in Atlanta with my wife and five children.  My full-time “day job” is working in commercial real estate and my “night job” is  working as the color analyst for the radio broadcasts of the Georgia Tech Football games. This is my 4th season as the color analyst after spending 3 seasons as the sideline reporter.

 You were injured your senior year at Georgia Tech which helped cause you to get passed over by scouts. How hard was that for you and do you see it as a blessing in the end after being picked up by your home town team?

It was very disappointing. I also broke my leg as a senior at Fox Chapel and missed the entire season.  Missing the playing time in the last five games of the my college career hurt the most because I needed the playing experience.  I did make it back for the Blue Grey All Star game and played fairly well.

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O’Brien: ‘Puttin’ on the Blitz’ at North Side Brownstone

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O’Brien:

This was in a grand French ballroom below floor level in a magnificent brownstone building on the city’s North Side.

         There were about 150 people filling the room at a fund-raiser to sponsor disadvantaged kids to attend a summer football camp featuring the Steelers’ star center Maurkice Pouncey and his pals on the team’s offensive line.

         It was easy to pick Pouncey out of the crowd and I also recognized his linemates Chris Kemoeatu and Marcus Gilbert, as well as linebacker LaMarr Woodley.  There were a few other big men sharing the same tables but I didn’t recognize them.

         About a dozen waiters were strolling through the crowd to offer hors d’oeuvres – beef and chicken on a stick or cheese puffs, cheese and crackers – and there were stations for wine and beer. 

         The party, advertised as “Puttin’ on the Blitz II,” was co-hosted by Pouncey and Russell Livingston, the present of Babb, Inc., an insurance brokerage whose offices are in this landmark building.  DeShea Townsend hosted the party last year.

         I’d been in that building at least a dozen times over the past 30 years, twice signing my books at the firm’s Christmas party, but I had not been there for a few years.  Russell’s father, Ron Livingston, a big Pitt booster and Steelers’ fan, was running the firm back then.

         I had bumped into Russell last two days earlier in late November at The City Game, when Pitt defeated Duquesne at their annual meeting at the Consol Energy Center, and he had invited me to his party.

         I knew about five people at the party and, worse yet as far as I was concerned, that’s about all that knew me.

         Being in the ballroom, which is mostly below street level on Ridge Avenue, brought back some good memories.  I had been told once that the richest people in Pittsburgh often gathered there when William Penn Snyder resided there. He owned the Shenango Furnace Co., and had the Carnegies and Fricks at his gala parties, and the city’s elite danced on that ballroom floor.

         I was also reminded of days when Pitt had one of the best college football teams in the land, when Jackie Sherrill’s teams went 11-1 three straight seasons in the early ‘80s.  They were twice rated the No. 1 college football team in the country during that span.    

         Jimbo Covert came over to greet me and made me feel welcome and comfortable when I entered the ballroom that Friday evening.  He introduced Casey, the oldest of his three children, and a friend or two, and that was an ice-breaker.

         Jimbo Covert, in case you don’t recognize the name right away, was an All-American tackle on Sherrill’s teams and played his last season under Foge Fazio, and was the first round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 1983.

         That was the draft class famous for producing five outstanding quarterbacks, including Dan Marino of Pitt, the last of the five picked that year.  How good was Covert?  He was the fifth player taken in that draft.  Marino was taken 27th.

         Covert played eight years for the Bears, including the 1985 season when they won the Super Bowl.  He was the league’s offensive player of the year in 1985 and played in two Pro Bowl games.  He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the ‘80s.

         He and May were both top-notch students at Pitt, but they got pulled away from their classes after their senior football season for evaluation camps – that’s when teams conducted their own tryouts and not at a combine – and for awards dinners.  They came back to Pitt in later years to earn their degrees.

         Covert’s line coach at Pitt was Joe Moore and his head coach in Chicago was Mike Ditka.  Both were legendary coaches and Covert shared good stories about both of them.

         Now 51, Covert was still the best and brightest lineman in the ballroom last Friday night.  He played at 6-4, 280 pounds.  He looked successful in a dark blue suit, white shirt and blue tie.  He is the president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Transfusion Medicine.

