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First, can you tell us what you experienced after playing football and how you got involved in the church and with The Good News Community Church?

After football I went through a long period of addiction – I went to prison twice and suffered from a cocaine addiction. I had my recovery meetings at the church I am a pastor at now. The doors opened for me to stay there.

Why become a pastor?

I had been in the ministry beforehand actually. I worked with Sports World – they were the ones who worked with Pete Rozelle to get chaplains for each team. When we weren’t working with players we went to schools and prisons to help people there. That was right after football.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Tight End Jeff Markland, 1988”

PART ONE

Part 2:

I wanted to talk to you about L.C. and some of those other guys. L.C. actually called me to talk about why he felt he should have made the Hall of Fame. Do you think he and others were overlooked?

Oh yeah, sure they were. But there’s a fine line from being a good, very good, great, and Hall of Fame player. What a Hall of Fame player is today gets muddled because of TV, newspapers and the internet. Guys see faces on screens and names that are out there more often and think they are great or Hall of Fame players. Quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends – there’s no comparison to the numbers today versus guys 20-to-30 years ago.  Now when people talk about quarterbacks no one says anything about Johnny Unitas, but I dare say no one was better than he was. Griese was an unbeaten quarterback and never threw more than 17 passes.

Continue reading “Part 2: Exclusive with Steelers Defensive Lineman, Coach Joe Greene, 1969-1981, 1987-1991”

First, can you tell me a bit about the impact North Texas had on you as a player – what made you such a good player there?

Well, you know Joe doesn’t like to talk about Joe!

Well, let’s start with North Texas then and what they did to help you?

North Texas didn’t let freshmen play at the varsity level when I was there as a freshman. I had a really good freshman coach – Ken Bahnsen. He put us through exercises and drills – a myriad of them that personally helped me to understand balance, quickness, and leverage. And explosiveness. Things like the 50-yard duck walk, where you put your hands between your knees and walk like ducks. The two-man sled we did as 100-yard relays – 50 yards at a time. All the sled drills, and practicing running to the ball.

Continue reading “Part 1: Exclusive with Steelers Defensive Lineman, Coach Joe Greene, 1969-1981, 1987-1991”

First, let me know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL!

Well after ball I went into the construction business with my brother. Then we decided to build a roller-skating rink and I ran that for a while. I did some development in Texas then just jumped around a bit so no one could catch up with me!

Was the transition from the NFL to post-NFL life tough for you?

You miss the fun you have playing. And most of all you miss your teammates. It seems wherever I went – the Giants, Steelers – I met some great people. That’s what you miss more than anything else.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Jerry Hillebrand, 1968-1970”

First, let me know what you’re up to now?

Right now, I moved back to Texas. I have a ranch here. So that’s where I am. We were all let go by the Chargers and I had the opportunity to coach elsewhere but wanted to stay here in Texas. My son is an all-state tight end here playing at TCU. I missed so many of his games the last two years. He was a ballboy with me in San Diego – I missed him and my daughter. It gives me a chance to see her run track. I got to see her at homecoming – seeing things like that is important to me.

I did have the opportunity to coach for Mike T.  But I didn’t know Mike well then and I was close to Ken Wisenhunt. Our wives are good friends and we had guys like Haggans, Porter and Faneca there in Arizona. But I did sit with those guys at the Hall of Fame ceremony – with Farrior, Mike Miller…of course I sat in the Steelers section!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman John Lott, 1987”

First, let me know about your new role with the NFL and how that began?

Basically, I was working with officials to help coach them. My official title is Coaching Coordinator of Officials.  The job was started by Walt Anderson. After I retired from coaching I reached out and they offered me the position. My job is to coach officials on basic football knowledge from the coach’s perspective. They know the rules but I work with them to better understand the ins and outs of the game – formations, that sort of thing. This helps them anticipate and understand better what they see on the field and to understand what the coaches are doing from their perspective.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Special Teams Coach George Stewart, 1989-1991”