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It’s really easy to point out the successful moments of the 1970s, but not only was I too young to really remember and appreciate it the 1970s – Noll’s contribution to the Steelers transcends the 1970s. When the NFL Merger took place 39 years in to the Steelers history, they had zero Championships of any kind: No NFL Championships, no Eastern Divisional Championships and only 6 winning seasons. Since the merger into the Modern Era, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a clean sweep across the board
Chuck Noll and Dan Rooney shaped the Steelers franchise in the 1970s, but it didn’t stop there and Noll still did things through the 80s and even 90s that show what this team is about. Here are some of my favorite memories and takeaways about the man who was the son of a butcher, Charles Henry Noll; I welcome everyone else to share their own favorite memories.
His handling of the Immaculate Reception.
The way that Chuck Noll and John Madden have approached this play demonstrates exactly why Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls and John Madden won just 1. 30 years later, Madden would be doing a Steelers game on Sunday night and still complain about the way the officials did not signal a TD and goes into a story about making a phone call to the league office (as if he actually knows what the official really did or who he talked to). When Chuck talked about the play, he would talk about the effort and how Franco did not quit on the play thus he was in position to make a play with the reception. So Madden complains about officials and says no one knows who the officials talked to, even though they have said it multiple times, Noll talks about fundamentals and uses that with metaphors for life lessons.
The 1987 Draft
With all the great drafts in Steelers history; the best one being in 1974 and it completed the Steelers Dynasty roster. And there have been other great drafts: 1970 with Bradshaw and Blount, 1998 with two potential Hall of Famers in Hines Ward and Alan Faneca – but one of the most important was 1969, Chuck Noll pushed to draft Joe Greene over Terry Hanratty on his first day on the job. What appears to be a no brainer today was a big deal then, considering Hanratty was a Notre Dame QB and no one had heard of the man who would one day be the greatest Steeler of them all.
In 1986 the Steelers had hit the lowest of my lifetime; I lived in Ohio; right in the heart of Cleveland Browns country and had to endure the Browns rise and including the breaking of the jinx, the Steelers with Mark Malone simply couldn’t get any worse. The way that Bernie Kosar would shred us, along with Boomer Esiason and Warren Moon – with a defense that was a far cry from the Steel Curtain, LBs that were solid but not intimidating (Mike Merriweather had his dominant 1984 when he set the Steelers single season sack record of 15 but he was the only weapon to stop). 1987 brought Rod Woodson, the next generation’s Joe Greene. It’s still only my opinion, but Rod Woodson is second only to Joe Greene in how great a player he was – he should have stayed a Steeler his whole career and no one else should be wearing #26. But it also brought #95 Greg Lloyd and others like Hardy Nickerson, Merrill Hoge and Thomas Everett – it began the great drafting that set up Bill Cowher in 1992 (Dermontti Dawson, John Jackson, Carlton Haselrig, DJ Johnson, Carnell Lake, Barry Foster, Neil O’Donnell). There were misses at the top – Tim Worley, Aaron Jones, Huey Richardson – bad misses, but Chuck Noll had rebuilt the Steelers once again.
And it began with a man who was the youngest active player on the 75th Anniversary All Time NFL team and an OLB who would have been in the Hall of Fame had it not been for injuries shortening his career – and brought the intimidation factor back to Pittsburgh’s defense.
1989 – Calm and Collected
51-0 and 41-10 to start the season – it’s testament about not getting too wrapped up into what happened the last game. Again I was in Browns country when after that 0-2 start, the Steelers just found a way to become 2-2 and a Browns fan commented to me about how it was possible that the Steelers could be 2-2; but once a game is over, it’s over. I’ve read complaints on this board for years – many times about Tomlin’s mentality that all that matters is having 1 more point than the opposition when the clock hits 0:00. In effect – wanting “Style Points” – but when the Steelers played the Browns a 2nd time in 1989, none of those 51 points could be carried over to be used when they needed 11 points
The team should have been playing for the AFC Championship against the Cleveland Browns, a team that would have managed to choke. It would have been a Super Bowl slaughter, even though Chuck Noll’s possession style found a way to beat the seemingly unbeatable 1984 and 1987 49ers with no tricks, simple physical possession football. We were that close from Noll pulling off a “miracle” simply by not over reacting and like so many people – planning on the 1990 draft after two games.
