First, can you let us know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?
I’ve been in the concrete business – and construction. I started that through my brother. he got his concrete license in the state of California and I work with him there.
How hard was the adjustment to post-NFL life for you?
It was hard. That’s the truth of the matter. When I was released from Pittsburgh I tried out with the Redskins and Green Bay right after I was waived – in 1985. I played about five or six games that season before I was released and then was outside of football for about five games when Green Bay picked me up. I finished my season with Green Bay but didn’t make the final cut the next season there.
I got my Kinesiology Degree at UCLA and got a job at a community hospital heading up their fitness center. I worked there for 10 years heading their Fast Track program in Ventura. But I wasn’t very happy doing that. I wanted to be doing my own thing. It really was a hard adjustment from the NFL
But in between you did get one more opportunity to play?
I had no offers after I was cut in 1986. I got no calls for workouts. I thought that was about it then. But in 1987 the NFL strike hit and I went back and played for Schottenheimer in Cleveland and played three games for the Browns. I know the strike wasn’t good for many players, coaches, and fans….but it was good for Blake Wingle. Those three games got me vested. For me, the strike worked out well. The hospital admin was happy to let me go play for those three games and kept my job open for me. That was really nice.
What did the Steelers tell you about being released – what happened?
I was the starting offensive guard in 1984. They traded Steve Courson to Tampa Bay. I started all four preseason games and the first four regular season games. But in the first and fourth game, I let up two sacks each. No matter how well I did run blocking, that’s not a good game. So at that point they felt more comfortable moving to Terry Long at guard. I lost my spot to him. I bounced around afterwards – played left guard when Wolfley got hurt and started at right guard when Long did. I started about 10-to-12 games in 1984 and was a backup in 1985.
Afterwards I could see the writing on the wall. I wasn’t even playing on special teams. That was when I knew I was in trouble.
It was a super exciting though, all of it. Just getting a full scholarship at UCLA was more than I could have ever imagined. Those were the best years of my life. Everything else – playing in the NFL – that was just icing on a huge cake. I remember getting that draft call and them asking if I was ready to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. I just told them “You bet!”
Who helped mentor you when you got to Pittsburgh?
Ted Petersen, Webster, Wolfley and Ilkin….They were all big helps. Ted opened his house to me and my family. I was married in college and had a son that last year in college. When I first went to Pittsburgh it was going to be eight weeks without seeing them. Ted opened up his home to my wife and son – they stayed wth them…. otherwise we were 3,000 miles away from each other. We’re all still like brothers. I saw Craig and Tunch when there was a game in Oakland and it was like 20 years never passed. We still have that close relationship.
Any fun stories of your playing days you’d like to share?
Noll was a strategist and when teams had good return men he would tell the kicker, under threat of being cut, to kick it away from a team’s return guy. To sqiib kick it or kick it to someone else.
Well, when I went to Green Bay we had a special teams coach, but head coach Forrest Gregg was old school. They don’t come any more eating nails than Forrest Gregg was. Even though we had a special teams coach in Green Bay he coached the kickoff coverage teams.
Well, my first game with Green Bay, I was told it was mandatory for non-starters to be in all of the special teams meetings. We were playing the Rams that week and Ron Brown was their return guy. He was leading the league in return yards. The guy was an Olympic gold medal winner in the 4×100 relay. Well, in my first special teams meeting we were watching film of Ron Brown. Gregg would talk to us about how every team that kicked the ball deep to him saw Brown return it deep into their territory every time. So they stopped doing so and ended up squib kicking it or trying to kick to the other guy.
So Gregg got up and said to us, that as we could see every team was trying not to kick it to Brown. Well, he said, we’re going to kick it long and deep to Brown, and I can’t even repeat what he said we would do to Brown when he returned it. I’m sure you can imagine it! In practice that week the return guy wearing Brown’s jersey got torn up all week!
Well, come game day, we lost the opening coin toss and kicked it right to Brown. I was on the sideline and can tell you, I never saw a guy run that fast. He had speed like I had never seen. It was 7-0 right away! Well, we drove with Dickey as our quarterback and stalled and kicked a field goal. It was 7-3 and we were all fired up for the next kick off. Gregg said the first was a fluke and that we needed to knock the guy’s ass off. Del Greco kicked it high and deep to Brown again, and it was 14-3. He returned it for another touchdown! I never saw a head coach that mad before! The rest of the game he had Del Greco squib kick it – and we only lost by three points.
Back-to-back kickoff returns to start a game must be a record. Maybe Gault broke it I don’t know. It’s funny, Noll never would have kicked to Brown. That’s just who Gregg was.
It’s funny too. I was watching ESPN years ago about the death penalty given to SMU and their attempts to bring back the program once it ended. The Athletic Director who restarted the program said they needed a coach there who eats nails to start it back up. And of course, the next clip they showed was Forrest Gregg…
As a player, who were some of the guys you struggled with most?
The guys I struggled with were the super quick guys. Bowser in Miami….I remember when he took Woodley out of a game with a mild concussion. You never forget plays like that. You remember the worst plays. The Selmon brothers too. I had no trouble run blocking but pass blocking was a real struggle for me.
Any thoughts on the way the game has changed and last thoughts for readers?
It’s a different game now, as it should be. I was lucky to play with guys like Webster. It was a privilege to play and know those guys. They were stellar individuals. Webster used to do a lot of benefits for Spinobifida that I went to.
I was recently inducted into my local Hall of Fame and thought a lot about what I wanted to say. I am thankful to all the people -and my family – for all the help they gave me. The thing I miss most are the relationships with those other men. You don’t get it in any other occupation. The game is stressful and intense – you count on those other guys. You just don’t get that in any other job.
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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