First off, can you give some highlights on your life after football?
Back when we played the players all needed offseason jobs – we didn’t make the money these guys make today! So I had a job selling Wrigley’s gum – I was a gum salesman! I stayed with that for a time then after 12 years I decided that I wanted to work with young people – to teach and coach.
I went back to Pitt and got a Masters in Education and got my teachers certificate. I taught and coached at high school and became an Athletic Director. After that I coached at California State University and then went to work at Robert Morris College for 11 years as their Assistant Athletic Director. Then I became a high school Athletic Director at the end of my career.
Intermingled there was my service in the Air Force for two-and-a-half years – in the ROTC. When I was done with that I joined the military reserves for 17 years near the Pittsburgh Airport – so I got my 20 years of military retirement which I am grateful for.
I wanted to talk about your coaching career – who helped shape your approach to coaching and how?
Playing for Paul Brown – his coaching philosophy and character influenced how I coached. He was the one that actually referred me for the Robert Morris job. I acquired many traits from him on that side of the ledger.
On the football aspect, he taught me about how to run things as a coach. As a teacher, he taught me his way of accepting people for who they are and what they can and can’t do. To bend a bit and be adaptable.
How did you end up on the Steelers in ’57?
I was drafted by the Packers. Those days we played six preseason games and 12 regular season games. Training camp was nine weeks – we did two-a-days with pads for three weeks, then when we had the preseason games we did one workout a day.
I played in all six preseason games and was getting ready for the opener against the Bears. That was going to be the first game at Lambeau Field. Well it was the Tuesday before the game and we knew the team had to cut three more players. I found out I made the team when Ray Scott, who was an announcer in Pittsburgh before he went to Green Bay, told me that I had made the team. He remembered me from Pitt and congratulated me. I was ecstatic.
That Thursday though, Coach Blackburn called me in to his office and told me that Carlton Massey, a linebacker they traded for from Cleveland, got an early release from his Army National Guard commitment and was able to join the team. So they put me on waivers in order to get me on the taxi squad. But Buddy Parker picked me up off of waivers and that’s how I ended up in Pittsburgh.
Anyone take you under their wing when you got there?
Fran Rogel was from my hometown – North Braddock – and Richie McCabe went to Pitt, so I knew those guys. They encouraged me a lot – especially Fran. But the guy who helped me most was Jack Butler. I got a chance to speak to his son Mike at the alumni event in Pittsburgh and told him that I never forgot how he helped me. He was a heckuva player but a wonderful person too and helped me tremendously. I was a linebacker and he was a defensive back but he talked to me a lot and showed me how to recognize certain keys – who to key on in certain formations. That made me a better linebacker.
Any playing memories stand out most to you from your time there?
One that stood out to me most – one of my fondest memories was about our defense. Back then they determined who had the best defense by total yards allowed. I know today there are a lot of other ways to measure it but that’s how they did it then.
The last game of the season we were playing the Chicago Cardinals at Comsikey Park. We were nip and tuck with Cleveland for the best defense going into that last game, and they were playing the Giants. So that last game was going to determine who had the best defense.
We were winning 26-7 but the Cardinals had a great running back – a Hall of Fame player in Ollie Matson. He was big and fast. I knew we had the game wrapped up and I was having a good game – I recovered two fumbles going into the fourth quarter. Well, we get out of the defensive huddle for our next play and linebacker Dale Dodrill tells me to look out for the deep reverse by Watson. Well they line up and I see Matson on my side and saw they were in the formation they ran when they ran the reverse. I ran to Matson and ended up tackling him for a 12-yard loss. It was a good stop but I didn’t think much of it after.
Well, we’re on the plane back to Pittsburgh and I’m sitting next to Buddy Parker. There were guys listening to the end of the Browns game in the cockpit when someone hollered “We just edged the Browns for best defense!” Then someone said that my tackle is what did it.
Well, I looked over at Buddy after that and asked him for a raise. He didn’t respond! The next day the Pittsburgh Press ran a story about it – Pat Livingston mentioned me and my tackle that gave the team the best defense title. I’ll always remember that – how proud I was to see “Bill Priatko from North Braddock” in the paper.
The other great memory was playing for The Chief. He was such a wonderful man- it was an honor to play for him. He was wonderful and humble.
You also played with Chuck Noll – what was he like then?
Chuck and I became close – good friends. The thing I remember most about Chuck was his demeanor – he never hollered – he never seemed very excited. That was just his nature. He was that way when he was the messenger guard for Paul Brown.
I remember being in the Browns camp a few years later and talking to their defensive coordinator. We ended up talking about Chuck and how calm he was. He told me then that when they drafted him they knew he had epilepsy – he had to take medication for it. I never knew that about Chuck until then – that made me respect him even more.
Personally, I remember Chuck when he first started coaching. He was 1-13 that first season – win their first game versus Detroit then lost the next 13. I was in Irwin then and a high school Athletic Director job opened up there. I didn’t want it but people convinced me to apply. I was in the interview when the Superintendent asked me if I knew Chuck called him as a reference for the job. I said “No.” He told me Chuck Noll called. I had no idea he did that.
Well, a week later I’m at a Steelers alumni event and Chuck is there standing by himself. I went up to him and thanked him for the call. He asked if I got the job and I told him no – and I didn’t really care that much about it anyway. Well, he turned to me and said “Well, who would want the recommendation of a 1-13 coach.” I just told him that by the end of his time there his recommendation will mean more than anyone in Pittsburgh. He thought I was just being nice.
My son was in Desert Storm – Chuck wrote us often to say he was praying for us. He was just a wonderful man.
And you are close to Dick LeBeau – tell us about your experiences with Dick?
Dick was the same type of guy. I’ve never been around a guy so beloved by his players. “Onward and upward!” was his pet expression. He is such a positive guy to be around. I used to visit him at training camp in Pittsburgh and sit in on the gameplan with Dick and those players. Hampton, Aaron Smith, Farrior – they all loved him.
A funny story on Dick. In Cleveland they only kept five defensive backs – I knew Dick was one of the top five on that team, but Paul Brown cut him. Of course he ended up in Detroit after and played for 14 years and made the Hall of Fame. I talked years later to Paul and he told me that cutting Dick was one of the biggest mistakes he ever made. I told Dick that and he said Paul never said that to him. He’d tell Dick that he cut better players than him!
And to add to that. Paul Brown told me this story about Dick I’m not sure many have heard. In that last Browns preseason game Dick played in, they played the Bears. The Bears had a great wide receiver, Harlon Hill. Well in the middle of the fourth quarter Hill runs a hook and go and catches it over Dick for a touchdown. Brown, in that voice of his, yelled at Dick after the catch that “Everyone knew it was going to be a hook and go except you, Dick!”
Well, years later Detroit is playing Cleveland. Brown called all the plays for the Browns. Well, Dick picks off a pass and is run out of bounds right in front of Brown. He turned to Brown and told him “Everyone knew you’d call a hook and go Paul!”
Any thoughts looking back at your career now?
The greatest thing about the game was the togetherness. The friendships. To be 91 years old and still be remembered is a great honor.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
