Welcome to Steelers Takeaways! – Page 103 – More than 2,000 interviews of Steelers players, coaches, front office staff PLUS interviews with Pittsburgh actors, musicians, authors and more

Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Back John Dockery, 1972-1973

First, can you let us know what you got involved with after your time in the NFL?

Well, as you know I got into the TV business working mostly with CBS and CBS radio as well, doing NFL games, the Tour de France, the Olympics… really interesting things, I had a good time doing it.

How did you get involved in that?

The producer at NBC then was Terry O’Neill. He was a big football fan and knew talent when he saw it! He suggested that I do some sideline reporting and commenting on games. I did that for 13 to 14 years.

Frenchy was a piece of work. We were a conservative team in New York. When I was in Pittsburgh there was a function after practice – and in comes Frenchy with fur coat, suit, scarf and hat – then I see goldfish in his shoes. I thought I was hallucinating! What kind of team did I get on!

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John Kapele Jr., on Father John Kapele, Steelers OL/DL Lineman, 1960-1962

First, thanks for talking to me about your dad, John. I know he just recently passed away in June. Before we start with some questions, tell me a bit about what you think people should know about your dad?

My dad was born on October 19th, 1937 in Hawaii. He grew up in Kaneohe Hawaii and had a good early childhood. What really helped him most in football was the fact he took Judo for twelve years at a dojo in Hawaii – he said that really helped him with his football skills.

He’s still the only player from his high school to get to the NFL. He went to college at BYU and returned to Hawaii after his playing days to coach at the same high school. He gave back after being an All-Star all four years there.

His dad actually worked at Pearl Harbor in 1941 – he didn’t come home for four days. They thought he died, but he had to stay to help clean up after the attack.

Continue reading “John Kapele Jr., on Father John Kapele, Steelers OL/DL Lineman, 1960-1962”

Jim Rooney on his new Book ‘A Different Way to Win’

First, tell me what drove you to write your book, A Different Way to Win?

When I started the process, my father was still with us. We were thinking of putting something together for the Harvard Business Review on his career and approach to business – how he got to the Rooney Rule and the other core elements of his career, He did such a great job balancing competency and doing what he needed to do as a leader while being respectful to those around him.

He was very involved in political causes obviously – especially as you look at the NFL today, how was he able to marry his political approach while keeping it out of the locker room and NFL?

Well, everything is blurred in this world these days, but my father did what he did because he felt a passion for it. He didn’t do those things for himself – he did them because he wanted to improve situations and conditions for folks. Throughout his career – the Rooney Rule, Ireland – he was a guy with influence but used that to help folks who had been systematically left out. And he would work with anyone – he didn’t care about the labels. As long as they would help him achieve those aims, he didn’t care.

Fairness was a driving factor for him – that’s what he cared about.

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Exclusive with Former Steelers Cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz, 2016-2017

First, what are you doing now with your time – what are the next steps for you?

I’m finally 100% healthy again. I’m excited to be in the XFL draft next month – I’m happy to be a part of that. That’s my trip back to the top – that’s definitely my next destination.

What have you heard about the league so far?

It’s a new league – I was a kid when the old XFL was around – that one had more swagger – it was more like wrestling. This league is much more professional. Oliver Luck has done a great job – there are some great guys from the NFL and CFL – and lot’s of guys with experience. That’s a requirement for a lot of the teams and league.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz, 2016-2017”

Excusive with Former Arizona and Seattle Wide Receiver Jerhame Urban

First, as the coach of Trinity – tell me about how that got started and some of your influences as a coach?

I always knew I wanted to coach – it was my dream to play in the NFL since high school and then coach at some point. I just figured it would be at the high school level as a coach-educator. I got my degree in education.

I was never shy or bashful about my interest in coaching. I played for Coach Holmgren and Nolan Cromwell – Nolan did a great job talking to me and working with me about red one and third down routes and why they did what they did while was on the practice squad. That helped me a lot.

