THE EARLY YEARS:  PITT STADIUM DAYS

The engine driving Pittsburgh in the 1960s were the steel mills that lined the rivers.  Every trip Downtown, traveling the Parkway from Swissvale, took us by some of these mills, and at night, their fiery operation was particularly visible.  When the mills “let out” the sky would darken, and the smell of sulfur would dominate.  I remember going out for school in the morning, and my dad’s car being regularly covered with soot.

’65                                                                                        A lifelong addiction was born on September 19, 1965.  I was a lad of 10 for my first trip, brought along by my 19-year-old brother Tony on the morning of September 19, 1965.  It cost $4 to sit in the lower end-zone.  The aging edifice rose into the sky as one climbed Oakland’s De Soto Street. I remember the cigar smells, the signs around the 10 yard line that said “Paydirt” with an arrow pointing toward the goal line, the band playing “Fight On.”  I also remember, later in the decade, seeing Willie Stargell and Dock Ellis, among the commoners in the cheap seats, wrapped in fur coats, and swilling shots from a common bottle of whiskey. There were no Terrible Towels, no Steelers Fight Song.  The Steelers played that ’65 season under the tutelage of Mike Nixon (this Nixon was not “The One”), hastily promoted from the staff of Raymond (Buddy) Parker when the still 3rd winningest coach in Steelers history abruptly walked out in a dispute over personnel with the owner’s son, Dan Rooney.  Parker, during his 8 year tenure had accounted for half of the 8 winning seasons in the Steelers 32 year history.  His words to The Chief, Art Rooney, explaining his sudden departure, on September 5th, “I can’t win with this bunch of stiffs.” 

That September day, the Steelers, ahead 9-7 at the half, went down to the eventual NFL Champion Packers, 41-9.  Tony, always one to enjoy his walks, convinced me to walk home, Oakland to Swissvale, quite the hike, in exchange for his buying me a Steelers pennant.  My favorite player, John Henry Johnson, was injured on the Steelers opening possession, and would never again set foot on an NFL field as a player.  I met John Henry in October of that year at an autograph session at the East Hills McDonald’s in Penn Hills.  Dad,  encouraging his shy youngest son by pushing him forward,  his “baby” as he was fond of introducing me, even into adulthood, said to John Henry, about me, “He thinks you’re better than Jim Taylor,” to which John Henry replied, “Man….that’s sayin’ somethin’.”  John Henry’s autograph stayed in our Swissvale home for almost 35 years, somehow disappearing when Dad passed away in 1989 and Mom sold the house.

My next trip to Pitt Stadium was on Halloween, Steelers versus Dallas Cowboys.  Steelers had won their first game a week earlier, against the Iggles, behind Jim Bradshaw’s 3 picks, after 5 consecutive losses to start the season.   The most painful of these losses was a loss to the Browns at Cleveland in the final 2 minutes on the Saturday night of World Series weekend, a Steelers-Browns tradition.

This was my first experience with a wonderful Steelers practice of the time, ”Youth Day.”  It’s amusing following ticket sales now on E-Bay.  The Steelers would regularly draw less than 20,000 fans in the mid-60s.  Youth days were offered about 4 times a year, where fans aged 16 & under, who knew someone that worked in town, could buy a ticket for one dollar at the Steelers downtown ticket office during the week.  These tickets were in the North End Zone, and sold full price for $3, less than the South End Zone, as it required the fan to traverse the full length of Cardiac Hill.  What a walk!!  My dad dropped my fat little 10-year-old ass off at the foot of DeSoto Street, and I thought I’d never make it up the hill.  For future games, I convinced Dad to drop me off at the top of the stadium, then I’d walk through the gates and join the Steelers peasantry.  At the last game of the year, I’d give Dad two bucks for gas, felt like a big shot.  Of course, 2 bucks then filled the tank halfway.  We’d go to 9:00 mass at Madonna Del Costello in Swissvale, dubbed “Big Winky’s,” as it had the same roofline as the abutting hamburger joint on Braddock Avenue.  There were a trio of Catholic churches in Swissvale.  There was Madonna, the Dago church, St. Anselm’s, know simply as St. A’s, the Irish church, and St. Barnabas, the Hunkie church.   Anyway, after church, Dad would run me down to Oakland.  Ten years old…by myself at an NFL game!!