         He told me he’d seen me a week earlier, just before Thanksgiving, signing books in the upper lobby of the U.S. Steel Building.  He said he was rushing to get to a meeting with UPMC officials and didn’t have time to stop.

         Covert came out of Conway, Pennsylvania, a railroad town in Beaver County, and starred at Pitt.  He played on an offensive line at Pitt that was better than the offensive line of the current Steelers.  You can read that sentence again.  I think I got it right.

         Covert was the left tackle on Pitt’s imposing line.  Rob Fada and Paul Dunn shared the left guard position, Russ Grimm was at center, Emil Boures at right guard, and Mark May at right tackle.  All but Dunn played in the pros.  Grimm is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Covert and May are in the College Football Hall of Fame.  Boures lasted six seasons with the Steelers as a versatile lineman.

         Covert and former Steelers’ star defensive back Mel Blount are both being inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame this November at a banquet in Cranberry.  The honors keep coming.

         “I love Mark May and Lou Holtz together on those college football telecasts,” exclaimed Covert.  “They go so well together; they have such great chemistry.”

         He recalled Joe Moore getting after them at Pitt.  “Some people think the center is the most important position on the offensive line because he has calls to make, adjustments to make, but that’s just not so,” said Covert.  “The tackles are the key guys.

         “Joe Moore used to get Grimm so upset because he’d say, ‘I can get anybody off the street and teach them how to play center.’  Grimm would get mad at Moore.  Joe would tell him all he had to do was lean right or left, and that someone was always helping him block his man.”

         Covert recalled what it was like to play for Ditka in Chicago.  “I liked Mike,” he said.  “You always knew where you stood with him.

         “I remember once (early in the 1987 season) that the players wanted to go on strike to gain free agency.  The Bears were one of the last teams to sign on.  Ditka addressed us one day and he screamed at us, ‘What the hell are you guys thinking?  What the hell would you do – could you do – if you weren’t playing football?”

         Covert chuckled at the memory.  “Can you imagine a coach today telling his players something like that?” said Covert.  “But Mike never worried about being politically correct.  I see him on those game day panels with those other former players.  I know he doesn’t agree with much of what they say, but he just goes along playing the role of Mike Ditka.”

         Covert also offered the opinion that Jack Ham and Andy Russell were superior linebackers to Jack Lambert, but the Steelers’ defensive scheme was set up to keep blockers off Lambert so he could make the tackle. 

         “Buddy Ryan’s defense in Chicago was set up the same way to that our middle linebacker, Mike Singletary, could make the tackles. Don’t get me wrong, though.  Singletary and Lambert were both great players.”

         This fund-raising event was billed as a mixer, but today’s players don’t understand what they’re supposed to do at such an event.  They tend to stick together.  That’s their comfort level.  Mike Tomlin needs to teach them how to mix.

         Like most teenagers, they tend to spend too much time checking their i-pads, Blackberrys and texting family and friends.  So the patrons stood around and stared at the Steelers.  Some were bold enough to approach them, shake hands and get something signed.

These Steelers had no idea, I’d bet, of the special significance or history of the neighborhood they were in.  Ridge Avenue, now the center of the CCAC campus, was once referred to as “millionaires’ row,” when steel magnates lived in all those mansions.

         Horse-drawn carriages used to come in and out of the basement of that brownstone they were in through a cut-away entry in the side and back of the building.  That area has been converted into a party area for tail-gating parties hosted by Babb, Inc. before Steelers’ and Pirates’ games at nearby Heinz Field and PNC Park.  There are murals depicting Pitt football and the Steelers on the interior walls.

         If you left the back door of the building you could walk a block and a half – perhaps seven or eight minutes – and be at the front door of Steelers’ owner Dan Rooney’s residence. 

         Dan and his four brothers grew up in that home on Lincoln Avenue that was shared for years by Art and Kathleen Rooney.  Art Sr. used to walk those sidewalks and talk to neighbors.  Dan had a garage added to the house and cleaned it up a bit with a renovation project when he moved there from Mt.Lebanon about 20 years ago.

         His wife Pat grew up in a humble row house in a large family in the Mexican War Streets about two miles near Allegheny General Hospital.

         Now Pat and Dan spend most of their time in a grand home in Dublin, where Dan serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.  They have attendants assisting Pat with looking after the home.

         I checked out the Rooney residence when I left the party that night.  There were small white light bulbs, maybe two or three strands at best, on a stark leafless tree in the front of the house, decorating the place for the Christmas season.

         I spent the next day at the annual Book Fair at the Heinz History Center, where Art Rooney Jr. was one of over 50 authors signing their books.  He and Roy McHugh teamed up to write a wonderful book about the Rooney clan called Ruanaidh, which is Gaelic for Rooney.

         Someone told me at the signing session that they loved the story about how Art Rooney, on his deathbed, told Dan and Art Jr., “You should have drafted Marino.”

         It’s a good story, but it’s not true, according to Art Jr.  “My dad wasn’t able to talk near the end,” he related.  “But there were many times through the years, at family gatherings, that he’d say to us, ‘You should have drafted Marino.’ ”

 CENTURY III BOOK-SIGNING

Pittsburgh sports author and Valley Mirror columnist Jim O’Brien will be signing his “Pittsburgh Proud” series at Bradley’s Book Outlet at Century III Mall in West Mifflin this Friday, Dec. 9,  from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m.  His books make great Christmas gifts for fans.

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Ocie Austin, Steelers Safety, 1970-1971

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First, can you let readers know what you are up to these days?

Would you believe I was working with the Alameda City Transit as a bus operator. I was doing that for ten years and recently put in my retirement notice. I’ll be sixty-five in January and decided to retire and enjoy the years I have left.

How is your health?

I went through some tough health issues the past two years – I didn’t think I’d make it. I had cancer in my lungs but it’s in remission now. I’m drawing on my social security and NFL pension plan and enjoying life on a daily basis.

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Ben McGee, Steelers Defensive Lineman, 1964-1972

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First, can you let readers know what you are doing today and how your health is.

My knees are bad – I can’t walk well. I need a walker to get around now. But I feel fine when I’m sitting down and laying down.

Is this a football injury – and is the NFL helping you now?

I’m not getting help from the NFL – I talked to some guy in California but they said it’s because of an injury I had when my knee gave out fishing and it pinched my spinal cord – so they think it was because of that, but my knees were bad before then, so I don’t know…

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Chidi Iwuoma, Steelers Cornerback, 2002-2006, 2006

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First, can you let readers about your work with the California athletics department?

First it is amazing to be back at my alma mater where I developed from an eighteen year old kid into a responsible adult. Currently, I am the Assistant Director of Football Student Development. I assist our football student athletes with any academic issues that may arise on campus i.e tutoring, dorms, class conflicts.

Are you looking to get into coaching? if so, is there a particular aspect of coaching that interests you most and that you find yourself imparting on the athletes you work with?

The field of coaching has been gaining a great amount of interest for me. I have done some volunteer work assisting defensive backs and special teams on the high school level, I also talk to the DB’s here at Cal every chance I get to discuss small things that could potential help their techniques out. Clean technique, and having a tough attitude can make an ordinary athlete extraordinary.

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Barry Pearson, Steelers Wide Receiver, 1972-1973

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First, can you tell readers what you are doing with your time these days?

I am CEO of HPC Foodservice which is a broadline foodservice distributor  based in Connecticut. I’ve been here for almost thirty-two years. I’m also on a couple of industry and charity boards.

You came to the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 1972. How did you decide to try out with the Steelers and what do you think convinced them to keep you on the roster?

My decision to sign with the Steelers wasn’t really difficult.  I had a number of teams that wanted to sign me and I selected the Steelers because Lionel Taylor, the receIvers coach, had come to Northwestern and watched me practice and spent time talking to me and actually called and wanted to sign me, not some scout that I had never met.

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Hank Poteat, Steelers Cornerback, 2000-2002

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First, can you let readers know what you are doing with yourself since the NFL?

I did some personal training last Summer for some guys wanting to get better at the game. But I’m doing two things now. I’m doing football camps with Football University. We do camps all around the country for kids wanting to improve. We have a number of present and former NFL coaches and players who work with us. It’s a great way for them to network, share experiences and life after football and memories of their playing time. It’s also a great way for us to help these the athletes fulfill their dreams. We run the camps from February through July – state-to-state.

I’m also coaching at Kentucky Christian University.

