First, can you tell us a bit about how your career started?
Prior to my football interests, well largely so anyway, I went to an engineering high school in Baltimore- the Baltimore Polytechnical Institute. Then I went to the University of Maryland and had a pretty good go of it there – Maryland had a pretty good team at that time. They had good sound players and Coach Tatum who did a wonderful job there.
You weren’t so bad yourself – placing second in the Heisman voting!
Well, the coaching made me good! I had a good coach at Maryland and a good coach in Pittsburgh in Walt Kiesling.
Tell me a bit about your time in Maryland and how it prepared you for the NFL?
At Maryland I was given a scholarship and I got my engineering degree there. I was the starting quarterback for the freshman team then moved on from there. We had a twenty-one game winning streak. I met my wife there – she was a cheerleader. I met her after the bowl game in New Orleans – the Sugar Bowl. We met there and got married two years later.
I was picked in the third round by the Redskins. At Maryland we purchased the Washington Post to read where I got drafted too! I thought at the time I was happy to be drafted by my local team – the Redskins. But the owner was a different type of gentleman. And I’m being nice. The difference between the Redskins and Steelers owner was big – the difference between two very different kinds of gentlemen. I’ll just leave it there.
How did you end up in Pittsburgh?
I was traded to Pittsburgh from Washington – they had Teddy Marchibroda then but needed another quarterback. George Marshall was the Redskins owner and like I said, he was a different kind of person. I had problems with my right hand in Washington – I broke three fingers in my throwing hand and Marshall said that was it – I was gone from the Redskins then.
After I was traded to Pittsburgh, I’d call my wife two times a week from where we practiced. One time after the trade I called her and she asked me what in the world I was doing! A truck had pulled up here at the house she said and left off a horse! Well, that horse came from Art Rooney! Can you imagine that. He was something else.
Why did he send you a horse?!
I had met him at church before – on the first Sunday after I was traded to Pittsburgh, He asked me to tell him about myself, how I got there, what I was interested in … we talked for a while and evidently he thought from all of that that I should have a horse! I was just in awe of Mr. Rooney and the real gentleman that he was. And the horses’s name was Pompeii Lady. Can you imagine that?
Who did you get close with on that Steelers team?
Every team has those funny guys -we were no different. I had a hard time not liking the whole team really. I started palling around with Jack O’Brien – he was a great guy. I hung out with him – we called him “Obi”.
I guess we had some things in common as he was an end. But as the quarterback I tried to be friends with everybody. Your job is to try and win everyone over to your side. And we had a great coaching staff. Frankly the team was just very friendly to everyone – down to the guy that drove you to the stadium.
So, what happened then, from going to a Heisman Trophy runner up to struggling in the NFL. Was it in part the adjustment from that Maryland system to the NFL?
That was some of it sure. We first ran a split-T at Maryland. I ran more than I passed the ball as a quarterback. The Maryland University team – half of the team were veterans from the war and the other half were younger guys. So there were two groups of guys. But the coaching staff did a great job – they blended us together.
The quarterback behind me on the depth chart was from the Pittsburgh area. Bernie and I roomed together for four years at Maryland. Bernie later graduated and went off to play in the CFL. We stayed in contact and went up to see him play. He passed away some time ago. That one hurt. A lot.
I ended up playing in Canada for a year after Pittsburgh as well. But I broke two of the three fingers again that I broke before and that was it for me.
Do you still watch the NFL today? What are your thoughts on the game today and your career?
I was fortunate with my football career except for my broken right hand issues. I wish I could have played longer.
I constantly watch football today – I’m glued to the tv set! I watch the Steelers and Redskins. I can tell you, the one thing I don’t like is the kneeling down crap.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
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