1976:  BEST STEELER TEAM EVER?

Nineteen seventy-six. Our nation’s Bicentennial. Democrats won back the White House, albeit for a single term.

Locally, the Lumber Company ceded control of the National League East to the Philadelphia Phillies for the next 3 seasons. The Pitt Panthers, behind Tony Dorsett and the quarterback duo of Robert Haygood and Matt Cavanaugh would claim a national championship.

Personally, I was prevented from graduating with my class from Lebanon Valley College as the registrar declined my request to carry 18 credits, ruling that my grade point average was…insufficient. So, I finished up at Allegheny Community College (Boyce Campus) out in Plum Boro, had a August 1 commencement date, but we skipped the “luncheon” with the president of the college, and ate chipped ham sandwiches at home instead.

And what of the Pittsburgh Steelers? Having won two Super Bowls consecutively, joining the Green Bay Packers and the Miami Dolphins, they were favored to win an unprecedented third in a row. It was not to be, yet a legitimate argument would be made, by none other than the team’s owner, that this Steelers squad was their best team ever.

The Draft
The Steelers were back on track with their selections after an abysmal ’75 performance. The first round brought Bennie Cunningham, tight end from Clemson who figured prominently in the team’s dominance later in the decade. Ray Pinney, a center from Washington, chosen with one of two second round picks, added offensive line strength for over a decade, in between trips to the USFL. The Steelers later pick in that round was Boston College quarterback, Mike Kruczek. He would never throw a touchdown pass during his 5-year NFL career, but occupies a place in Steelers lore from this, his rookie season. Wide receiver, Earnest Pough, from Fats Holmes alma mater, Texas Southern (raising once again the question of whether one needs to graduate from an institution in order to have said institution qualify as one’s alma mater), was drafted in the 3rd round and stuck around for 2 seasons. Another wide, Theo Bell, from Arizona State, was tabbed in the 4th round. The Steelers were successful with both 6th round selections, first picking defensive tackle Gary Dunn of Miami, who became a defensive line mainstay well into the ‘80s and now co-owns a sports bar in the Florida Keys, with former U teammate, ex-Ram Dennis Harrah. With their second 6th round selection, the Steelers took Salem (W.Va.) running back Jack (Hydroplane) Deloplaine, who enjoyed some brief notoriety, and earned a Super Bowl ring as well as the distinction of having ran for more yards during his initial pre-season than during his entire NFL career, spanning four seasons, with 3 teams.

The Pre-Season
As the two-time defending Super Bowl champions reported to camp, the depth chart mirrored the lineup that had last taken the field at Miami’s Orange Bowl against the Cowgirls.

Offense
WR-Frank Lewis
LT-Jon Kolb
LG-Jim Clack
C-Ray Mansfield
RG-Gerry Mullins
RT-Gordon Gravelle
TE-Larry Brown
WR-Lynn Swann
RB-Rocky Bleier
RB-Franco Harris
QB-Terry Bradshaw

Defense
LE-L.C. Greenwood
LT-Joe Greene
RT-Ernie Holmes
RE-Dwight White
LLB-Jack Ham
MLB-Jack Lambert
RLB-Andy Russell
LCB-J.T. Thomas
LS-Mike Wagner
RS-Glen Edwards
RCB-Mel Blount

Pre-season highlights were the melee during the College All-Star Game in Chicago. After the teams vacated the field during a thunderstorm, fans tore down the goalposts, the game was called off, and the annual tradition was aborted.

The training camp phenom was Jack (Hydroplane) Deloplaine, who led the Steelers with 240 yards rushing.

Going into the season, the depth chart at QB had a different look. Terry #2, Hanratty, had been plucked by the Tampa Bay Bucs in the expansion draft. There would no longer be a Terry competition. And Jefferson Street Joe Gilliam, scheduled to play the meaningless second half against the Rams in the ’75 season finale, was nowhere to be found at halftime, but was discovered in the furthest toilet stall. Cocaine was the answer. Gilliam did play that half, went 2 for 11, with 2 picks, and never played another down for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was Hanratty who came in for an injured Bradshaw late in Super Bowl X, and when Gilliam was late for one practice of the ’76 version of mini-camp and, and slept through another, he was placed on the waiver wire. Gilliam was claimed by the New Orleans Saints, but arrested in Nashville after a high speed chase, with marijuana and a firearm in the car, with cocaine thrown from the window. He reported to the Saints, then disappeared for 4 days, returned to complete 16 of 19 in a scrimmage, but then missed other required appearances, and was dispatched by Coach Hank Stram.

Injuries
Injuries during training camp and through the season took their toll on this Steelers team. Larry Brown missed the first 6 games of the regular season with Randy Grossman stepping in at tight end. The depth along the offensive line paid off. Jim Clack was out early, with veteran Sam Davis stepping back into the starting lineup. Gordon Gravelle battled injuries throughout, and was finally placed on IR after the season’s 8th game. Gerry Mullins, ever versatile, played most of the year at tackle. Rookie Ray Pinney saw plenty of action and acquitted himself well. John Stallworth missed 6 games with a hamstring injury. Jack Deloplaine would suffer a knee injury in the season finale, and miss the playoffs. It didn’t seem a big deal at the time. And, most notably, rookie QB Mike Kruczek, stepped in after Terry Bradshaw was spiked into the Cleveland Stadium turf by Turkey Jones, and started 6 games, winning them all without throwing a touchdown pass.

Of course, the injuries that most profoundly affected this team didn’t surface until the playoffs were underway.

The Season
I was finally back in Pittsburgh for a Steelers season; holding a college degree, and unemployed.  I could appropriately concentrate my efforts on the Steelers quest for a 3rd Lombardi. The Steelers traveled to Oakland in a rematch of the past two years’ AFCCG, the 8th time these teams would meet since the ’72 season (and there would be a total of 10 meetings in the six seasons, ’72-’77). This game, at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum, was tied at the half, 7-7, but the second half was belonging to the Steelers. Taking the lead on a 47-yard John Stallworth run with a Franco Harris lateral, the Steelers led 14-7, entering the final frame. Rookie T. Bell caught an 11-yard TD from Bradshaw, and a Stabler to Biletnikoff scoring strike was countered by a Franco Harris TD run. The Steelers led, 28-14 past the halfway point of the final quarter, but a fumble, a short punt, and Terry Bradshaw’s lone pick of the day, produced 17 points in the final 3 minutes for the Raiders, and a 28-24 victory. The Steelers had picked off 4 Stabler passes in the loss, but still surrendered 3 TD passes. In addition to his TD run on the lateral, Stallworth led the receiving corps with 6 catches for 94 yards.

In their home opener, with my ass back in the Three Rivers House, the Steelers trailed the CleveBrownies, 14-0 at halftime. Jack Ham blocked a punt, igniting the Steelers to a 31-point 2nd half. Both John Stallworth catches were for TDs. Who knew that he would catch but one more ball on the season. Despite his two TD tosses, Bradshaw was only 7 for 23 on the day. The Brownies had fumbleitis, losing 4 of 6 to the Steelers. Steelers, 31-14.

I was back in Section 501, Row A, Seat 2, the following week, as the Steelers took on the lowly New England Patriots, who had finished at 3-11 in ’75. The Patriots would reverse that ledger in ’76, however. The Steelers simply could not hold onto the ball, and lost 6 fumbles on the day. Despite their butter-fingers, they held a 13-9 halftime lead, and extended that margin to 20-9 early in the second half. Later in the 3rd quarter though, right in front of my eyes in the South End Zone, Steve Grogan, despite going only 13 of 32 on the day, lit up the Steelers with deep balls, not once, but twice, first hitting Russ Francis, with a 38-yard TD, then finding Daryl Stingley with a 58-yard scoring strike. Grogan ran for a TD in the 4th quarter, upping the Patsies lead to 30-20. The Steelers battled back feverishly, Bradshaw hitting Grossman for a TD with 3 minutes remaining, and then getting in position for a Gerela 48-yd. FG try, toward our South End Zone, on the game’s final play. The Bozo pushed it right. Steelers lose, 30-27.