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Rick Buker, “100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die”

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Rick Buker:

First, can you tell us about the new book – what inspired you to write the book and how you went about researching it?

I’d be glad to! “100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” focuses on the top 100 players, personalities, and events that helped shape Penguins history. The book features bios on superstars like Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, as well as stories about each of Cup runs and key events such as “the Save” and “the Trade.” It’s also packed with anecdotes about some of the team’s more colorful players such as Steve Durbano and Bryan Watson. And, I sprinkled in some to-do’s, like learning how to skate and calling into the Mark Madden Show.

Inspiration-wise, all the credit goes to Triumph Books, who published my first book, “Total Penguins: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the Pittsburgh Penguins” last fall. They suggested the “100 Pens” format and I eagerly agreed to do it.

Since I’d already written “Total Penguins,” I had lots of raw material for the new book. While “100 Pens” still required plenty of work, for the most part I was able to reshape what I already knew and fill in the blanks with material from online sources like “Sports Illustrated Vault” and “PittsburghHockey.Net,” which is a great web site.

What were some of the most surprising things you found in researching the book?

I think the most surprising thing I learned involved Bill LeCaine, who was one of the Pens’ first free-agent signings. A friend of mine, John Bigler, recalled that a Native American had played for the team back in the late 1960s. So I did some digging and discovered it was LeCaine. Turns out, he’s a distant relative of the famous Lakota Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull, who fought at the battle of Little Big Horn!

Where can readers purchase the book?

A: “100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” is available online at sites like Triumphbooks.com, Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, and at bookstores like Barnes and Noble. I believe Wal-Mart also carries it. My first book, “Total Penguins,” also can be purchased online, and may still be available at bookstores.

Tell us about the website as well–its origins and focus….

PenguinPoop.com started out a few years ago when two long-time Pittsburgh Penguins fans wanted to voice their dislike of how things were working out under Penguins coach Michel Therrien. Since then PenguinPoop has primarily focused on the opinions of seven or eight contributors whose backgrounds range from hockey players, referees, long-time fans and season-ticket holders. One of our writers has been a Pittsburgh Penguins Season Ticket Holder for 37 years! Coming up this January we will be going into our fourth year.

Besides the drafting of Crosby, what were some of the key elements in the Penguins’ turnaround after the Lemieux years?

There’s no doubt Sid is the cornerstone for our current Penguins. And you can’t overlook Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin. However, former GM Craig Patrick deserves a ton of credit for helping to turn the team around. Starting in the early 2000s, he drafted brilliantly. In addition to picking superstars like Crosby, Fleury and Malkin, he added the likes of Alex Goligoski, Tyler Kennedy, Kris Letang, Ryan Malone, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Max Talbot, and Ryan Whitney through the draft. Ray Shero has done a great job of working off the foundation Patrick laid with some savvy trades and free-agent signings. And Mario Lemieux has done a remarkable job as owner.

Under his stewardship, the team built a new arena and is on firm financial ground for perhaps the first time in franchise history.

Before Lemieux, there were also lean years. What other catalysts inspired the turnaround for the Penguins’ first Stanley Cup winning season?

Obviously, Lemieux was the key. Former coach and GM Eddie Johnston once said there would be no hockey in Pittsburgh if it wasn’t for Mario. Johnston also had a big hand in the turnaround. Along with No. 66, he drafted good young players like Doug Bodger, Rob Brown, Craig Simpson, and Zarley Zalapski. Simpson was used as the centerpiece in a deal to acquire Paul Coffey. A superb offensive defenseman, Coffey helped Lemieux get the most out of his burgeoning talents by opening up the ice with his speed and passing. Although his contributions generally are overlooked, Tony Esposito drafted Mark Recchi and traded for Tom Barrasso, giving the team a stud between the pipes.

Craig Patrick was masterful during his first full season at the helm. In addition to hiring Cup-winning coaches Scotty Bowman and “Badger Bob” Johnson, he acquired future Hall of Famers Ron Francis, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy, and Bryan Trottier and drafted Jaromir Jagr. But the man behind the scenes, owner Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., also deserves recognition. He absorbed enormous losses–some $25 million by his own reckoning–but stayed the course long enough to see his ugly ducklings transform into Stanley Cup champions.

