First, tell us what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?
A lot of coaching high school – a little bit of this and that. Coaching football, basketball, and baseball – mostly for my kids. It was a father thing. I also started my own construction company – I did that because I wanted a sense of independence – to have that extra time to spend with my family.
I’ve been always involved with nonprofits, focused on the socially and economically disadvantaged contractors in our community.
My construction career expanded over 22 years but went out of business in 2013 due to a couple of bad actor contractors. Anytime a contractor owner holds a small contractor’s payments for an unspecified period of time it will complicate any small business cash flow. Unfortunately it did for me. Then some illnesses forced me to retire. I’ve been under the doctor’s care and the NFL has done their part too.
As a coach, did any coaches you played under influence your style of coaching?
I’ve been blessed to have had a few good coaches, mostly they were straightforward. Everyone had an assignment – if we executed we win. George Perles, my first NFL coach, I remember how he would tailor our gameplan to take away what the opponent did best offensively. We would eliminate their best plays which forced them into their junk plays. Amazing how that works if everyone executes.
You ended up in Pittsburgh despite going undrafted. Why undrafted, and how did you end up in Pittsburgh?
I wasn’t drafted because coming from Oregon State University, the head football coach didn’t handle my personal family situation very well. Unfortunate to say, the travel coordinator did not tell the truth regarding my financial situation and that got me demoted from first team over the summer to fifth team. “How was that possible?” I asked. I was first team but when I came back during fall football camp I was fifth team. I did not agree with his explanation – it was unfair and they wouldn’t listen to me – only the alumni and the travel agent person had any say in the matter. And when I found out what the head coach was told he would not reverse his decision so I decided to quit..
Best thing ever happened to me at Oregon State was that I was able to meet a young lady Darla, who became my wife of 42 years..
The head track coach at Oregon State, Steve Simmons, was familiar with Prairie View A&M and the head football coach at Prairie View, Hoover Wright. The folks at Prairie View took us in like family. All I wanted to do was to finish my college career on a good note and get my degree like my mom and dad expected. Hopefully maybe get a shot at getting drafted in the NFL.
I was depressed when I didn’t get drafted however my faith was strong. Coach Wright knew Bill Nunn with the Steelers, and they gave me an opportunity to play professional football. We won the Super Bowl my first year – we played the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII. The next year I broke a finger and spent the entire year on injured reserve – a real bummer. However we won the Super Bowl again. I did get a ring, happy to say, but it was very difficult not able to play and to keep my mental attitude in check. I went on to play three more seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and I also played for Birmingham of the USFL 1984, where I was reunited with former Steelers coach Rollie Dotsch, It was wonderful to be with him again.
You played behind L.C. Greenwood. Tell us something about he and the rest of those guy that may surprise people?
They were all good friends – L.C., Dwight, Ernie and Joe. They were very close to one another – like brothers. You didn’t have to be a starter to be part of their club. Not like the cocky guys now. They were humble people. Hard chargers that got after it.
They gave me trade secrets. Joe would watch film and get down to finite details. It’d be like one-on-one in the film rooms with the detail they went into. They’d have conversations with George Perles about little ways to cheat on the line to make plays successful. Cheating this way or that to free up guys like Lambert to make plays.
We played Earl Campbell for the first time and underestimated how rough he was to play against. He almost broke Wagner’s neck with a stiff arm. We knew we had to make up for that the second time!
Any good stories of those guys you can share?
One time on an airplane, coming back from San Francisco after a Monday night game, we flew into Detroit to refuel. It was four in the morning and it was so quiet on the plane you could hear a pin drop. This was when Joe Greene had that Coke commercial out. All of the sudden Dwight yells out “Joe – you have fans out there! You need to go sign some autographs on the tarmac!” That’s how Dwight was. He made you laugh but was serious about football. They were all good people. LC was quiet – but a good person to talk to one-on-one.
L.C. – he should be in the Hall of Fame?
He should be. It’s a travesty that L.C. isn’t in there. He had everything – everything – to do with those championships. George Perles said he knew his place as a coach. Everyone gave him credit for that defense, but L.C., Ernie, Dwight, and Joe deserved the credit, he said. He said he was honored to coach them. They all worked together. He had some good ideas but it took the right guys to perfect and execute them.
George also looked to take away what an offense did best. He would tell us to take away what they do best so we get them down to their junk plays. That’s when you own them. We didn’t have technology then like we do now. So we’d break down film by snaps and sat through them for three straight days studying them, and came up with the game plan.
L.C. actually called me once when he saw my name in a trade magazine to congratulate me. Dwight and I stayed in touch all the time. I’ve had my heart broken so many times over the years. Dwight passed away, then LC. It was like I was punched in the gut. I’m sorry. I just… I can’t even talk about it.
Any other fun stories you want to think about?
When Bradshaw was doing Monday Night Football, he came to Seattle for a game and was interviewing many of the players. This was well after I retired. The Director of Football Operations in Seattle called me and told me to go there but he wouldn’t tell Terry I was coming. So I got there and snuck behind Terry and gave him a big bearhug, He had no idea who it was until I gave him a clue and then he chuckled. He autographed a football for me after that.
I also saw the movie Concussion – which was hard to do. But in the highlights of the Super Bowls, I didn’t realize that I was in one of them. When Terry ran to the sidelines and jumped up, it was me who caught him. I still haven’t received my check from Will Smith for that one!
Any other thoughts as you think back on your post-NFL and NFL careers?
It is all good stuff. Good memories. I won an award in Seattle for being one of the few small contractors to gross over $100 million in sales. They had a gala for me. I was Steady Eddy. I was consistent – I wasn’t trying to be a millionaire. And that’s just like sports, I think. You have to be consistent and not let one thing take you down. And don’t be negative. And, bring the Good Lord with you. It all comes from him.
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