First, can you let readers know what you’ve been doing with yourself lately career-wise and personally?
Well, I’m not currently employed – I’m just enjoying retirement. I do a lot of personal appearances – things of that nature. My relationships have grown because of that. People think it’s just about smiling, taking pictures, and signing autographs. But if you take a step back and ask and answer questions, you’d be amazed at the people you meet.
Now, I have gotten a couple of coaching offers – but that’s not my forte’. I’ve had opportunities. If the right opportunity comes along, then I’d make that happen.
Tell us about getting drafted by the Steelers, Were you surprised to be drafted by Pittsburgh?
First of all, I never imagined being drafted. Everyone was saying that coaches and scouts were talking about me, but the athlete I was – I wasn’t into it until I was into it. Once I left school I went to the Senior Bowl and that’s when I really found out that I could be playing for an NFL team. People after the Senior Bowl were saying mid-second round to the fourth round. I went on a few trips after that – to teams and a few combines – and my stock went up. Now people were telling me mid-to-late first round. I said “Ok – that was fine with me!”
I just wanted to be drafted. A number of teams would call asking if I wanted to play for them. It didn’t matter to me who it was – I just wanted to go somewhere.
How did you learn you were drafted?
Back in the day the draft started at six am. I got up at six – I knew I wasn’t going to be picked that early but I was excited. I got a call from the pizza joint up the street from campus – they asked if I wanted to come up there for the draft – they’d give me all I could eat and drink and I could watch the draft there. I guess they wanted the publicity. My roommate had a car so he drove me there, but I forgot to tell my agent. He finally found out where I was and came there and had to have al of his calls re-routed to the pizza place. That’s where I found out I was drafted.
Who called you from the Steelers and what did they say to you?
Bill Nunn called – he called me a few times. He asked if I was excited to play for the Steelers and that if I was still there at their pick they would probably take me. He was rambling a bit and my agent got frustrated that he was tying up the line. About fifteen minutes later Bill called again and my agent got fed up and told Bill not to call again unless I was picked – there’s no switchboard at the pizza joint!
Well, the next time, around noon, Bill called again and I could see on the screen the paper being passed up for my pick.
Were you worried that a team with veteran receivers like Stallworth would make it harder for you to see playing time?
I didn’t care who picked me – but let me tell you what – I was ten times the baseball player than I was a football player. The only reason I didn’t play baseball was because back then colleges could only recruit in season. They couldn’t talk to me about baseball during football or basketball season for example. So I got a scholarship for football. If no scholarship, I don’t go to school.
Who helped mentor you there in Pittsburgh?
Stallworth – look no further than him. I guess you should throw in Tom Moore and Chuck Noll too. Noll kept all of us on an even keel.
John helped me not to worry about making mistakes. He just told me I should know what I’m doing and do it at full speed. He helped me break down the offense and learn it. A hitch route is always a hitch route, an out always an out, a post always a post. You just have to run the route the right way. Run the right route and then the next level is reading coverages and your foot work. he helped me with that.
Was it tough for you when Stallworth left?
It wasn’t hard – we still had the same system. They didn’t overload me but they expected a lot. I did the best of my ability. They came to me and told me they were trying to find someone to line up on the other side for me but that wasn’t my problem. That was their problem. I couldn’t do anything about that.
Any reason why it was so difficult to do?
Oh I don’t know – you have to ask them about that!
You also excelled on special teams – what made you so effective as a return guy?
Well, do you like baseball? Ever watch an outfielder catch a ball and throw a runner out? A lot of guys in NFL can’t do that. They can’t catch and see the field at the same like an outfielder. That’s why I was so good. I could check the coverage and could see if I needed to hurry up or take my time. A lot of guys just look up the whole time – that’s why you see guys who fair catch the ball jump up and down afterwards when they see they could have run with it. They didn’t know where the coverage was.
Also important was that Noll had a new idea – double-bumping the flyers – the outside guys in return coverage. Chuck figured that having two guys bump them would really slow them up. That helped me to return the ball and gave me confidence that he was thinking about that stuff for me.
Chuck was in charge of special teams then, for the most part. He let everyone know they needed to take care of me – that I could return it for a touchdown at any time. Guys like Little and Woodruff – they thrived on that stuff. If you do your job everyone looks good. Little was always the one on the sidelines telling everyone that I was going to bring one back. It was contagious. I was rewarded with the most return yards for a rookie – that’s a record that still stands today. Hester was the only guy who came close.
