First – can you tell me what you’ve been up to?
I worked from home – I was a licensed health insurance agent. I also did marketing for producers – but that slowed down due to Covid. A lot of those people met face-to-face before and were reluctant to use things like Zoom or Skype. So I took time off and am in retirement age now.
How did you get started working with Myron Cope?
I used to work at the Home for Crippled Children – Myron’s son was there and had autism. I worked with him five days a week and Myron would come in on weekends to pick up his son and take him places. I got to know Myron that way over time. We talked a lot and I was a big draft fan – I had a huge passion for the draft process. Myron didn’t follow the draft at all then – he really surprisingly didn’t know anything about any of the players. He’s ask me “Who is that Levon Kirkland guy?” So after a while I started helping him with that – I did the research on draft guys for him as a volunteer at WTAE.
I got to know him well – it was just a joy to know him and work on the draft and my love of football with him. It was funny – I’d go the Steelers headquarters with him and the reporters would talk to me for a while but had no idea who I was. They would see me there and talk about players, then ask me 20 minutes later who I was!
How did you do your research?
I did as much as I could – this was before the internet came into it’s own. I had limited resources but read every publication and was an avid follower of college football. As the draft would draw closer I would go over the player with Myron and fill him on the background of the guys I thought the Steelers may take and on the ones they ended up drafting.
I also followed Joel Buchsbaum- who many consider to be the best scout ever – he did it for Pro Football Weekly. Guys like Belichick and Pioli wanted to hire him but he was too introverted to work for a team. He worked 18 hours a day doing his research. He just worked hard.
I like him much better than some of the guys today like Mel Kiper who are more like mouthpieces. In fact Kiper once asked me to help him find a job at WTAE when he wanted to leave ESPN back then for more money.
Did you have any interesting experience when at Steelers headquarters?
It was limited there but I was actually the one that got to ask Bill Cowher questions first after he was named head coach. I just happened to be there at the right time and was able to ask him some basic questions for Myron.
There was also a private room where the GM and coaches would meet the day of the draft. After every pick they’d march to the press area to answer questions – where guys like Sam Nover were – then I’d watch them march back to the draft room and repeat the process all over again.
One good memory was when all the reporters got together to bet on who the Steelers would draft. I was the only one that got it right – I picked Leon Searcy. I just had a gut feeling based on the needs they had at right tackle.
What did you learn about Myron that would surprise some people?
One good memory of Myron was when he had a bit too much to drink at a Browns game. He had to go to the bathroom but it was full, so he went to a corner of the stadium and urinated. He had no idea there were people sitting underneath!
I loved being around him. The persona he created for himself – it was more of a caricature he created of himself. He was a different person – I got to know that side of him.
What was that side like?
He was an avid smoker and very serious. He was just a normal guy though – he was worshipped in the city as the voice of the Steelers but he had no ego. He didn’t use his status to influence anything for himself. For his radio show he had to be overly animated but that was it. He was a great father and did a lot of charity work. It hurt me when he passed away – he was like a father-figure to me.
These and more are all pulled from the new book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades
