First, can you let me know what you have been up to since your time in the NFL?
Well, I was raised in Canton, Ohio and I came back here and worked for an equipment company when I was done with football. I was a salesperson for nine and a half years but over those last four years I went to night school to get my law degree. After that I practiced law from 1976 until I retired in 2012.
Was the post-NFL transition difficult?
It was very difficult for me. I loved playing football. I probably should have tried to stick with it more. I was one of the last cuts for the Steelers in my second year there. I got a call from New Orleans after that but got cut from them as well.
I started my career with the Rams. But Atlanta came into the league and then each team could only freeze so many players and Atlanta could draft some of the guys that weren’t frozen. Atlanta drafted me but cut me and that’s when the Steelers picked me up.
How did the Steelers reach out to you?
Bill Austin was with the Rams when I was there and he knew me. So when I was cut he had me come in to take a look at me. He had me try out with the team. My entry to the team was me bashing against a big offensive lineman for 10 minutes until they decided they liked what they saw enough to sign me.
Did anyone help show you the ropes there?
I had a buddy from high school that worked in Pittsburgh. I was married so he would show me and my wife around the town and so forth.
The coaching staff – no one coach gave me extra attention. They were all nice so that was good. They’d just tell you to do the best you can and had you do your various drills.
Back then of course the pay was pretty low. I made $10,000 then $12,000. The superstars made around $35,000. We were right on the edge of the big TV money then that changed everything.
Any fun stories to share of your time there?
One of the more interesting things was that we practiced in the same town that Arnold Palmer lived in. We’d see him fly in and out from his airport. One day they had him come in and he gave us all a talk. An inspirational thing. He was impressive – it was nice that he came in to talk to us. That was neat.
No one there was a jerk or anything. They had good offensive linemen there and I knew the family of the woman John Campbell had married, so he was nice to us too.
Any characters?
Bill Saul. He was a nice guy. He’d take some of us out to bars after practice and tell us stories. A lot I can’t repeat! Let’s just say I think he had a few girlfriends. I can put it that way!
Dick Hoak was really the leader then. He was the team captain and the featured guy there.
Any on-field memories you can share?
When I was with the Rams they had me play offensive line. I lined up against Bob Lilly and he was really quick. He was too quick – I couldn’t block him. My quarterback was not real happy with me. He yelled at me a lot that game.
And I remember the offensive line drills in Pittsburgh. When we did passing drills, if the defensive lineman was really good, I’d fire off into him like it was a running drill to catch him off guard!
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