The following Monday night, I sat at Swissvale's Triangle Bar & Grill, watching on a black & white screen perched on top of the cooler that held the 6-packs to go, downing slices of corned beast & provolone, as the Steelers lost their 3rd of the season, to the Minnie Vikes, 17-6. Goat horns abounded. The defense produced 4 turnovers, but the Steelers offense outdid their Minnesota counterparts with a pair of fumbles and 4 Terry Bradshaw picks. And, of course, Roy Gerela pitched in with a missed extra point and field goal misses from 32 and 23 yards.

The following week, Steelers visited the Brownies. My 30-year old brother, Tony and his associates had 6 tickets, and two problems:
1. Being young adult professionals, they all owned cool rides with “bucket” seats up front.
2. They wished to tie one on in Cleveland, yielding no capacity for the two-hour drive home to Pittsburgh.
Their solution was to offer a ticket to this still-unemployed recent college graduate whose vehicle at the time was a lime-green Plymouth, older vintage, which seated six, and sometimes lost its transmission fluid.

So, I had a game ticket in exchange for designated driving, and off we went to The Mistake by the Lake, all fully expecting the Steelers to snap out of it, and easily dispatch of the Brownies. It was not to be. The Steelers did lead at the half, 10-6, but then Cleveland put up 9 points in the 3rd, Turkey Jones spiked Terry Bradshaw, head first into the Cleveland Stadium turf, and rookie QB Mike Kruczek entered the game for the Steelers. Kruczek ran 22 yards for a touchdown in the final minutes, giving the Steelers 196 total yards, and 16 points on the day, and we filed out of the cavernous edifice, whose winds Red Sox pitcher Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd would attribute to, “That’s what happens when you build a stadium by the ocean,” losers by a margin of 18-16.

All five of the 30-year olds fell asleep on our drive down the Ohio Turnpike, back to Pittsburgh, leaving me alone to listen to the post-game coverage. The news on Terry Bradshaw was not good. The two-time defending Super Bowl champions, in their quest for a third in a row, now stood with a record of one win, four losses. They would be led, for the time being, by an untested rookie quarterback. The Steelers next opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals had won again, and led the Central Division with a record of four wins, one loss.

The Steelers began a relentless chase, both of the Bengals, and of the NFL record books. Kruczek threw only 12 balls, completing 5 for 59 yards against Cinci, at Three Rivers the following week. The Steelers, led by Franco’s 143 yards on 41 attempts, ran the ball 55 times for 201 yards. The Bengals managed just 171 yards total offense, less than 3 yards per play, the first of three straight games opponents that would be held under 200 yards. The Bengals managed just two Chris Bahr field goals, the first of five games in a row that the Steelers would not surrender a touchdown. This mark extended to eight of the Steelers final nine game, five of which they won by shutout. The Steelers beat Cincinnati, 23-6. The Bengals though, would maintain their two-game margin, not losing again until their post-Thanksgiving rematch with the Steelers.

Jack Lambert was in a sideline scuffle with the Bengals. I didn’t actually see this game, forgoing both a trip to Three Rivers, and also watching most of the game on TV in order to play our own tackle football game against a group from Munhall. This was common practice on fall Sundays after my college days. For some reason, we didn’t play earlier, likely because we were recovering from Saturday night activities, thus electing to play our games at 1pm, like the pros.

The following week, the Steelers shut out the Giants, at New York, 27-0. The New Yorkers managed only 151 yards, 2.5 per play, as the Steelers rushed for 230 yards on 47 attempts. Kruczek was 12 for 19 for 120 yards.

The Steelers evened their record on Halloween day, at Three Rivers, against San Diego. This was Tony’s first date with the eventual Mrs. Tony. He must’ve impressed her when, third quarter, with Steelers up 3-0, she said that she would like a Coke. Tony peeled off a couple singles, handed them to Mrs. Tony, and told her he’d buy, but she’d have to fly, as his ass didn’t leave his seat once said ass was in said seat. Back to the game. After Kruczek struggled early, Bradshaw returned for the second half, ran for one TD and threw for another during a 20-point 4th quarter in which Gerela missed another extra point. San Diego managed 134 yards, 2.3 per play. The Steelers evened their record at 4-4, by a 23-0 score.

