Welcome to Steelers Takeaways!

First, what have you been doing since your association with the Steelers?

Well, that ended in 1977 and there is a lot between then and now!

I started in Pittsburgh as a game day assistant in 1970. In 1972 I started working for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton but would work every Sunday for the Steelers on gamedays.

In 1977 NFL Properties hired me and then I went to work for the NFL Alumni Association in Ft. Lauderdale. But I decided I had to get the hell out of Florida – the heat and humidity were too much – especially after having lived in L.A. when I was with NFL Properties.

I moved back to Pittsburgh and that let me be with my parents who ended up needing some help anyway. I did some freelance writing and wrote a book on the Steelers-Raiders rivalry with Ed Gruver called Hell with the Lid Off: Inside the Fierce Rivalry between the 1970s Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers .

That was really my last writing assignment.

Continue reading “Exclusive with James Campbell, Game Day Assistant for the Steelers 1970-1977”

Let’s start with football? I know you were a very good track athlete as well as football player in high school- why did you choose football?

It’s funny – I didn’t want to play football, really. I didn’t want to get tackled. I just wanted to do something that would get me out of the house. I was fast but not fast enough for the Olympics or anything like that. I was successful playing football so I stayed with that.

Were there coaches early on that helped you then?

I was a loner in high school, so I didn’t get much help. My mother would give me some advice on life – my uncle too. But I was really on my own. I stayed with my auntie and she didn’t really know I even played football then.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Running Back Eric Wilkerson, 1989”

First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

I moved back to Wichita after I was done playing and taught high school algebra to teenagers. I did that for 10 years and started flipping houses in the Summer. That morphed into a house flipping business – I quit teaching and bought more homes and now that’s my business. Now I have 25-to-30 employees in Wichita and we manage our own rentals as well as that of 30 other investors.

The company is Goshen Property Management – we’ve been doing this for over 25 years now.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Tight End Russ Campbell, 1992”

First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since your sports days?

After the Steelers released me, I had a unique opportunity to run track. I was an All-American in high school and ran track at Georgia. I ran track professionally after the Steelers. I barely missed the Olympic trials in the hurdles – by six-tenths of a second.

My wife was in medical school in Austin at the time I was training there in Austin. After a while I decided to get my Masters in Theological Studies while she was in school. I also became an assistant track coach for the women’s track team at Texas. My sister was on that team – she actually made the Olympic trials!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Cedric Goodman, 2009”

First off, can you let me know what you’re up to now and how the post-NFL transition went for you?

I last put on my pads in 2016. Now, I’m an admissions counselor at the University of Washington.

The first couple of years, the transition was a struggle – as it is for a lot of guys that go through injuries and who didn’t get a chance after the injury. I didn’t get picked up after my injury in Pittsburgh and that has an affect on you. Certainly I went though it.

Now I’m back in Seattle living my life – I’m married and have a little one on the way.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Micah Hatchie, 2015-2016”