Together they stand as proof of a landmark moment in Pittsburgh Steelers history. Such a landmark, in fact, that even Steelers fans who were nowhere to be found when it happened will gladly recount it for you.
That moment was the NFL draft, one in which the team of the 1970s began to take the shape of a four time Super Bowl champion.
But before you smile knowingly, pause a moment. Because the draft of which we speak didn’t happen in 1974.
To be sure, it’s not easy going against a class that produced four Hall of Famers — guys named Swann, Stallworth, Lambert and Webster — in the first 125 picks. In truth, it’s about as hard as catching Jack Ham out of position. Or burning Mike Wagner on a deep pass. Or running against Dwight White and Ernie Holmes.
And maybe now
Bart Houston Jersey, exactly where we’re headed is just a bit clearer.
In 1971, the Steelers — with Art Rooney Jr. leading the braintrust — drafted seven men who went on to start for Super Bowl winners. Five of them — Ham, Wagner, White, guard Gerry Mullins and tight end/tackle Larry Brown — started for all four of the 1970s champs. Receiver Frank Lewis, their top pick that year, started for two as did an undrafted free agent running back, Glen Edwards, who transformed into a cornerback.
Does all that outweigh the Hall of Fame quartet to come three years later? Debatable, certainly.
But the Class of ’71 has plenty of support.
“The lack of people’s knowledge of ’71 pushes ’74 up,’’ longtime Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in 2011. Newsome spoke with the authority of someone who faced those guys during his own Hall of Fame career with Cleveland.
“That draft to me cemented the fact that they weren’t the old Steelers anymore,’’ added Ernie Accorsi, another proven GM with the Colts, Browns and Giants. “That’s the one where they turned the corner, in my opinion.’’
Rooney Jr. recalled for the Post Gazette the vision of his head coach, Chuck Noll, as they prepared for Noll’s third draft. It was time, Noll said, to shift their focus from speed and athletic ability to “guys who can think on their feet and have that type of coachability.’’
Rooney and Noll were aided by a former newspaperman, Bill Nunn Jr., who had chosen the best known Black All America teams for the Pittsburgh Courier, then a national publication. In short, he knew where to look. So they grabbed not only Lewis, from Grambling
https://www.steelerspitzone.com/coty-sensabaugh-jersey-c-19.html, in the first round, but also White, from East Texas State in the fourth, Brown from Kansas in the fifth and Holmes from Texas Southern in the eighth.
They also shrugged off the doubters who thought Ham was too small, taking the Penn State All American in the second round.
And they may have pulled off the steal of the draft in the 11th round, landing Wagner from Western Illinois
https://www.steelerspitzone.com/mike-mitchell-jersey-c-18.html, an NAIA school, with the 268th overall choice.
Wagner and Ham became roommates, and their leadership is well documented. Ham, on his path to Canton, was cast as the brains alongside Jack Lambert’s fearsome force — maybe some stereotyping in both cases there. He also inspired a fan club known as “Dobre Shunka
https://www.steelerspitzone.com/william-gay-jersey-c-17.html,’’ which is Polish for “Great Ham.’’
Wagner’s storied career included two interceptions of Oakland’s Ken Stabler in the 1975 AFC championship game, and another of Roger Staubach in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl X.
White, sapped by pneumonia in the week before Super Bowl IX, played and dumped the Vikings’ Fran Tarkenton for a safety — the only first half points of a 16 6 Steelers victory.
Brown, who caught the only TD in that game, later transitioned from tight end to tackle when a knee injury forced his hand. He made another 52 starts there, earning his third Pro Bowl berth.
Lewis, who caught 394 passes and scored 40 TDs in his 13 seasons, became expendable with the arrivals of Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. He was dealt to Buffalo for tight end Paul Seymour in 1978 — a rare moment in which the Steelers were out maneuvered.
Seymour failed his physical in Pittsburgh, apparently suffering from high arches, and was shipped back to the Bills. But the Steelers’ bid for compensation failed as Buffalo coach Chuck Knox flat out refused. Seymour never played another NFL game.
Even the finest leather can be susceptible to a scratch here and there.