It’s Time
I attended the second to last game of the 1991 season – a season of disappointment. Chuck Noll knew that the Steelers underachieved with him that year and he knew that he was no longer the man to get the most out of the team. The way that he could scare the players with a look, a subtle change in the voice – it was gone. He knew it.
Dan Rooney was not firing him, he even asked him to stay, but Noll knew it was time to go. And when he left, he left. Unlike Bill Walsh who seemed to linger longer in San Francisco and many 49ers fans say he still was the “coach” of the 1989 49ers, much like the Heat were truly coached by Pat Riley a few years ago to win the Title. Noll backed away from the spotlight and allowed Cowher to be his own man (though I wish he would have said something about Eric Green’s video – why Cowher ever allowed that embarrassment and locker room material before the AFC Championship Game I will never understand).
It’s really a shame that there was no picture of Noll, Cowher and Tomlin each with the Lombardi Trophy all together. One can understand that Noll was no longer in good enough health to get around by 2009, but he set the standard that even Bill Cowher respected and followed, not interfering with Mike Tomlin upon his leaving and allowing Tomlin to be his own man.
- Wins: 429 (total). 396 (regular season), 33 (post season) and winning %: .612
- Championships: 20 Divisional, 8 AFC and 6 Super Bowl
Chuck Noll and Dan Rooney shaped the Steelers franchise in the 1970s, but it didn’t stop there and Noll still did things through the 80s and even 90s that show what this team is about. Here are some of my favorite memories and takeaways about the man who was the son of a butcher, Charles Henry Noll; I welcome everyone else to share their own favorite memories.
His handling of the Immaculate Reception.
The way that Chuck Noll and John Madden have approached this play demonstrates exactly why Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls and John Madden won just 1. 30 years later, Madden would be doing a Steelers game on Sunday night and still complain about the way the officials did not signal a TD and goes into a story about making a phone call to the league office (as if he actually knows what the official really did or who he talked to). When Chuck talked about the play, he would talk about the effort and how Franco did not quit on the play thus he was in position to make a play with the reception. So Madden complains about officials and says no one knows who the officials talked to, even though they have said it multiple times, Noll talks about fundamentals and uses that with metaphors for life lessons.
- This filtered in so many ways: The Raiders organization just seems to portray that call cost them the Super Bowl; never mind they had to beat Miami even if they did win. How did that work out for you in the 1973 AFC Championship? How about Madden’s comments about the best two teams playing in 1974 with Pittsburgh still on the schedule for the AFC Championship? Phil Villapiano states that if not for a clipping on him he would have tackled the younger, faster and lighter Harris (even though he easily flew past the faster-than-Villapiano-Jimmy Warren). George Atkinson calls the play the Immaculate Deception and repeatedly states that in watching replays that the replays show obvious proof the ball hit Fuqua first – millions have seen and analyzed the replays and NONE show obvious proof either way. Fuqua has made a life out of doing public speaking and being coy about it. Harris has enjoyed as well playing the mystery card. Bradshaw jokes about hearing the crowd cheering and thinking he did something good. Where Al Davis rambles on about how the Steelers planned the field conditions 1975 AFC Championship, when John Stallworth had a beautiful one handed TD grab taken away because official missed the call, no one on the Steelers even got upset. That mindset has transcended the years and exists to this day. Bill Cowher didn’t blame officials for losses, Mike Tomlin has not. Hines Ward said it best; when Mike Tomlin says “the standard is the standard”, that original standard was set by Chuck Noll and it is not just winning football games.