What did prior management do wrong, do you think, that caused the team to struggle for so many years?

I think finances (or a lack of) played a huge role in the team’s early struggles. The Penguins were sold to Detroit banker Donald Parsons after their very first season. Less than three years later the league had to assume control of the franchise. The next ownership group–led by Tad Potter–built a darn good hockey team but were forced into receivership following a disastrous loss to the Islanders in the 1975 playoffs.

When Al Savill purchased the club from Potter, he basically eliminated the farm system to save money. GM Baz Bastien had little choice but to trade draft choices for veterans in order to keep the team marginally competitive. This led to a total collapse, which–ironically–put the team in a position to draft Mario Lemieux. So in a backhanded way, things worked out pretty well!

Who were some of the most interesting characters across the various Penguins teams, in your opinion, and what made them so?

For starters, Bryan “Bugsy” Watson was a real character. During a road trip to Los Angeles back in the early 1970s, he hijacked a Marriott courtesy bus on a dare (with teammates and hotel guests aboard) and took it for a joy ride. In the late 1970s, Brian “Spinner” Spencer built his own version of a Hummer from the frame of an old Army convoy truck. But for my money the team’s all-time character was Steve Durbano. A swashbuckling defenseman back in the 1970s, “Demolition Durby” made the Hanson Brothers of “Slap Shot” fame look like choir boys. He’d fight anyone, anytime, anywhere, for any reason.

One night while playing in the WHA he tore off Bobby Hull’s toupee. During one of his final games he famously mooned the Madison Square Garden crowd (hockey pants on, of course) after igniting a bench-clearing brawl.

Who are unsung heroes over the course of the Penguins’ history that deserve more recognition, in your opinion, and why?

The Pens have had plenty of players who didn’t get the recognition they deserved. Ken Schinkel and Ron Schock were diligent, productive skaters for the early Penguins, but were overshadowed by the likes of Syl Apps, Pierre Larouche, and Jean Pronovost. Dave Burrows was a superb stay-at-home defenseman–perhaps the finest of his era–but he didn’t get much ink because he didn’t put up big offensive numbers.

I thought Ron Stackhouse was vastly underrated (and unappreciated), mostly because he was a big guy who didn’t play an especially physical game. However, I think Ron Francis is the most underrated player in Penguins history. Francis may seem like a strange choice given that he’s a Hall of Famer. But he did so many things well. Ronnie was a marvelous playmaker, a terrific defensive player and face-off man, and he scored important goals. When Mario was hurt, he stepped up and became captain. Francis was a true stabilizing influence and great team guy.

Any last thoughts for readers?

I count myself lucky to be a Penguins fan. We’ve been blessed with not one, but four once-in-a-generation players (Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, and Malkin) over the span of two decades! And we’ve been treated to some of the finest hockey and most memorable plays (“the Goal” and “the Save”) ever witnessed. How very fortunate we are to root for such a great team!

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Kent Stephenson, Steelers Offensive Line Coach, 1992-2000

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First, can you let readers know what you are doing with yourself these days?

I moved to Iowa after my time in Pittsburgh – it’s my home state so I wanted to come back. I have a recreation center and a lake nearby and a professional golf course in my back yard.

I’ve had the chance now to get  involved  in community and state boards – a hospital board, golf committee, the Iowa Golf Association….things I couldn’t do as a coach and I’m really enjoying it!

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Bruce Van Dyke, Steelers Offensive Lineman, 1967-1973

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First, can you tell readers what you are doing with yourself these days?

I’ve been working for the same company for twenty-five years. It’s a construction company and we do stone quarry and asphalt sales. I’m the sales manager for the company’s asphalt sales. I used to be in the coal business in the 70’s – we stripped and brokered coal.

You were drafted by Philadelphia but played only one year there before being traded to Pittsburgh. How did that happen?

Pittsburgh had a new coach – Bill Austin. He hired Tom Fletcher from Missouri as one of his coaches – and Fletcher knew me from my playing days there as well. So, Pittsburgh was working out a trade with Philadelphia involving Gary Ballman and Earl Gros. Fletcher told Austin they should have Philadelphia “throw me into the deal, and they did.

It was the best thing that happened to me.

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