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I love this man and I can't imaging what he experienced.....

C

Chicoman

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I saw this clip on YouTube....I'm sure many of you have seen it. I remember it airing last year but I never saw it. Sure there was Franco Harris and Franco's Italian Army but this guy to me was one of the often overlooked, unsung heros of the great Steelers teams of the 70's.

I can't imaging what he went through.....by statistics alone he wasn't a Hall of Famer but I can't think of another NFL player anymore deserving of Comeback Player in NFL History it would be Rocky Bleier. I have a hard time watching this because it makes me realize the long term effects of war. It's senseless! I think General Smedley Butler said it best.....in WWI looking back after he retired....he said there was 21,000 Millionaires & Billionaires created as a result of WWI and not one of them served in the military or carried a rifle into combat.

I'd love to see the HoFame somehow honor this guy......there should be an award by the NFL in this man's honor. I can't think of any player who came back to play NFL Football after having half his foot blown off.

 
Chicoman said:
I saw this clip on YouTube....I'm sure many of you have seen it. I remember it airing last year but I never saw it. Sure there was Franco Harris and Franco's Italian Army but this guy to me was one of the often overlooked, unsung heros of the great Steelers teams of the 70's.

I can't imaging what he went through.....by statistics alone he wasn't a Hall of Famer but I can't think of another NFL player anymore deserving of Comeback Player in NFL History it would be Rocky Bleier. I have a hard time watching this because it makes me realize the long term effects of war. It's senseless! I think General Smedley Butler said it best.....in WWI looking back after he retired....he said there was 21,000 Millionaires & Billionaires created as a result of WWI and not one of them served in the military or carried a rifle into combat.

I'd love to see the HoFame somehow honor this guy......there should be an award by the NFL in this man's honor. I can't think of any player who came back to play NFL Football after having half his foot blown off.

Click to expand...

Take a break and water?
This guy seen lives lost. Espn could’ve handled it a bit better. Rocky is the man.

War does some crazy stuff. My gym owner is a combat vet. He has to wear sound proof headphones cause sometimes he can have ptsd.
Seeing Rocky breakdown like that was hard to watch. Our troops deserve a lot when they get back home.
 
Black & Gold Bleeder said:
ok, Dino is 80 yrs old , confirmed
Click to expand...

LOL...

That was certainly the good ole days...

Pittsburgh was at the top of the sports world with another Steeler Super Bowl victory and a Pirates World Series win...

Steel Dino was a young stud senior in high school dating the homecoming queen...

That should give away my age...I dont believe I'll reach 80...but you never know
:)
 
Chicoman said:
Love this!

Click to expand...


I was at that game too. It was the first (and last) away game my parents took me and my older brother to. We stayed at the same hotel as the Steelers and it was great as a little kid to see the Steelers walking around the hotel and getting some autographs. When we went to the hotel parking lot the morning of the game almost all of the cars in the parking lot had all 4 tires slashed.

The Cleveland fans knew it was the Steeler hotel and Steeler fans would be there. They slashed all 4 tires so your 1 spare tire did not help so a lot of fans missed or were late to the game. We were lucky and our car was parked right up against the hotel and those cars were the only ones they did not touch. However, our luck did not last long. When we came out happy after the game my father’s new car was stolen. At least it was a great game and IIRC Franco had a long touchdown run in that game too.
 
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Scott109 said:
I was at that game too. It was the first (and last) away game my parents took me and my older brother to. We stayed at the same hotel as the Steelers and it was great as a little kid to see the Steelers walking around the hotel and getting some autographs. When we went to the parking lot the morning of the game almost all of the cars in the parking lot had all 4 tires slashed.

The Cleveland fans knew it was the Steeler hotel and Steeler fans would be there. They slashed all 4 tires so your 1 spare tire did not help so a lot of fans missed or were late to the game. We were lucky and our car was parked right up against the hotel and those cars were the only ones they did not touch. However, our luck did not last long. When we came out happy after the game my father’s new car was stolen. At least it was a great game and IIRC Franco had a long touchdown run in that game too.
Click to expand...

I can relate Scott...

Our vehicle was spared at the Hoilday Inn and the parking lot at the game because it was a rental car and had Ohio plates on it!
Luckily for us!

There must of been a least a dozen fights in the stands throughout the game too!
That stadium held 85,000 people and there at to be at least 25 to 30,000 Steeler fans there!

What a time!
 
He was definitely a hero of mine as a young boy watching them. Some of my best memories from childhood are of that team. They all seemed like super heroes to me. What a group of personalities and amazing talent.

The only person from that entire group I ever got to meet was "The Emperor "
 
J
Steelr4evr said:
He was definitely a hero of mine as a young boy watching them. Some of my best memories from childhood are of that team. They all seemed like super heroes to me. What a group of personalities and amazing talent.

The only person from that entire group I ever got to meet was "The Emperor "
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Well....don’t leave us hanging......lol. One of my sports heroes. Give us your meeting Chuck story.
 
