First, let me know what you’ve been up to since your time in the NFL?
I live in Indianapolis with my wife – and I have my kids here as well.
I bounced around after pr football. I played for four years – after my first year I actually started law school. That was my whole goal – I wanted to become a lawyer. I had to pay for it though – I had paid my own living expenses since I was 17. I got a scholarship at Indiana University, but I needed to gather funds for law school. Not that I didn’t love to play football – I did.
I pursued my law degree at Duquesne. But after the ’73 season the Steelers traded all four of their receivers. They had that great draft of ’74 and saw the talent they had in Swann and Stallworth and traded the rest of us.
So what did you do from there?
I transferred to Indiana and got my degree at the Maurer School of Law. I practiced law for 15 years – I became and M&A attorney and enjoyed it, but after a while it got repetitive.
I joined a New-York based private equity firm in 1993 and opened an office for them here in Indianapolis. I worked there for 25 years, eventually becoming CEO and Chairman. I retired in 2013, but the CEO of HKM called me and asked me to manage a start-up. I told him I was supposed to be retired but as long as I can do it semi-retired ok. We launched Monument Microcap in 2018, bought a couple of companies to get some cash flow, and have been doing well.
Was the adjustment to post-football life hard? It sounds like you had a plan already…
I didn’t think it was hard. I missed football more than I thought I would – that’s why I went to Canada to play for a bit. I ended up playing with Joe Piscarcik – and you played every down on offense as an American. I just didn’t want to go play somewhere to collect a paycheck – I wanted to enjoy it. It’s not like the paychecks were that big anyway! I think Bradshaw was the highest paid Steeler and he was getting $75,000 a year – and it wasn’t even guaranteed!
But law school was always the goal – I didn’t get caught up in the hoopla of playing football. The hardest adjustment was probably the first year of law school. That first year is miserable – you have no idea what people are talking about.
Where you surprised to get drafted by the Steelers in ’73?
I was a little surprised. I think it was Dick Haley who called me, and I shouldn’t have said it, but he told me when he called that I sounded disappointed, and I told him I had hoped to get picked by a team that passed the ball more.
The organization was unique – exceptional. I was constantly surprised at how many Steelers fans there are around the world as I travel. The Steelers and Yankees fans are everywhere. That experience being in Pittsburgh was exceptional.
How did you learn you were being traded?
Bradshaw knew I was traded before I did. In practice he threw the ball to me way more than he had before – I was running around catching everything. After practice he told me Noll wanted to talk to me and when I went to his office, in his matter-of-fact voice he had, he told me I was traded to the Giants.
The Giants wanted to put me on the practice squad but I told them I was enrolled at Duquesne and wanted to go to law school rather than be on the practice squad. I probably should have stayed there if I wanted to pursue my football career – I think I would have worked my way on to the roster there. But I said no – the Giants were one of the only teams then that didn’t even have a wide receivers coach. It wasn’t a great organization then.
In Pittsburgh, did anyone show you the ropes at all – the city and how to be a professional player?
Well in ’73 I met a senior at Pitt and we’ve been married now for 46 years! We got married in ’74 – she shoed me around the city.
Ron Shanklin, Preston Pearson, Frank Lewis – they were all very helpful and friendly. They were great guys – they didn’t pull any shenanigans really.
Shanklin was really good at getting off the line of scrimmage, Back then you could really do bump and run as defensive backs – could pull jerseys and make it difficult for receivers. Shanklin had a great juke off the line. I was big and fast but getting off the line was a big weakness for me. I remember lining up against Blount in practice – I could never get away from him – he was the best corner I ever played against.
Any good stories you can remember?
My first week of practice we had a ton of wide receivers in camp. A ton of defensive backs as well. Well we’d all line up to face the defensive backs one-on-one, who were also in lines opposite us. I couldn’t figure out why I always had to go against Mel Blount. Then I figured out that when the receivers counted and saw they’d face Blount, they’d leave the line to get water or for some other mysterious reason and I ended up drawing Blount!
I also remember coming back from a game on the plane. We’d play a card game called Boo-Ray, where you sacrifice yourself to take someone else out. Well I dealt the cards, and Joe Greene was playing. I dealt a lay-down Boo-Ray to Joe – and he yelled “Boo-Ray! right away. But I realized I mis-dealt and they said it didn’t count. Joe just looked at me and said “Rookie – get the Hell out of here!”
Also – Lionel Taylor was our wide receivers coach. Every week he’d have a 10-question quiz. The first nine were questions were about how you line-up or things like that – how do you line up in a pro-set right, or how deep on a max route. But the last question was a bonus question – it was the same question every week. Who was the first wide receiver to catch 100 passes in a season. It was the same question every week, And of curse the answer was Lionel Taylor!
Do you watch games today – any thoughts on todays NFL?
I think it’s more creative. Back then there were only 40 guys on a roster, so it’s easier for a sixth round pick to make a roster today! But there’s clearly more speed and strength in today’s players. The linebackers today are faster than many of those 70’s receivers.
The creativity on offense and defense is the biggest difference. When I played we didn’t use much motion – we had a split end on one side and the flanker and tight end on the other, with two running backs That was our formation 90% of the plays.
Now there is more blitzing and specialized players and plays. It’s not easier to succeed today but where before it was more about power and strength, now it’s about getting the advantage with formations and alignments. That’s why great coaches have the great records.
Divided loyalties between the Colts and Steelers?
I have season tickets to the Colts now. I am a Colts fan but I root for the Steelers too. Of course my wife is a Steelers fan. My son is a die-hard Steelers fan which is funny. We go to Colts games and watched the Super Bowl together, but he still loves the Steelers most of all. That’s the magic of the franchise – it captivates people.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
