"Their Life's Work"

For Pittsburghers of a certain age, the Super Bowl Steelers of the 1970s were sports nirvana.  Couple the Super Steelers with the Pirates of the 1970s, who won five division championships and two World Series (1971 and 1979), and you have the "City of Champions."  I still remember fondly that in December 1979 the Sports Illustrated Sportsmen of the Year award went to Terry Bradshaw and Willie Stargell.  The picture of them, in their respective uniforms, in front of the blast furnace at the J&L South Side Works steel mill, is truly iconic Pittsburgh.

(True story:   My dad got me a summer job in the J&L South Side works in 1976 -- which is a 12 week story in itself.  Several of the men I worked with in the mill that summer were in that Sports Illustrated photograph.)

(Another true story:  As a young priest at St. Therese Parish in Munhall, in the Steel Valley, around 1980 I began a sermon on the 12 apostles with the 500+ school children by asking for the names and numbers of the Steelers.  They kids knew them all.  75, 12, 32, 58, 59, 88, 82, 20, 52, 47, even down-in-the-weeds 63, 68, 5, 78, 84, 24, 34, 33, 57, 72,  and on and on.  Can you match the players with their numbers?  By the way, the kids knew their apostles too!)

So when Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recommended a book about the Super Steelers last fall, I bought it and devoured it.  Gary M. Pomerantz covered the Washington football team in the 1980s for the Washington Post, and is an author of several books.  Why he picked the 1970s "Steeler empire" to write about is baffling to me.  But he has done an excellent job.

But Their Life's Work not just a history of wins and losses, X's and O's, old war stories from the gridiron.  He contrasts what happened 40+ years ago (that long ago?!!!) with "where are they now and what are they thinking" interviews and insights.  Bradshaw, who allegedly couldn't spell CAT if you spotted him the C and the A, now the FOX NFL analyst and motivational speaker.  Swann, the ballet dancer on the field and political schmoozer off.  Stallworth, in the shadow of Swann yet now the owner of multi-million dollar companies and classy minority owner of the Steelers.  Webster, the over-achieving center who never could figure out "his life's work" who died homeless and broke.  Gilliam, the supremely talented and troubled quarterback.  Noll, the aloof coach to the end, whose "Chuck-isms" still guide many players.  The Rooneys, among the "first families" in the history of Pittsburgh, not angels but very human.  And Mean Joe Greene, the rock of the "Steeler empire," the "sheriff of the locker room," and consummate gentleman to this day.  

His sub-title says it:  The Brotherhood of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, Then and Now.  

He could have also titled it, "time waits for no football player."  Some former enemies become friends, like Franco Harris and Phil Villaiano of the hated Oakland Raiders.  Some become family, like Franco and the head of "Franco's Italian Army," Al Vento.  Some are forced to move on, as when Dan Rooney fired his brother Art in 1986 as head of scouting.  And all the players acknowledge the toll brutal pro football takes on their bodies.  

I highly recommend Gary Pomerantz's Their Life's Work, for Pittsburghers, for pro football fans, and for all those who appreciate fine character studies of some real American characters.


P.S.  Super Steeler trivia:  Can you name the 22 players who received four 1970s Super Bowl rings?  Extra credit:  Which members of the Steelers empire have more than four SB rings?