The next week, at Kansas City, the Steelers outrushed the Chiefs, 330-34, as both Franco & Rocky cracked the 100 yard mark. Franco found the end zone 3 times, Deloplaine twice more in the 4th quarter. The Steelers registered 4 interceptions, as well as their 3rd consecutive shutout, 45-0.

The following Monday night, I sat in Swissvale’s Lincoln Civic Club, a private establishment that hosted old dagos, who played bocce outside, and young dagos, who engaged in illicit activities upstairs, while drinking 35 cent beers at the bar, and watched the Cinci Bengals fall behind the L.A. Rams, 6-0 at the half, but rally to win their 7th game in 9 tries, 20-12. Despite having won four in a row, the Steelers remained 2 games behind in the AFC Central.

The next Sunday’s early game brought us the Bengals versus a lowly Houston Oilers squad that was unlikely to offer any help to the cause of the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the half, at Riverfront though, the Oilers held a 13-3 lead, and led 20-10 in the 3rd quarter. It was while watching this game with my dad, that he let loose with one of the two f-bombs I ever heard parse his lips. “Smear his effin’ ass,” said Dad, as the Oilers chased Kenny Anderson. The Oi-lerz didn’t smear Anderson’ “effin’ ass” enough, though, as he rallied his team with a late TD pass enroute to a 31-27 victory, and a record of 8-2.

The Steelers held serve later that afternoon at Three Rivers against the Dolphins. Bradshaw went down with a wrist injury in the 1st quarter. Re-enter Mike Kruczek. The Steelers threw only 8 passes on the day, but one was a Kruczek to Lewis combo for 64 yards in the 4th quarter, leading to a Reggie Harrison TD. Franco & Rocky each ran for 110, as the Steelers had 48 rushing attempts. The Fins broke the Steelers shutout streak on a Garo Yepremian 3rd quarter FG. The Steelers moved to 6-4 with a 14-3 victory.

The Steelers visited Houston the following Sunday, and finally surrendered a touchdown; they gave up a pair actually. Kruczek started for the injured Bradshaw, moving his record to 4-0 as a starter. Once again, the Steelers relied primarily on the run, though they gained only 143 yards on 48 carried, while throwing 13 times. Reggie Harrison scored twice. Steelers win, 32-16. The Bengals came from behind in the 4th quarter to beat the Chiefs, 27-24, in Kansas City.

On the final Sunday of November, the Steelers brought their 7-4 record to Riverfront, needing to extend this season's winning streak to 7 games against the 9-2 Bengals in order to have a chance at a playoff spot. We had played our own game against the Munhall brigade earlier that afternoon, and gathered in Bobby Carlisle’s living room, damn near two dozen of us, for the 4 o’clock start. A Chris Bahr field goal was the only score of the first half. The Steelers, once again with Kruczek under center, would run 49 times while passing 15. Despite playing the second half in a snowstorm, the Steelers drove for a Franco Harris 3rd quarter TD, and withstood a pair of Bengals drives inside of Steelers territory in the 4th quarter to preserve a 7-3 victory.

On December’s first Sunday, the Steelers proved unwelcoming hosts for old friend Terry Hanratty, and his expansion Tampa Bay Bucs. The Bucs, posting an 0-14 mark during their maiden season, threw only 14 passes, completing 5, and gained only 105 yards while being spanked by the Steelers 42-0. Hanratty was 1 for 4 for minus 1 yard, and an interception, before being replaced by Steve Spurrier. Terry Bradshaw returned to action in the second half, after Mike Kruczek, starting his 6th game, built a 28-0 lead with 6 for 7 passing. Terry went 6 for 8, throwing a pair of TDs to Swannie in the 3rd quarter to close out the scoring.

