Quotes from former Steelers we’ve interviewed about Ernie Stautner that played with him in the 50’s:
Dick Lasse: “Ernie Stautner was the toughest lineman in the league. He had a tremendous desire and work ethic. Everyone looked up to him with respect. He had the best forearm. He could deal a blow to an offensive lineman…”
Dick Modzeleweski: “Ernie Stautner was another guy that just got pounded in Pittsburgh. He would have been an All-Pro every year on another ball club. I remember watching film in New York on the Steelers after we played them and we were watching a guy that no one could bring down. The head coach was yelling at us why we couldn’t tackle him. We said “Coach, that’s Ernie Stautner.” he just said “Oh, ok.” That’s how much respect we had for him.”
Frank Varriochione: “Ernie Stautner and I hit it off real good. We became buddies and hung around together. We were all adults so we didn’t mentor each other much. We knew we had to play and practice. The game wasn’t that much different than it was in college then.”
Bill Kisher: “When I got to camp I saw that Ernie Stautner wasn’t there – and I asked where he was. I wanted to meet him and go up against him. They told me he didn’t come in until the last week before the season started. When he did, we practiced in pads, and I went to block him, and he hit me with a left forearm that knocked me right back where I was…”
Mike Sandusky: “Ernie Stautner was tough. A nice fella but tough. He and Roosevelt Brown of the Giants had some terrific battles. I just used to watch them go at it – it was great to watch.”
Lou Cordileone: “Buddy Parker was a great guy. We used to get together every Friday night. Stautner and Layne rented a house outside of Pittsburgh and would have seven or eight guys over and we’d play poker until four of five am. We’d have food sent over from Dante’s on Route 51. That was our favorite place. Our watering hole when we went to go get something to eat and drink. I used to go there with Stautner and other guys and play poker at the bar and eat and drink until five am.”
John Cenci: “Ernie Stautner treated me like a little brother. They were all really very nice to me.”
Dale Dodrill: “Ernie Stautner never knew what it was like to go around somebody. Once we played the Browns. Paul bBown had just invented the fullback trap fake, where they pull the off-guard and the fullback fills the hole. They gave the fullback the ball the first play against us and it went for a big gain. I asked Ernie who blocked him and he said two guys were on him. They ran the play again later and it went for another big play. This time Ernie said three guys blocked him. Well, when we looked at the film later, we saw no one touched him!”
Henry Clement: “Bobby, me, Stautner – we’d hang out at this bar in Brentwood – Nosinger too. We’d get in trouble there every night – the women, getting plastered… Layne would always get in trouble playing cards especially. He started playing with some of the wise guys then – I stopped playing when he did that.”
Larry Krutko: “We were playing Cleveland and Ernie Stautner was sitting next to me on the bench and he had a shoulder problem. They gave him an injection – some numbing stuff – and I saw his eyes go to the back of his head. I thought, “Oh my, we have trouble here.” They gave him the wrong injection. I was just thinking, “This is professional football?” Fortunately they had an antidote to fix him up and he went out and played. He was every bit the war horse they said he was.”
Dean Derby: “Stautner- he was one of the most impressive guys on the team and one of the great guys.”
Charlie Scales: “Stautner and John Reger – they helped on blocking too. They told me that the defensive guys don’t want to get hit any more than the offensive guys do and really helped me with pass protection. “
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
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