The Steelers 2nd straight victory on this day that they masqueraded as an NFL football team would be their final win of the season.  They almost made it 3 in a row the following week, but lost a lead over the Cardinals in the final two minutes on a long-TD to Billy Gambrell, whereupon scoundrels Ron and Ralph teased me, bringing me to tears.  This was the game where Larry Wilson, the original practitioner of the safety blitz,  picked off a pass while playing with a pair of broken hands.

I went back again with Tony a few weeks later to see the Steelers battle the Washington Redskins.  It wasn’t much of a battle; Redskins won 31-3 in a driving rainstorm.  Tony and I sat faithfully in our upper EZ seats, not leaving until 9 seconds remained, and having a discussion prior to doing so about whether we should leave early.  My brand new coat shrank.  Mom gave Tony hell.

My final Pitt Stadium trip of the season was for the finale against the Eagles.  The highlight of a 47-13 loss was Marv Woodson taking a pick back for a TD for the Steelers.  We saw a record setting performance that day, as Tommy Wade threw 7 interceptions for the Black & Gold.  He was yanked, and Bill Nelson threw another pair.

’66                                                                                    The ’66 season brought new coach Bill Austin, hired off of the staff of Vince Lombardi’s champion Packers.  There were other candidates waiting in the wings, but apparently a good word from Lombardi was enough for Art Rooney, and he called off the rest of the interviews. The season was off to a promising start as the Steelers led the Giants by 11 in the 4th quarter, on September 11, but then Homer Jones, from Pittsburg, Texas, caught a 98-yard TD and did something novel…he spiked the ball!  I had certainly never before seen a spike, and Homer Jones may have been the originated this long-standing celebration, though memory tells me that the other candidate was Elmo Wright of the University of Houston, who combined the spike with exaggerated knee-pumping. The Steelers trailed by 3 late, but a Mike Clark FG salvaged a tie.  After a win the following week, the Steelers were undefeated after 2 games!! 

After 5 straight losses, I attended my first Steelers-Browns game.  There were busloads of Cleveland drunks rambling up Cardiac Hill, hanging out the windows, screaming unintelligible phrases….big, red bulbous noses. I experienced the fights in the bleachers, the fires.   Lou (The Toe) Groza missed an extra point, Paul Martha made a late pick in the red zone, Steelers won, 16-6.  I held a sign saying “Bomb the Browns.”  I was back the following week carrying a “Cut the Cards” placard and the Steelers beat St. Louis.  The Steelers concluded a 5-8-1 campaign with two road wins, scoring 104 points.  Roy Jefferson caught 4 TDs in the season finale against the expansion Falcons.  The ’66 season was my first of 3 straight years of attending all 7 games, usually by myself as Tony was off studying at Penn State.   With the 4 youth days, it cost me all of $13, earned .from my Pittsburgh Press paper route

’67                                                                                  Gayle Sayers took the opening kickoff of the ’67 season back for a TD, but the Steelers crushed the Bears, 41-13 that day, holding the Kansas Comet to 2 yards rushing on 7 carries.  The following week  I saw Jim Bakken kick an NFL record 7 field goals in the Cards 28-14 win over the Steelers, the first of 5 straight Steelers losses (5-game losing streaks were popular in those days for the “Rooneymen,” as dubbed by the Press).  I made my way down to the field in a rainstorm at the conclusion of the season finale, a loss to the Redskins.  I said “Good game, Sonny,” to Mr.Jurgensen, to which he replied with a snort.  The following week, the Steelers concluded the season with a win over the champion Packers, the last team to beat a Lombardi-coached Packers team.  The Steelers finished 4-9-1. 

The ’67 season was also my first season of organized football, a 165 pound, 12 year old eighth grader.  I didn’t play much on the team dominated by 9th graders.   When I advanced to 9th grade, I started both ways for Dickson Junior High, losers of all 3 games.  I went on to play high school and college football, but the biggest wackjobs I had as coaches were in Junior High, Head Coach “Henny” Clougherty, and his trusty assistants, “Uncle Frank” DeLucia and “Piggy” Hudale.  Swissvalians, or Valers, regularly elicited colorful nicknames.  Growing up, Jim Ofkansky was “Yapus;” John Shields was “Schmo.  Bobby McDonough was “Gladys,” his Mom’s name.  The three Ludwig boys were all “Limey” as their mom emigrated from England.  The Pozek brother were “Hunky” as they were were, well….Hunkies.  And my all-time favorite…Petie Ledwich was “Jackass.”

