So what are you doing now – projects etc.?
Now I have my own blog at https://vitostellino.com/ I occasionally write about whatever interests me – no regular schedule. And during the season I’ll write about my observations before and after games. I still stay involved.
Tony Dungy bemoaned writers not getting the chance to sit down with players anymore and to get to know them -do you agree?
There’s so much more media now. Now it’s all about press conferences. There’s no chance for one-on-one with players. We used to be able to go into the locker rooms and get to know players and talk to them one-on-one. Now key players are held back for press conferences. It’s hard to do any follow-up questions. That’s the biggest change. It’s more difficult to do your job.
But, you can’t sit around and just say I wish it was like it was before when it was better. It’s the way things are and you have to make the best of it. You just don’t have the interaction you used too.
Is it as fun as it used to be?
It’s not as much fun today. It’s about the press conferences now. I used to be able to go into the Steelers dorms during camp and knock on player’s doors if they weren’t asleep to talk with them. Now that can’t happen of course. That’s gone. Now the quarterback may talk to the media once a week, and that’s at a press conference with 10-to-15 people there. That’s just the way it is now.
I remember once when I was out for a couple of days. When I got back Bradshaw asked me where I was. He noticed I wasn’t there. That’s what happens when you talk to those guys almost daily. You just have to adjust and adapt now.
Back then they’d give you a sheet with all of the players’ home phone numbers. You got to know them. You could go in at noon before practice then after practice and have access to the players. They recognized how good they were and expected to win. That made it easier to talk to them when they lost – they expected to win the next time.
How much did being presented the Dick McCann Award mean to you?
That’s voted on by your peers so it means a lot. Being recognized by the people in your field for the effort and time you put into it. It’s quite an honor. I remember getting the call – I didn’t expect it. I thought Will McDonough was going to win the award that year – he was on the ballot and was a very well-known media guy. So that made it even more special.
I have to admit, covering the Steelers – a team that won four Super Bowls – that got me more recognition than if I covered a team that lost a lot of games. Maybe it would have happened anyway, but it helps covering the best team of all time. One of the 49’ers writers used to say “Thank Joe” for the recognition he got covering Montana’s 49’ers. I guess I feel the same way,
Any good memories of the players and you interactions with them?
I remember there was a banner that fans hung up – Bradshaw, Swann, and Cunningham. Well, John Stallworth came up to me and asked me to ask the guys to add his name on the banner! He was a future Hall of Fame player but he wanted his name on it.
I also did a story on Mel Blount before the ’74 season. He came up to me in practice and thanked me for writing it. There was no ESPN or internet then. They got recognized because they won so much. Heck, Franco used to cycle home – sometimes he even rode the bus.
Winning meant more to them because they didn’t make big money. Today, I think winning is sometimes second. Joe Gordon used to call the Steelers “Camelot “- you had Art on the field with the players, Dan running the team – so much talent. That atmosphere is gone now for all teams.
Any other memories come to mind?
I wrote after they won their first two Super Bowls that they should win a third and a row and be the first to do it in years, since Green Bay. With that talent I felt they should have. In ’76 they struggled early – I think they got too self-satisfied. They righted the ship thanks to the defense but lost the championship game when Franco and Rocky were both hurt. That’s the year the defense caused the NFL to change the rules of the game.
So the following year after the changes they won with their offense – Bradshaw threw to Swann and Stallworth then and they won with offense too. They won Super Bowls under two different sets of rules.
Who were some of the guys you liked to talk with most, and who were more difficult?
Joe Greene was amazing. Chuck liked to take a backseat so Joe would be the spokesperson. He would give great analysis and was usually spot-on. Bradshaw would tell you anything he thought you wanted to hear. And if another guy asked a question and he thought he wanted to hear something different, he’d tell that guy the exact opposite. He had that great quote about throwing into double-coverage “If defensive backs could catch the ball they’d be wide receivers!”
Franco was not big on interviews. Ham was low key too. And Swann didn’t like to do interviews because he felt he didn’t get enough attention – if you can imagine that! There were just so many good players there.
And Chuck?
Chuck was difficult to cover. He wasn’t interested in any of it. He’d say “It’s all about the players.” He did one commercial over his career as a favor to a bank, and got angry when he saw it up on a billboard.
He also declined to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Coaches now speak for the team every day. Then, Noll may have talked to the media once a week after a game.
Is the intersection of sports and politics/social justice really all that new? How was it perceived when you started and why do you think it’s changed?
I think it’s natural now due to the times. Players have more of a voice now – they didn’t even have free agency then. They didn’t want to be labeled then as malcontents – they couldn’t afford it.
They didn’t have video or social media too like they do now. The phone video has changed society in so many ways.
The Steelers then though were the first great black team. The ’73 Dolphins were almost all white. Bill Nunn knew where to find those guys. The Steelers didn’t set out to make a racial statement, they just wanted the best players. It was a meritocracy – the best players played, regardless of race. Without Bill Nunn, they don’t win those four Super Bowls.
Noll also saw no color. The best players played – like I said, it was a meritocracy. It was a perfectly integrated team. There was no racial tension I knew of. It didn’t matter what color you were, just how good you were.
Heck, Stallworth grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama but was never recruited by Bear Bryant. If he played for Alabama, he doesn’t last until round four.
What is the event you covered that still stands out most to you?
My biggest moment I think was the fourth Super Bowl win. They were trailing in the fourth quarter and it was third and eight, and you figure they need a 10-yard pass for first down. But they call a 30 slot hook and go, and even though Stallworth was double-covered the pass was perfect and the over-the-shoulder catch was perfect.
But the TV never showed it in panoramic vision. They missed it. Eddie Brown dove to tackle Stallworth after the catch and after that Stallworth was the only guy on that side of the field. The last 50 yards it was just Stallworth running by himself with the Terrible Towels waving, in the Rose Bowl at night. The TV zoomed in on Stallworth running, but if they pulled back they would have seen him running all by himself. It was like a victory lap with the towels waving….
Some Steelers will say the win in ’74 versus the Raiders was their biggest win. But the Rams had three ex-Steelers coaches and the Steelers were older, playing without an injured Jack Ham. The Steelers were losing in the fourth quarter until a great quarterback and great receiver made what I think, considering the circumstances, the biggest play in Steelers history. I know the Raiders game was big, but there was no seminal moment like that one. Stallworth’s TD was like a victory lap for an aging dynasty.