Tag: Steelers

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

You know, to be honest, I took one year off after football. I sat back and relaxed for a year then started my own company – an AC company that was successful for 11 years. Then I got out of the business. I noticed I was losing my train of thought – I couldn’t remember things. Everything started changing.

What was behind that?

I started listening to the conversations people were having about concussions. It all started to make sense. I got a counselor and worked through things. I had some dark moments. I won’t say what some of the things other players did was stupid with what they were going through. I’ll just say I didn’t want to go that same route some of those others had that struggled. I gave up my business – I just couldn’t manage it anymore.

Continue reading “Exclusive: Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Aaron Jones, 1988-1992”

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

Well, I got married in ’88 – I met my wife at Robert Morris University. We moved to Florida and had three kids – one son and two daughters – all went to college on sports scholarships. I run a construction business here – mostly painting. My dad was a painter in Pittsburgh so I figured I would pick up after him.

I coached my son’s baseball team and daughters’ basketball teams – some high school football as well. Other than that, I go to the beach and hang out, and have two grandkids.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Running Back Eric Sams, 1982, 1987”

First, can you let me what you got involved with after football?

Well, I did a little wrestling – I just tried that out to see how that was. My folks had a bar so after that I went into the bar business with them for a bit and then ran my own liquor store.

How did you get involved in wrestling?

My wife went to the University of Maryland and knew some folks around there. She got some signatures together to get fans to come see me wrestle in DC. We got 100 or so people to watch. It wasn’t much but it was fun to try it.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Mike Sandusky, 1957-1965”

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

Well what I’m proud of is that we were able to get Linwood Sexton into the Missouri Valley Conference Athletics Hall of Fame. Linwood was a terrific Black player in the 40’s – led the Missouri Valley in rushing for three years even though he wasn’t allowed to play in Tulsa and Kenyon due to racism. But we finally got him into the Hall of Fame six years or so ago.

How did that happen?

A bunch of us met at a Wichita State reunion and one of the guys did research on Linwood.  We all decided then we needed to get him in.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers offensive Lineman Jay Hull, 1983”

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

A lot of coaching high school – a little bit of this and that. Coaching football, basketball, and baseball – mostly for my kids. It was a father thing. I also started my own construction company – I did that because I wanted a sense of independence – to have that extra time to spend with my family.

I’ve been always involved with nonprofits, focused on the socially and economically disadvantaged contractors in our community.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Defensive Lineman Fred Anderson, 1978-1979”

First, can you let us know what you did after football?

Well, I’ve been involved in sales for a while. And I do speaking engagements. I’m just enjoying life, honestly.

I’m enjoying my kids. My daughter played basketball for NC Wilmington and my oldest son played football at Louisville and Old Miss. My youngest played at Clemson.

Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult for you?

I got to be a child until I was 38 years old. When people ask me if I miss football, I tell them that. I was fortunate to play longer than 99% of most NFL players. Nothing will match up to playing in the NFL. So it was a tough adjustment.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Quarterback Cliff Stoudt, 1977-1983”

First, can you let us know what you’ve been doing since your time playing football?

Since football I got married – I’ve been married for over 30 years now and have three kids. I’ve just been enjoying my family and working at my trucking company.

Was it hard adjusting to life after football?

It’s funny you ask that because I think about it all of the time. It was very difficult. I was playing football for so long and I thought I was pretty good at it. It was very hard – I struggled for a time. My wife went into the military though and I went overseas with her and did fitness training for the military there. That helped. But it was hard to be a regular civilian after 20 years playing football.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Wide Receiver Lyneal Alston, 1987”

First, can you let me know what you are doing with yourself besides the press box and basketball work?

I’ve been in the insurance business for over 40 years. I ran my own agency for years – it was in Bethel Park with Bob Purkey – the former Pirate.  I bought it out from Bob when he retired in 2003 then sold it last year to First National Bank and have been working for them since. It’s worked out great.

I still do the press box work for the Steelers and, if we get back to playing again, coaching the Steelers charity basketball team.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Tom O’Malley – Steelers Press Box Assistant/Steelers Charity Basketball Team Coach”

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

I started a company called Level Up  – we do training, apparel and soon nutrition help for athletes. We’ll start with sports drinks soon – all our own stuff. I retired in 2013 and took an opportunity through the NFL Entrepreneur Program – in the Harvard Business School’s Entrepreneur program.

Was the post-NFL transition difficult – how did you work through it?

The transition was very tough. There’s nowhere else like the NFL – nothing with the perks the NFL offers. Two-to-three free meals a day. That may be the biggest thing I miss!

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Brandon Johnson, 2012”

First, can you tell us how you got into coaching and what you enjoy most about it?

Well, I got started right after I was released by the Steelers. I had a feeling I was going to be released – I was on IR and knew it could happen. When I was released I tried to figure out what to do next. I graduated with a business degree but I didn’t want to go into business – I wanted to stick with what I loved to do – football.

I decided to stay close to the game. I loved the idea of coaching and wanted to have an impact on people’s lives like many coaches impacted me.

Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Offensive Lineman Charlie Dickey, 1987”