In the 1968 opener for Dickson Junior High vs. Edison Junior High. I erred in my positioning late in the game, continuing to line up off of the tackle’s outside shoulder even when said tackle split several yards off of the guard.  The Edison halfback ran through the gap for a big-gainer, and the next play, did the very same thing.  We came out on the short end of a 7-0 score.  Later that week, at a pep rally which the entire school attended on a mandatory basis prior to our only home game, Henny, per his usual practice, lined up all of the players on stage, put his arm around each one in turn, and  said a few kinds words.  When he came to me, he said “Villiotti here stunk like shit last week.  He doesn’t do better this week; his ass’ll be on the bench.”  True story….and I wasn’t surprised.  We weren’t pass protecting too well in practice one day.  Henny had the entire line, all seven of us, take our stances, then he proceeded to walk down the line, kicking each one of us in the ass.  I was used to this.  Kicking me in the ass was one of Dad’s favorites as well….must have been a generational thing.  Ralph and I had to do dishes one day, but instead proceeded to spray the kitchen with the sink hose.  Dad came in, said, “Get the hell outta here, doddamnit,” and kicked us in the ass.  A kick in the ass, versus having to wash the dishes?  A no-brainer; that was a good trade on any day.  Assistant Coach Uncle Frank mastered the feat of making a player run a lap for punishment, whilst giving chase and kicking the player in the ass.  Try that sometime! Uncle Frank was a postman by day, a coach by afternoon.  Uncle Frank was pinched though in some gambling sting; he was running numbers, I believe.  He lost his post office job, after going “postal” on us almost daily.

Back in the late ‘60s, Tony and I were regulars at St. Vincent’s sharing the hillside with a couple dozen other Steelers fanatics.  And now, they draw thousands??  We’d adjourn to a local pitch & putt following the morning session, reconvene for the afternoon.  The Steelers intra-squad game was held annually at Jeannette Stadium, nice digs for a high school team.  Patrons were free to go down to the field pre-game and collect autographs.  I got a ton, none of which I’ve kept.

’68                                                                                    The ’68 season opened with 6 straight losses.  Dick Shiner and Kent Nix were the Donner & Blitzen of Steelers quarterbacking. The Steelers faced the Eagles in the “O.J. Simpson Bowl.”  The Battle of the Titans was tied, 3-3 at the 2-minute warning, with the Iggles facing a 4th & 1 at their own 10 yard line.  The Eagles called in a running play, attempting to pick up the first down.  The Steelers defense rose up and stopped them, and a few plays later called in Booth Lusteg, known for practicing by kicking paper cups on the sideline, to kick the game winner.  In retrospect, was this really such a bad move by the Eagles?  Had they punted, with no overtime provision, there would be no way that this hapless bunch could secure a victory.  More likely, the Steelers would gain possession in Eagles territory, and be in position to drive but a few yards (goalposts were on the goal line), and then kick the game winner.  Go for it, pick up the yard, and maybe the Eagles put together a winning drive.  At any rate, neither the Steelers nor the Eagles produced the worst record. 

’69                                                                                      O.J. Simpson, of course, went to the Buffalo Bills with the first pick.  The Atlanta Falcons, picking second, selected offensive tackle George Kunz of Notre Dame. The Eagles drafted Purdue star Leroy Keyes with the 3rd pick, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, after winning a second game, and tying another, held the 4th pick, and selected relatively unknown defensive tackle Joe Greene from North Texas State.  “Joe Who?” proclaimed the Pittsburgh dailies.  The third round of the ’69 draft brought OT Jon Kolb from Oklahoma State, and in the 10th round the Steelers selected a lanky defensive end from Arkansas AM & N by the name of L.C. Greenwood, and then picked his stockier college teammate on the defensive line, Clarence Washington, one round later.

