First, can you let us know a but about your post-NFL life?

When I retired from the NFL it took a few years before I got settled in. I worked for General Electric in their appliance division, selling TVs to retail customers.

After several years GE sold their appliances division to Thomson/RCA and I worked for them until I retired. After that I decided to move to Texorama area where I used to  fish. My wife and I are now in Meade, Oklahoma in  small subdivision here. with a fifteen-acre lake in our backyard. We’ve been here for twelve years now.

I have two daughters – one in Kansas City and one in Dallas. My daughter in Kansas City has two boys, and my daughter in Dallas has a son and a daughter. The son is actually a slot receiver for his high school team.

How hard was that post-NFL adjustment for you?

It was very hard. Not many people wanted to hire someone who played football then. We had no experience after football. It took me two-and-a-half years to find a job. I just had no experience. I had a degree, but with no experience and having been close to thirty when I retired, it was tough.

How did you career start there in Pittsburgh?

I played three years for thew Steelers. Buddy Parker was the coach then and we had a good rookie season. But when Bobby Layne retired the next season Parker lost contact with the players. Bobby really led the team. The next two years weren’t good years. The communication between Parker and the players was bad. I was signed to a two-year contract after my rookie season but I wasn’t renewed after that.

I was out for a year after but Otto Graham become the head coach in Washington and Mel Renfro asked me to come in and try out there, and I was lucky enough to make the team.

You were actually drafted first by San Francisco. How did you end up in Pittsburgh?

I was in training camp in San Francisco when they pulled me in and told me I was traded to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh was in dire need of receivers then. I don’t know who I was traded for.

Who took you under their wing as a rookie?

Bobby Layne did but my wife wasn’t happy about that!

Why?

She heard the stories…Bobby liked to entertain people. We were just married so…

But Bobby helped me get accustomed to the NFL. To learn the plays and the differences between the NFL and college. In Pittsburgh, Buddy Dial was there too and I played with him at Rice. I knew him too and he helped me with the ins-and-outs there too.

Tell us a bit about Bobby Layne?

It’s hard to remember much about those days. He was the leader of the team, and he liked to have a few cocktails. I got to know him. He had a place where he liked all the players to meet – a restaurant with a bar – Dante’s I think. We’d go there sometimes.

I remember back then we had to go on Mondays to the Roooney’s office downtown to pick up our game checks. If you had a goo game you were in good shape. But if you had a bad game you could be in trouble!

What else do you remember about your time then?

I remember the facilities. We would play at Forbes Field and if we were fortunate sometimes Pitt Stadium. The practice facility was in South Park in the basement of a building there. Back then the team was no big so if you made the team you were part of a close knit group. I’m not sure if it’s like that now..

The best thing that happened to us was playing for second place my rookie season. The two best teams played each other and the next two teams played each other in Miami.. That was the highlight of their career for many of those guys.

Was it frustrating then being a receiver in a very run-oriented era?

Bobby led the team and called his own plays. Most quarterbacks did then. But yes, we did more running. It was frustrating at times. When I played we had two running backs – and both ran the ball. It wasn’t just one back like it is today.

My rookie season I rotated between me and Harlan Hill at receiver. When he left I started and alternated with Gary Ballman, who started off as a running back before playing wide receiver.

Who else were the leaders and characters on that team?

Charlie Bradshaw, Big Daddy Lipscomb, and Ernie Stautner. I was looking at a picture the other day and we didn’t have many Black players then. Out of thirty-nine guys, maybe seven then. But Big Daddy was a leader and there really wasn’t any tension.

When Bobby left, we lost our leadership. We had a good quarterback in Ed Brown and a young guy in Terry Nofsinger. But we just didn’t have that leadership. Oh and Buzz Nutter, who led the offensive line. He was there.

I do remember one game when Bobby Layne was getting sacked a lot. He dropped back to pass and got sacked again and he went back to the huddle with his head gear n sideways. He was cursing out his offensive line, asking them if they thought he was a punching bag.  He told them he couldn’t take this any more!

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