In His Own Words: Chris Kolodziejski

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What does a retired NFL athlete who played tight end for Pittsburgh Steelers have in common with the cosmetics industry? Much more than meets the eye. As the Founder and CEO of Chella, I made a special connection between my time playing professional football for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the success my mother found when I was growing up.

When I put on that uniform, I became a different person. I felt this tremendous confidence as a man and as a part of a team. It transformed me. I watched my mom transform from a single mother working two jobs into a real estate developer who retired early. It hit me one day, when she put on makeup, she was doing what I was doing when I put on a football helmet: she was transforming, too. announcing her power and her confidence.

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Stuck between a Gronk and a Steel place

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By Joe Lafferty,
Author of Justin Time, A memoir of Faith and Fight for Life.

Who do you cheer for?

Born and raised in Pittsburgh there are only a few who aren’t diehards for the black and gold of every sport.  Steeler Nation is only rivaled by the followers of our Boys of Winter.

Championship success breeds that kind of loyalty and passion.  Don’t tell me The black hole Raider fans have more fervor than the black and gold Terrible Towel waivers. That franchise hasn’t won a Super Bowl since Michael Keaton made famous the words  “Yeah. 220, 221, whatever it takes,” as Mr. Mom.(1983)

Summary, there are very few places with fans like Pittsburgh.  I’m one of those fans.

But there is an exception to every rule.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Quarterbacks Coach Tom Clements, 2001-2003

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First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since you retired?

Well, I stopped coaching in 2016 and am living in L.A. now with my family. I’m now working with a real estate company with a guy I’ve known for fifty-plus years and went to school with.

What got you into coaching, and as a coach, anyone help influence your style as a coach?

I played thirteen years professionally, twelve in Canada and one in Kansas City. I retired in ’87  after going to law school in Chicago during the offseason. I became a lawyer in Chicago for four years but I missed football. A quarterback coaching job opened up at Notre Dame then and interviewed with Lou Holtz and got the job and worked with him for four years before getting an NFL job.

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The Year of the Bull – Remembering Bill Fralic

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1984, the Year of the Bull

By Joe Lafferty,
Author of Justin Time, A memoir of Faith and Fight for Life.

When you get cancer as a kid everybody looks at you differently. I was only eight years old but I knew pity in other’s faces. They didn’t mean it but childhood cancer in the early 80’s, even in Pittsburgh, was rare. It was non Hodgkin’s lymphoma and it came with a 70% chance of survival. Great odds if you’re betting $5 bills at the Rivers Casino but when it’s the life and death of your kid, those odds suck.

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In His Own Words: Larry Gagner

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Staking Out Your “Terrytory”

My girlfriend whom I had been dating for quite some time, lived out by the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. I had been recuperating from my automobile accident at the time and still living in Pittsburgh, but I would frequently visit her. Terry Bradshaw, the Steeler’s number one pick in 1970, just happened to rent an apartment his rookie season in the very same complex as hers.  One day she excitingly mentioned that she had met Terry Bradshaw at her apartment complex, and that he had invited her over to his apartment to watch “game films” some evening at her convenience. Naturally, I hit the roof when she informed me.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Backs Coach Willy Robinson, 2000-2003

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First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time as a coach?

My wife and I live in Corona Del Mar now. She was a flight attendant for US Air for over thirty-four years. She was a Sewickley girl.

I’m done coaching. I work periodically for an agent – Ryan Tollner. I help prep college kids for the draft and combine. Once they committed themselves to going pro and get an agent I take it from there and work with them for one to two hours at a time. I sit down and talk to them about what to expect and how to help them improve. Most of these kids come in very well taught. Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Backs Coach Willy Robinson, 2000-2003”

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Vintage Steelers: Speaking of the Raiders

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WHEN DID THE 70s BEGIN?

Having been born in 1970 I am a child of the 70s. I was watching a documentary the other day about the Kennedy assassination and a comment was made that the 1950s didn’t end and the 60s didn’t begin until the Kennedy assassination in 1963.  It changed our country’s history, and future!  That was one of those statements that struck a chord with me that resonates with a lot of other major events that have happened in our country’s history.  Kind of like the 1930s didn’t end, and the 1940s didn’t begin, until WWII started in 1941.  The 70s didn’t end until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1981, but most importantly the 1960s did not end and the 70s did not begin until 1972.

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Video Highlights: 1992 week 3 Pittsburgh @ San Diego

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Video: 1992 Week 3 Highlights: Pittsburgh @ San Diego. Pittsburgh has a big 4th quarter, helping it to beat San Diego 23-6. Adrian Cooper and Dwight Stone catch touchdown passes (the irony here is that Cooper later ended up in jail for stealing money from clients as a stockbroker, and Stone became a police officer after his time in the NFL).

Lloyd and Little both had interceptions.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Hines Ward on the Alliance of American Football

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First, can you tell me about the AAF – why you wanted to get involved in it?

First of all, the Alliance of American Football is all about creating opportunities for guys to begin, extend, or revitalize their careers. To become an executive for the league was an awesome opportunity for me. I was always a leader on my team and liked to help the younger guys. Now I want to help these guys make it to the NFL.

I jumped on board to be a part of the league. Collectively as a group, with the coaches we have in the league like Mike Singletary, Steve Spurrier and others, it gives us credibility. There are a lot of great football minds here, including Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian.

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Social Media and Today’s Game

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Poor James Washington is getting hammered on Twitter this year. The expectations are very high for the first year wide receiver, but his output isn’t what everyone was hoping for. So, that got me thinking. What would’ve been tweeted about Chuck Noll his first few years. He would’ve been butchered. One win and thirteen losses in his first year would’ve definitely led to tens of thousands of tweets…daily. Even though the Steelers were lovable losers for the previous decades we still would have carved him up. Five wins in his next season may have lessened the beating, but we’ll never know. In Chuck’s third season he had six wins. Who keeps their jobs as a NFL head coach after only twelve wins in his first three seasons? Lynn Swann only had eleven catches in his first year. Stallworth only had sixteen catches his first year. What would the tweets have looked like in 1974? Oh. And to think what would have been tweeted about poor Terry Bradshaw. Oh my. You know he would’ve been on social media too. Think about these Hall of Famers and the what if’s if we had social media back in the day. Poor Bradshaw.

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