Of course, Bill Austin had been dispatched into the Pittsburgh night by that time, and Mean Joe was the first selection of new coach Charles Henry Noll, participating in the NFL Draft the day after his hiring.  Noll was the Steelers second choice.  They had been turned down by Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, having then completed his 4th year at the helm of the Nittany Lions as well as his 2nd consecutive 11-0 season.  Noll was hired from the staff of Don Shula, whose Colts had been defeated by the Jets and Joe Namath in SB III, the greatest upset of all time. These were the days of course, prior to ESPN, and the proliferation of sports, and related events on TV, that the draft was held on a Tuesday, and followed by a few fans via radio reports from Steelers headquarters.  These were also the days where a teenager from Swissvale became a seer of early Steelers picks for a few years.  Tony and I had an annual tradition, on Draft Eve, of making our respective calls for the Steelers first pick.  In ’69, I made the call of Mean Joe Greene.  In ’70, along with every other football fan in the Free World, I correctly chose Terry Bradshaw, QB of Louisiana Tech.  It was in 1971, on Draft Eve, that I cemented my stellar rep, however.  I followed my selection of Frank Lewis, WR of Grambling, by stating, again on Draft Eve, that in the second round, the Steelers would select Johnstown linebacker Jack Ham, of Penn State.  I made the call of Franco Harris, RB of Penn State in ’72, whereupon my draft prowess met its kryptonite.

The new coach had a celebrated beginning with an opening day victory in ‘69 over the Lions, Warren Bankston breaking several tackles with his 13 yard sprint around left end for the winning TD.  There would be no more celebrations that season, as the Nollmen (a term coined by Pat Livingston of the Press) proceeded to lose 13 straight games.  Celebrated though, was the play of the rookie DT.  Mean Joe was a pleasure to watch, and soon became everybody’s hero. I was now a high school sophomore, trying to model my play after Mean Joe.  I did get my ass kicked out of a game that year against Duquesne, something Mean Joe did several times during his initial campaign.  Prior to being ejected for choking the offensive lineman who was holding me, I suffered the embarrassment, when lined up in the center of the front line on the kick return team, of having the kickoff hit me square in the head, recovered by the Dukes. I wonder if that ever happened to Mean Joe? I started for the Swissvale Gold Flashes that year, at Middle Guard (no nose tackles back then).  As the only sophomore to earn a letter, my varsity jacket was absolutely my proudest possession.  A few years later, though, Ralph wore it while he worked on cars.  My attendance record was broken that year.  Tony (now a college graduate) and I made a decision to attend the Steel Bowl basketball tournament, held every December at the Civic Arena with Pitt, Duquesne and two other foes, and skipped the season finale, a loss to the Giants.

More Pitt Stadium

Pitt Stadium memories concluded as far as the Pittsburgh Steelers were involved.  There were some college football memories worth noting, though.

I fondly remember a number of Pitt-Penn State battles.  It seemed like they played every year at Pitt Stadium for awhile.   Being a Penn State fan, I spotted a friend Pitt and 44 points for a mid-1960s bet, and won, as PSU trounced the Panthers, 65-9.  I remember Joe Paterno berating backup QB Mike Cooper for throwing a TD pass when he was under orders not to throw.  I remember the PSU contingent chanting, “Shit on Pitt.”  I remember the Franco Harris-Lydell Mitchell duo beating Pitt 28-7 in 1971.  I remember watching Tony Dorsett of the National Champion Panthers keying 2 close victories against Syracuse and West Virginia in ’76.  I remember my lime green Plymouth losing its transmission fluid in the middle of Oakland just before one of those games.   I remember making it to the game; I don’t remember what happened to the car.  I remember watching Notre Dame beat Pitt on a hot-as-hell day to open the ’77 season.  Finally, for me, was a Penn State upset of Pitt, 15-13 in ’78 as Pitt failed on a late 2-pt. conversion try.  I wasn’t there for this one, but who could forget Penn State falling behind a heavily favored Dan Marino-led Pitt team in ’81, then storming back for a 48-14 shellacking!!

Pitt Stadium….splinters in the ass, spit on the ground, fires in the bleachers….a few memorable wins….quite the place for a 10-year old!!