The 1987 Draft
With all the great drafts in Steelers history; the best one being in 1974 and it completed the Steelers Dynasty roster. And there have been other great drafts: 1970 with Bradshaw and Blount, 1998 with two potential Hall of Famers in Hines Ward and Alan Faneca – but one of the most important was 1969, Chuck Noll pushed to draft Joe Greene over Terry Hanratty on his first day on the job. What appears to be a no brainer today was a big deal then, considering Hanratty was a Notre Dame QB and no one had heard of the man who would one day be the greatest Steeler of them all.
In 1986 the Steelers had hit the lowest of my lifetime; I lived in Ohio; right in the heart of Cleveland Browns country and had to endure the Browns rise and including the breaking of the jinx, the Steelers with Mark Malone simply couldn’t get any worse. The way that Bernie Kosar would shred us, along with Boomer Esiason and Warren Moon – with a defense that was a far cry from the Steel Curtain, LBs that were solid but not intimidating (Mike Merriweather had his dominant 1984 when he set the Steelers single season sack record of 15 but he was the only weapon to stop). 1987 brought Rod Woodson, the next generation’s Joe Greene. It’s still only my opinion, but Rod Woodson is second only to Joe Greene in how great a player he was – he should have stayed a Steeler his whole career and no one else should be wearing #26. But it also brought #95 Greg Lloyd and others like Hardy Nickerson, Merrill Hoge and Thomas Everett – it began the great drafting that set up Bill Cowher in 1992 (Dermontti Dawson, John Jackson, Carlton Haselrig, DJ Johnson, Carnell Lake, Barry Foster, Neil O’Donnell). There were misses at the top – Tim Worley, Aaron Jones, Huey Richardson – bad misses, but Chuck Noll had rebuilt the Steelers once again.
And it began with a man who was the youngest active player on the 75th Anniversary All Time NFL team and an OLB who would have been in the Hall of Fame had it not been for injuries shortening his career – and brought the intimidation factor back to Pittsburgh’s defense.
1989 – Calm and Collected
51-0 and 41-10 to start the season – it’s testament about not getting too wrapped up into what happened the last game. Again I was in Browns country when after that 0-2 start, the Steelers just found a way to become 2-2 and a Browns fan commented to me about how it was possible that the Steelers could be 2-2; but once a game is over, it’s over. I’ve read complaints on this board for years – many times about Tomlin’s mentality that all that matters is having 1 more point than the opposition when the clock hits 0:00. In effect – wanting “Style Points” – but when the Steelers played the Browns a 2nd time in 1989, none of those 51 points could be carried over to be used when they needed 11 points
The team should have been playing for the AFC Championship against the Cleveland Browns, a team that would have managed to choke. It would have been a Super Bowl slaughter, even though Chuck Noll’s possession style found a way to beat the seemingly unbeatable 1984 and 1987 49ers with no tricks, simple physical possession football. We were that close from Noll pulling off a “miracle” simply by not over reacting and like so many people – planning on the 1990 draft after two games.
It’s Time
I attended the second to last game of the 1991 season – a season of disappointment. Chuck Noll knew that the Steelers underachieved with him that year and he knew that he was no longer the man to get the most out of the team. The way that he could scare the players with a look, a subtle change in the voice – it was gone. He knew it.
Dan Rooney was not firing him, he even asked him to stay, but Noll knew it was time to go. And when he left, he left. Unlike Bill Walsh who seemed to linger longer in San Francisco and many 49ers fans say he still was the “coach” of the 1989 49ers, much like the Heat were truly coached by Pat Riley a few years ago to win the Title. Noll backed away from the spotlight and allowed Cowher to be his own man (though I wish he would have said something about Eric Green’s video – why Cowher ever allowed that embarrassment and locker room material before the AFC Championship Game I will never understand).
It’s really a shame that there was no picture of Noll, Cowher and Tomlin each with the Lombardi Trophy all together. One can understand that Noll was no longer in good enough health to get around by 2009, but he set the standard that even Bill Cowher respected and followed, not interfering with Mike Tomlin upon his leaving and allowing Tomlin to be his own man.