Todd Haley was my wide receivers coach in Dallas and he took me to Arizona and Kansas City. He was influential to me – when I was on IR in 2010 we’d sit and watch film together and when he saw someone mess up he’d yell at me and tell me those were my guys. We laughed about it – I reminded him I wasn’t a coach – I was still a player then!

Continue reading “Excusive with Former Arizona and Seattle Wide Receiver Jerhame Urban”

Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Doug Legursky, 2008-2012

First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since you retired from the NFL?

After football, I took on a harder job. I’m a stay-at-home dad with three kids. I went from one extreme – the physical side of football – to the mental side as a stay-at-home-dad.

You also coached a bit -something you want to continue?

I just did that a bit to help out – hut my schedule wouldn’t work out with my wife’s career. It was fun and I learned a lot but it’s my wife’s turn now!

Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?

It wasn’t too rough. I was officially done and once you know that it’s an easier transition. When you have three kids there’s also no time to sit around and think about things. So it wasn’t too tough exiting that part of life when I knew it was time to turn the page and move on to the next chapter of life.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Doug Legursky, 2008-2012”

Exclusive with Former Cleveland/Baltimore wide Receiver Derrick Alexander

First, can you let us know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?

Right now, I’m coaching at Morgan State. Im coaching the wide receivers and am the passing game coordinator as well. So I’m just busy doing football stuff now.

Any coaching mentors that helped shape the way you approach coaching?

One coach that I really enjoyed playing for was my position coach Richard Mann – I played for him twice – in Baltimore and Kansas City. I was with him for two years in Baltimore then with Kansas City. When I coach, I try to teach my guys the same things he did. The way he approached the games and practices – he was the best coach I ever had. I model my coaching after him.

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Exclusive with Former Bengals Linebacker Reggie Williams

First, can you walk me through your post-NFL time – what you’ve been doing since you retired?

I’m in the middle of writing a book now so I can only tell you so much! I played 14 years for the Bengals and made it to two Super Bowls and lost both to the same team. When I retired I became a Cincinnati City Councilman. I continued on that ride until I became the GM for the World League of American Football’s New Jersey Knights team. That league set the seed for football in London, but it folded after two years.

But then Tom Steague- the head of the Super Bowl – reached out to me after Super Bowl XXVII. That was right after the Rodney King riots – they hired me as the Director of Community Relations to help insulate the NFL from the criticism of the white NFL owners coming in to the city leaving nothing behind when the game was over. I had the idea of creating the NFL Youth Education Trust which was a safe place for at risk kids in Compton- it was going to be in the same corner where the riots actually started. I went with Jim Brown and to negotiate the idea with the Bloods and Crips there,

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Exclusive with Former Browns Fullback Kevin Mack

First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?

I’m actually working for the Browns now – doing the alumni relations for the team. I got started with them in their player development – I was going to work my way towards becoming a scout – that’s when Phil Savage was there as the GM.

He told me though that it was going to be a slow process to get me over to the football side of the business. It was a blessing though because I got to work a lot with those younger guys, and now I have an opportunity to work with them as alumni. So it’s been great.

How was the post-NFL adjustment for you?

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Browns Fullback Kevin Mack”

Exclusive with Former Seattle and Patriot Special Teams Ace Niko Koutouvides

First, let me know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL?

Well, going back a bit, In 2010 when we had the owners-players dispute and were fighting over a new CBA, there was the work stoppage. That was my eighth year in the league. As we know, football doesn’t last forever – I was already trying to find what the next ting was that would excite me after football.

The player admin then in New England put me in touch with a real estate developer during the stoppage so I could shadow them a bit like an internship.and that continued during my off-times. I got an appreciation for valuable real estate and the economics of controlling real estate in desirable locations. My older brother worked for a larger developer who never worked on deals under $50 million and saw a lot of smaller deals as a result that they passed on. So we decided to try one of those smaller deals on our own sometime.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Seattle and Patriot Special Teams Ace Niko Koutouvides”