As you got older, how did you transition into the mentor role Stallworth took with you?
Well I showed by action. I wasn’t some kind of prophet or historical author teaching them what to do. Stallworth used to tell me to watch out for myself first before teaching someone else. Me, Stallworth, Sweeney and Shell all used to watch practice film after practice to see what the coaches saw. Then we’d meet later that night to watch the practice film again. We didn’t watch film just to watch it – you were supposed to get something out of it. Some didn’t get that – some didn’t take it seriously. There were some guys that were bigger, faster, and stronger but didn’t take good care of their opportunity. That was a shame – we had some very good athletes during my tenure that should have prospered but didn’t.
Any fun memories you have to share?
One I can remember is when Sweeney and I decided to go over the wall – that meant to break curfew. We were in Latrobe and just wanted to go out and have a couple of drinks – we were veterans, so we figured it would be ok.
Well, back then in Latrobe they had a problem with skunks. They squirted all over the dorms. And back then there was no central air so everyone had to keep their windows open – when they sprayed you couldn’t breathe.
Well, we are going out and we tell the security guard not to say anything and he’s fine with that. We open the back door, and of course the door hits a skunk! It didn’t squirt us but it sprayed outside and it scared us so much we decided to go back in and wait until we were back in Pittsburgh to go out!
So – in ’91 you leave Pittsburgh to go play for the Saints. How hard was that for you and what brought that on?
It was a pretty tough situation. The way it happened with the organization – the way it went down was very hard to take. I had a deal on the table and they took the deal away.
Why?
I can’t say why – I still have good friends there. But it was very disappointing. Kansas City or New Orleans had interest in me but I was already in New Orleans. The Saints put me and my agent up for three days in New Orleans and told us not to go anywhere until their front office people got back. They gave me a duplicate of the offer that the Steelers had shown me.
You later returned to Pittsburgh. How do you get over that frustration – and how would you advise guys like Troy Polamalu who went through their own frustrations with the front office?
I just don’t waste time thinking about that. It is what it is. I played the game and sport I love so it’s hard to harp on that. You can’t operate with that much thinking. When there’s too much on your mind you’re just not going to be a good player.
But the Saints released me. I called Art Rooney and asked him if he’d bring me back. There were no people there then, but Cowher after signing me cut me too. I didn’t want to bounce from city to city – I didn’t want to end my career playing for seven different teams. I could have if I had to, but I didn’t have to…
Tell me more about how you were able to put your frustrations with the organization aside?
The NFL is a business. They let you know that upfront. It’s not summer camp. They have to do what they have to do, and as I got older I understood that. And I still get awesome comments from them. Art Rooney Jr. was the head of scouting when I was drafted, and he still sends me pictures and cards with awesome remarks. It makes you thankful of the opportunity.
So in regards to Troy Polamalu. I can’t give advice to him much as I don’t know the context. Does he have a dagger in his side? My advice if any is the advice I was given as a kid. Never go to bed angry – especially with your wife! Kiss and make up. Move on.
Any last comments you want to give readers?
I get this question all the time: “What does it feel like playing in front of all of these people screaming our name?” How do you describe that? I get goose bumps and big as marbles. it makes you want to give them something to scream and holler about. I can sit here and talk about how it feels for an hour, but the bottom line is you have to experience it yourself. It’s the most awesome feeling I’ve ever had.
When you practice in an empty stadium it’s the most boring thing ever in the NFL. But when the seats are filled, you feel that energy. 65,000 people screaming – that is unexplainable. You just have to be on the field to experience that for yourself.
Also – I’m sitting here in black boots, pants and shirt with paint on them…. I’m just a regular guy. That’s what I do – help neighbors when they need something and do my own yard work. Chuck wouldn’t have us any other way. These guys that dance and celebrate – they wouldn’t have lasted under Chuck. He didn’t mind if you celebrated on the sidelines, but he always told us to act like you’ve been there before. I’ve always bee one of the guys and always got along with the starters and backups. The backups always hung out with me too – they probably thought it was cool that I wanted to do so, but I never thought of myself as a star. I was just doing my 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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