First – what have you been up to lately – how are you doing?
Well, I’m retired! I’m 87 years old!
I have grandkids – one plays basketball and one plays baseball too.
So – tell me how you got started working for the Steelers?
I was drafted by the Major Junior Ontario Hockey Association in 1949 – I ended up playing everywhere after that – England, Sweden, Italy, Czechoslovakia….I was a goaltender and played in over 870 games.
When I got home in 1962, I played for the Pittsburgh Hornets hockey team. They folded and I was hired by Mr. Rooney as the equipment manager in ’65. That’s when they played at the old stadium – in the old locker room. In fact – I was the one who created the AJR patch for Art when he passed away – I put that together.
Any special techniques and approaches you brought to the team – changes to the way they did things?
When I first got there me and Ralph Berlin had all of the uniforms tailored for the players so they weren’t loose fitting any more – we figured other teams’s players couldn’t pull on them that way. We also used two-way tape under the flaps of the shoulder pads – taped them to the jerseys to keep them tight too. The players then put them all on over their heads after that.
I don’t know how they fit helmets on some of these guys today with all of that hair! I’d fit the helmets on perfectly. The MaxPro Helmet – that was a great helmet – my favorite one. You could change the parts inside if you wanted.
I also reversed the ties on the sides of the facemasks. I noticed when guys got hit they’d twist around and hit guys in the face, so I reversed them so that didn’t happen any more.
How did you learn your trade as an equipment manager?
You learn it all on your own- no one taught me. Chuck had a badge that said “One day at a time” and that’s how I took things. You just get to know it.
Any memories or players stand out most from your time there?
The hardest thing was staying awake! It was hard work – we worked every day with the players to help keep the equipment ready.
All of the guys were great – LC, Joe Greene, Franco…they all respected you.
My job was to never let anyone who didn’t belong in the locker room. And during games I’d walk the sidelines and watch the game – see how they lined up.
Any of the guys have special equipment requests?
Lambert always liked to wear the collar so his neck wouldn’t snap back when he made a tackle. He just wanted to protect his neck. So I helped make the collar and put the netting around it for him.
Bradshaw liked the smaller pads – most quarterbacks did. And Rocky Bleier – he had the bad leg from the war, so I drilled a hole in his left shoe and put an extra cleat in there for him to help him with his grip when he ran.
Franco – he’d like his ankles taped but not around his Achilles – Ralph and I left that open for him.
And I also was the guy that painted LC’s shoes yellow of course. He needed high tops for his ankles and didn’t want or like the black colored ones – he thought they were ugly. So I painted them for him!
And there were the special Super Bowl shoes you got for the team’s first Super Bowl?
I ordered those shoes from Canada – from Montreal – Acton Shoes that were good for the Astroturf they had in bad weather that made that turf harder to play on. They were like tennis shoes – rubber-cleated so you wouldn’t slip on that field. Those worked out real well. I ordered them for all of the guys and we had all of the players change into them after the game started. Only Bradshaw and Franco wore them at the start of the game.
I learned about those from Miami’s equipment guy – Miami used them when we lost to them.
Any of the players stand out to you looking back on your time there?
I never had a problem with any of the guys. My job was really to stay out of their way and mind my own business in the locker room.
There were some guys who were real serious – like Gerela before games – he was real serious. He didn’t want anyone to bother him – he was a real serious guy.
Dan Radakovich – he was a funny guy. He’d do back and front flips. One time he was lying down on one of those stretching boards and fell right off and hit his head. He was always doing something!
But it’s hard to explain. You mind your own business as an equipment manager. What you hear in the locker room stays there – it’s not anyone else’s business. You can’t be a snitch.
How was your relationship with Art Rooney and Chuck Noll?
Art would come and sit in my office some mornings and we’d talk for a while. He’d say the rosary with me.
Chuck was a great man. He never bothered me or asked me for anything. What I did was my business.
The team looked out for us. The money was good and they treated us really good. They were all very good to me.
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