The Steelers, despite a record of 9-4 and having won 8 straight while surrendering only 28 points, remained on the outside looking in as the playoff entrants were identified. The Bengals were 9-3, and had games remaining on Monday night against mighty Raiders, and the season finale in New York against the Jets, who would post a 3-11 mark. With a mark of 11-1, and having clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs, many Pittsburghers, given the animosity between the two clubs, expected the Raiders to tank the game, thus denying the Steelers a playoff spot.  I watched this game from my late friend Nick’s cottage in the Laurel Highlands, still unemployed. Our hearts sank when Ken Anderson hit a long touchdown pass early. But the Bengals missed the extra point, Stabler hit Dave Casper with a pair of scoring strikes before the end of the first quarter, and the Raiders held a 21-13 halftime lead. Stabler hit Cliff Branch with a long TD in the 3rd; the Bengals answered, and still trailed by 8 entering the 4th quarter. The Snake threw his 4th scoring pass, this time to Fred Biletnikoff in the 4th quarter, and the Raiders were 35-20 victors. The Steelers though, were the prime benficiaries of this win, as a trip to Houston on Saturday against the Oilers was now the lone obstacle to a playoff berth. The Steelers, after a season-long chase of the Bengals, finally controlled their own destiny.

Terry Bradshaw was back in the starting lineup for the finale. Houston crossed midfield only once, while gaining 157 total yards. Franco & Rocky each ran for over 100 yards for the game, and 1,000 yards for the season. The Steelers posted their 5th shutout, 21-0, and would move onto the playoffs the following week, with a 10-4 record.

Stat Pack

It was quite the year statistically for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Franco gained 1,128 yards rushing, a 3.9 average per carry, and posted 14 touchdowns. Rocky ran for 1,036 yards and a 4.7 average, and 5 touchdowns. Reggie Harrison pitched in 235 yards, on a 4.4 average per carry, with 4 touchdowns. For the season, the Steelers posted 33 rushing touchdowns, while surrendering only 5.

Swann led the team in receiving with 28 catches for 3 TDs. Rocky & Franco were 2nd & 3rd with 24 & 23 grabs, respectively. Frank Lewis caught 17 balls, Randy Grossman 15, and no one else was in double figures, for this team that gained 64% of its total yardage on the ground. The Steelers outrushed the opposition by greater than a 2:1 margin

Terry Bradshaw finished with a passer rating of 65.3, completing 48% of his throws for 10 touchdowns, while throwing 9 interceptions in 192 attempts. Rookie Mike Kruczek, was 6-0 as a starter, and finished with the higher passer rating, 74.7, despite not throwing a touchdown pass. He threw only 3 picks, however, and completed 60% of his 85 throws.

Roy Gerela? He connected on 14 of 26 field goals (or as some Pittsburghers, particularly Mon Valley inhabitants, say, “field goalds”), missing half of his 8 attempts inside of 30 yards. He also missed 3 extra points.

The Steelers surrendered 138 points, less than 10 per game, and gave up only 28 points during their 9-game win streak to close the season.

The Home
My unemployment ended on December 13, 1976, starting work at a youth-serving agency on Pittsburgh’s North Side. My mom, when I was a kid, had oft-threatned to “put you (me) in a home,” and I always wondered what this home was. Now, as an adult, I’d made it to the home and as of this writing, more than 32 years later, I’ve not yet made it out of a home as a place of employment.

The first person I met at this particular “home” was Freado, from Monessen, who remains a close friend. Freado is Freado’s last name, though even his brother, whose last name is also Freado, calls Freado, Freado. Anyway, Freado’s dad, Pete, worked for the Valley Independent, a Mon Valley weekly rag. Freado, who was quite the photographer, asked Pete’s boss if he could have a press pass for one game, enabling him to roam the Steelers’ sideline, snap some pics. The boss told Freado that that would be impossible, that he would need to issue a press pass for the entire season, and Freado would need to take pics that the Independent could use!! So, for three years…’74, ’75, ’76…Freado’s fat ass was on the Steelers’ sideline, snapping pics, five of which I’m looking at right now, on my office wall….Lambert, Lambert again, Franco, L.C, Swannie. By the way, Bill Belichick's dad, Steve, was born in Monessen.