Steelmann said:
J


Well....don’t leave us hanging......lol. One of my sports heroes. Give us your meeting Chuck story.
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Complete chance encounter at a little surf/gift shop on the beach in Florida. He was with his wife. This was post retirement 4-5 years from coaching the Steelers. I walked into the shop and was looking at various trinkets and from the around the corner out pops he and his wife.

Probably the only time in my life I couldn't open my mouth. I locked eyes with him (1min or 2)for what seems like forever, glanced at his wife, she gave a smile, he gave me that sly grin of his and a head nod. I nodded my head,smiled and that was that..haha.


I had always known he was a very private man outside of football, so I did not want to disturb them.

If I could have talked ,I would have just said thanks for the memories Coach.

Now that I'm talking about coaches. I was walking around the back of the Jaguars Stadium some years back after a night game. The Steelers had won, everyone was all happy. I came up to a crowd of Steeler fans congregated near a back entrance, it was all of the team busses. So I make my way to the front, I see Dan Rooney sitting in his seat near the front, a few players chatting just outside the bus and here comes this fella walking right at me. It was Coach Tomlin and starts giving high fives to all of us and hugs what had to be a friend who was standing right beside me.

A lot of hooting, hollering and Here We Go Steelers going on...haha.

I need to meet Coach Cowher and that will cover all of the seasons. I'll have a little more to say this time around.
 
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Man, back when I was a kid Rock was beloved by every family member and friend I knew. He’s a vet, son of immigrants, what blue collar fan base wouldn’t pull for him?


Sent from my iPad using Steeler Nation mobile app
 
Well, since we're reminiscing...

I believe it was 2007 when my Dad (64 at the time) flew me to Pittsburgh to see a game with him. The Steelers were hosting the Browns and it was a battle. Ultimately the Steelers got the win but Josh Cribbs was a nightmare.

Anyway, since it was my first time in Pittsburgh, I got to experience many of the things you all get to take for granted. I took Dad to Primanti Bros and we "put an egg on it." I dragged him to Peppi's and I enjoyed a "Roethlisburger". We also attended a tailgate and I took a turn or two at the shotski. This was particularly magnanimous of my Dad since he's been sober since I was about 7.

But the best memory (aside from the game, of course) was visiting the Carnegie Museum because they were opening a new Steeler's exhibit. We went in to the museum to purchase our tickets and the girl at the counter made my day. Dad was getting us tickets and she looked up and said "Your Grandfather can get in for free today." Dad didn't quite hear her, which was icing on the cake. He looked at her and said "What?" I said very loudly, "She says you get in for FREE Grandpa!" Of course with a huge grin on my face.

He looked at me and said "You *******." (But he did get in for free. ;-)

Anyway, there was a group of business men off to the left. I barely even noticed them. My Dad tapped me on the shoulder and said "isn't that Dan Rooney?" Rooney was there for the exhibit opening. I was in awe. Dad said, "You should go over and introduce yourself." I wasn't about to bother Dan Rooney at a frickin' museum. I said no, I can't do that.

My Dad looked at me, then walked over to the group of men. He said, "Mr. Rooney, my son is the biggest Steeler fan I know and he'd like to meet you." Rooney looked up, smiled and said "Where are you from?" I replied that I was from Butte, MT. He literally grinned and said "Good Irish town. I've been there a few times." He shook my hand and said he hoped I'd enjoy the game.

I did. And I was so grateful for my Dad being old enough and forward enough to realize I wasn't ever going to get another chance to meet Dan Rooney. Just a great memory all around.
 
steel dino said:
LOL...

That was certainly the good ole days...

Pittsburgh was at the top of the sports world with another Steeler Super Bowl victory and a Pirates World Series win...

Steel Dino was a young stud senior in high school dating the homecoming queen...

That should give away my age...I dont believe I'll reach 80...but you never know
:)
Click to expand...

You’re still a youngster;)
 
steel dino said:
LOL...

That was certainly the good ole days...

Pittsburgh was at the top of the sports world with another Steeler Super Bowl victory and a Pirates World Series win...

Steel Dino was a young stud senior in high school dating the homecoming queen...

That should give away my age...I dont believe I'll reach 80...but you never know
:)
Click to expand...


And somewhere in there the Pitt Panthers won the college Championship.


Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s.
 
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A Personal HERO of mine and to many. DEFINATELY a SUPER STEELERS player.

Thank You Rocky !!!




Salute the nation
 
One of only a handful of players from the pre-Noll era to last into the Noll era.
At his first training camp Noll said, with his typical dry sense of humor, "The problem isn't deciding who to cut, it's deciding who to keep."
 
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Stewey said:
And somewhere in there the Pitt Panthers won the college Championship.


Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s.
Click to expand...

And if it wasn't for Ross Browner, they may have gone back to back. Easy to be a fan in the Burgh then.
 
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