There were some huge 1st-round busts on the roster (Tim Worley, Aaron Jones and Tom Ricketts) and a couple of flat-out superstars (Rod Woodson and Dermotti Dawson), but the heart of that team was made up of guys who played their asses off and got the absolute most they could out of their limited athletic ability. David Little and Brian Hinkle were tough LB’s. Merrill Hoge and Bubby Brister were gamers. Thomas Everett hit everything that moved at safety (like Ryan Clark before Ryan Clark) and Hardy Nickerson was becoming a beast at LB. Then there were the guys you rooted for just because they were goofy: Jerry Olsavsky and his freak giraffe neck; Weegie Thompson because he was 7-foot-3 and weighed about a buck-forty. And of course Louis Lipps. You HAD to like Louis Lipps.

That team also represented Chuck Noll’s last great coaching job. I watched them upset a really good Oilers team on the road in the playoffs and thought boy, we won that one on grit and coaching. Chuck’s Super Bowl teams were loaded with Hall of Famers so it’s sometimes easy to discount what a great coach he was. That ’89 playoff win in the Astrodome proved he could do it as an underdog, too…

great post, but……

The loss on Monday Football to San Diego did not keep Steelers from playoffs. The game was meaningless for Steelers because the Patriots had defeated the 1-15 Saints the day before (Patriots would have earned a playoff spot had Steelers won. However, I still enjoy the Bradshaw to Cunningham td on the final play of the San Diego game.

1982 had so much promise…they started out by defeating Cin and Dal in their fist two games…then came the stupid strike that blew the momentum. When the strike ended, they lost three of five.

I feel bad that “grapes” had to sit through the Bills game at Rich Stadium…I watched it in a room of Bills fans…that was hard enough…can’t imagine having to be there.