On the first weekend at my new job, I watched the Oakland Raiders take on the New England Patriots, to whom they had suffered their lone loss of the season, by a score of 48-17, in Foxboro. It looked as though the Pats might win this game, but then came Sugar Bear Hamilton’s contacting Ken Stabler’s head on a 3rd down incomplete in the game’s final minute, up stepped Ben Dreith to make the call (a bogus call, by the standards of the day), in walked Stabler to the end zone to win the game, and the outrage didn’t cease in New England until the Tuck Rule game on a snowy January night 25 years later.

The Divisional Playoff: Baltimore
One of the positives of my new job was that I was paid for playing ball with kids, taking them to the movies, and also for watching Steelers football, if I could get my charges to behave long enough to do so. It gave me great practice for my tried and true method of Steelers-watching with my own kids some years later:
1. Give ‘em candy
2. Ignore ‘em
3. Yell at ‘em
Repeat steps 1 through 3; ballgame’s over.

I settled into a couch in Cottage #1 to watch the 10-4 Steelers play the 11-3 Baltimore Colts at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. No sooner had I sat, thea I was back on my feet as on the game’s 3rd play, Terry Bradshaw hit Frank Lewis with a 76-yard scoring strike. Of course, our trusty kicker would miss the extra point, and the Steelers led, 6-0. The Steelers extended the lead to 9-0 on a Gerela field goal, but Bert Jones hit Roger Carr with a 17-yarder to cut the margin to 9-7 after one quarter.

The Steelers put the game away with a 17-point second quarter and led 26-9 at the half. The defense keyed the offensive explosion with a pair of picks by the safety duo, Wagner and Edwards, and 5 sacks (two on consecutive plays by Andy Russell). Bradshaw, 14 of 18 on the day, for 264 yards, and threw 3 TDs, the final 2 to Swan, and Kruczek went 5 for 6 in mopup duty.

The Steelers paid a high price for the victory, however. Franco ran for 132 yards before exiting with a rib injury in the 3rd quarter. Rocky was hurt early. Neither would be available for the AFFCG the following week.

The Steelers won 40-14, and the crowd exited early. Good thing, as 10 minutes after the final gun, a plane flew into Memorial Stadium’s 2nd deck.

AFCCG: “That’s How Much We Hated The Steelers”
The new job was also flexible in our being able to take off for a few hours. I awoke the morning of Sunday, December 26th at "the home" on the North Side, but would watch with one of my dago friends, now deceased, on Woodstock Avenue in Swissvale. I drove past TRS on this Sunday snowy morning, and lamented the Pats having lost the previous weekend to the Raiders. Had they won, Three Rivers would be alive with activity and excitement as it would have been Steelers-Pats at TRS for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Chuck Noll would later refer to it as his worst-ever coaching decision. Because of the injuries to his pair of thousand-yard runners, Emperor Chaz instituted a double tight end offense, with a single back, Reggie Harrison. This Steelers offense couldn’t do much, and a partially-blocked punt and an interception return to the 1, gave the Raiders a 10-0 second quarter lead. The Steelers battled back, primarily through the air, to cut the margin to 10-7.

The roles were reversed on this day. It was the Steelers who threw 35 times, while running only 21. The Raiders ran 51 times for 157 yards, with Ken Stabler making only 16 throws. The Raiders scored on a pass from Stabler to former Steeler Warren Bankston just before half to make it 17-7, and extended the lead on another short scoring pass from Stabler to Pete Banaszak in the 3rd quarter. The Raiders won, 24-7, and were on to the Super Bowl.

It was after this game that Jack Lambert lamented that he’d like to drink a 6-pack, and play the game over again.

The Raiders beat the Vikings in the Super Bowl, giving The Fat Fuck John Madden his first and only Super Bowl victory. Interviewed years later, Raiders linebacker Phil Villipiano noted that the Raiders, on their Super Bowl rings, had inscribed, “24-7,” the score of the AFC Championship game. “That,” said Villipiano, “is how much we hated the Steelers.”