First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since you retired from the NFL?
Sure – I was with the Steelers for three years then I was bounced to Detroit for one season. I had injuries here and there and was banged up in camp – they had Grossman and Larry Brown there too so they traded me to Detroit for a future draft pick.
In Detroit I got a hairline fracture in my middle toe. So much for the glamour of football! That constant pounding and two-a-days caused a stress fracture and I was in a cast for a few weeks. I ended up backing up Charlie Sanders in Detroit and the next year was picked up by Seattle in the expansion draft for their first season before retiring,
What did you do after retiring?
I launched a business with a few entrepreneurs in Seattle – I became a minority owner of a restaurant in Kirkland, near where training camp was. It was very successful – it’s still around today just under different ownership.
I got married and my in-laws were involved in commercial fishing in Alaska. So I worked there – that was a real adventure. I worked on small boats – 34 to 38 foot boats – and crewed those for a couple of years then had my own boat. I did that for 10 years – that was a young man’s game like football!
That is tough work right!
You’re fighting the weather a lot of the time. The guys from the show The Most Dangerous Catch -I know some of those guys. We used to deliver salmon to their crab boats during salmon season.
It was always nerve-wracking with the weather. I sold out of it because of that. When you’d get 35-to-40 mile per hour winds, you’d get huge waves. We fished close to the beach – that’s where the fish were – we weren’t doing deep sea fishing. Once we went out when we shouldn’t have. There was supposed to be 40 mile an hour winds from the Southwest – the worst kind for the area. We went at dawn and it was dead calm. You had to go through a lagoon through this narrow entry. We threw our nets in the water and once we did the wind picked up. We picked our nets up right away but by then we couldn’t get back in the lagoon through that narrow passage. We had to go around about five to six miles to Port Hyden and were listening to the CB. A 40-foot boat had capsized and the Coast Guard was looking for them – that’s how bad the winds were. We had our survival suits on and made it to Port Hyden. They found those guys – they made it ok. They were under the boat for 45 minutes in the hatch. You had to be ready for anything.
After that I sold health insurance to small businesses and the self-employed, then sold life insurance.
Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?
It was hard. I was invited to the Cardinals camp but by then that would have been a paycut. I decided then that that was it. I was already involved in my business venture so that made it a little easier than what some others may have experienced. But all of those career changes caused disruptions – and that can be tough. It’s not like the real world playing football. You’re so much in the public eye.
Stepping back – you were third round pick of the Steelers in 1972. Were you surprised?
I hadn’t had contact with Pittsburgh, I expected to be drafted but had no idea what teams would take me. I talked to one scout in Green Bay that asked it I wanted to play linebacker, but I really liked catching the ball – that part of the game. So I told him I’d rather not.
I played wide receiver in high school and for two years in college. I was just fast enough to play receiver, but I lifted weights and my weight went up from 185 pounds – I gained about five to 10 pounds a year and moved to tight end my junior year. It was more of a natural position for me.
Anyone help you as a rookie in camp to adjust to the NFL?
Camp was in Latrobe then too. It was just a question of palling around with the other rookies. You were always busy – if not in the film room then in practice and two-a-days. It wasn’t a whole lot different than in college, getting ready for the season.
In college, the backs and receivers were fast. In the NFL though, you notice right away the linemen and linebackers were so fast as well – fleet of foot. It was a real challenge and I just focused on making the team.
You were there when the team took that big leap to being a Super Bowl team. Do you remember noticing it taking that next step?
I think it was a great feeling of accomplishment. We had a good season my rookie year – the defense was stellar. The offense had more challenges in those early years. Bradshaw was still maturing. The defense was the strongest part of our success then.
As a rookie I thought as a third round pick I’d be starting, but they had Larry Brown there and started him over me which was frustrating. But Larry hurt his knee in the first quarter and I played from then on. I started the rest of that year and into next year when they platooned Larry and I. That was frustrating. I played the first quarter, he the second, me the third and he the fourth. Just when you were getting into the game they’d take you out – that was frustrating.
Then you got hit with injuries?
It was the strike year and at the end of preseason I took a hard shot to the ribs versus the Redskins. It was a crossing pattern and Terry three it late. I ended up getting smashed in the ribs by Kenny Houston. I caught the pass but I broke some ribs and had a bruised kidney. I was in the hospital for five days after that.
It took me time to recover. That’s the way it goes. The team was doing well so they had me just play special teams later on when I got back. The someone blocked a punt and I had just picked it up and started running when someone tackled me from behind and I fell hard on my shoulder. I missed a couple of games after that too. I was kind of along for the ride that Super Bowl season but it was a great year!
Any good memories of your time in Pittsburgh?
Well, I was in the middle of the Immaculate Reception of course. Less than a minute left… On third down Terry threw a pass to me after I ran a hook pattern about 15 yards downfield, but Jack Tatum broke that pass up. On fourth down I ran a post and Frenchy ran the hook out of the backfield. I looked back and saw Tatum run into Frenchy and had a great view of Franco picking the ball out of the air. I blocked out Villapiano who still complains I clipped him, but that isn’t true! I call it the Immaculate Obstruction!
At the time it was a big deal, but the thing was it was short-lived, because we lost to the undefeated Dolphins team the next week.
Any others?
My rookie year I was frustrated. The philosophy was to always go to your best receivers in the passing game, so there were a lot of games where I didn’t get passes thrown to me. I’m sure a lot of receivers get frustrated because of that.
Well, that year I also had my longest touchdown of my life. I actually had to kind of intercept it. It was against the Browns and I was supposed to run a quick pass where once I got past the linebacker Terry would throw it to me. Ron Shanklin on the other side ran a slant, and Terry held on to it a while I guess to get it to Ron. Because of that I got farther downfield between Shanklin and Bradshaw. I looked up and saw the pass coming my direction and leapt up and caught it with my fingertips. It was supposed to go to Shanklin, but I jumped up before I knew it. The defensive backs crashed into each other and I cut to the outside and ran for a 78-yard touchdown!
Any last thoughts on how the game has changed – still follow the NFL today?
I’ve been out of the game for so many years. I go to the occasional game but I follow and enjoy college football more. I have four daughters and because I worked in Alaska so many Summers I never was able to coach high school football. And with four daughters there were no football players in the family.
My brother played at Alabama and won a national championship there under Bear Bryant – and of course I was a Clemson guy. I joke with my brother that I hope our relationship hasn’t changed now that Clemson is on top of Alabama!
We all have aches and pains but health-wise I’m doing pretty good. Some guys passed away and others are having physical challenges. You see that in the general public of course too though. You never know, but I feel blessed to have maintained my health.
And my faith is important to me. The Immaculate Reception was a big part of football and my life. But I’m more into the Immaculate Conception now!
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
Went to high school with John. One of the greatest guys I ever met.