Perspective Of An Average Steelers Fan: Top 500 Steelers (2019 Edition)

LATEST EDITION

Being an average Steelers fan; I’m compelled to compare players from different eras. Dave Bryan was kind enough to publish my original List of Top 500 All-Time Pittsburgh Steelersin January 2017. My last update came at the end of the 2018 NFL season: Top 500 Steelers (2018 Edition).

The latest edition of the Top 500 All-Time Pittsburgh Steelers incorporates on the field service, recognition and accomplishments of the 2019 Steelers as well as some adjustments to former Steelers due to changes to Steelers Top 10 lists and adjusted information in the Pro Football Reference (one of my main resources). I waited for the announcement of the latest NFL Hall of Fame inductees before finalizing the latest edition. Congratulations to Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell!

Polamalu broke into the top ten this year. The Hall of Fame Committee got it wrong again by denying Alan Faneca. Ben Roethlisberger will undoubtedly be in the top ten in the future, but his truncated season held him back for now. The Hall of Fame will announce their all decade team for 2010 to 2019 soon. The Steelers will also add players to their Hall of Honor. I will factor any additions to those lists into next year’s edition.

PLAYERS DROPPED OFF THIS EDITION

As players ascend into the top 500; inevitably Newton’s third law of motion forces other players out. Here are the players who fell from last year’s list along with their new ranking:

Here are some details on these Steelers of yore:

George Rado: In the Steelers third season, Art Rooney recruited local talent. Joe Bach coached the Duquesne football team and was now the football Pirates (Steelers) skipper. On his recommendation, Rooney signed Duquesne’s two co-captains from the 1934 season. Halfback Art Strutt and guard George Rado joined fourteen teammates that had played college football at his alma mater Duquesne (7), Pitt (6) or Carnegie Mellon (1). Pittsburgh traded Rado to the Philadelphia Eagles two games into the 1937 season. He played there through the 1938 season and later became an assistant coach at Duquesne before World War II interrupted his coaching career.

Jim “Popcorn” Brandt: A 12th round draft pick in 1951; Popcorn Brandt was a short yardage fullback but also returned seven kickoffs averaging 22.7 yards a return. He did have four rushing touchdowns in his three seasons with the Black and Gold. Alex Kozora captured his unfortunate role in the greatest pre-Noll era Steelers comeback victory.

Tom Calvin: Tom Calvin graduated from Alabama in 1950. He opted not to play football, but the Steelers drafted him in the 25th round of the 1951 NFL draft. In 1952, Calvin opted to give up his high school coaching job to play for the Steelers. He played 30 games during his four-year Steeler career. He started four games in his first season. Art Rooney liked Calvin’s spunk taking on bigger opponents during post-play altercations. The Steelers released Calvin early in the 1955 season to meet roster limits ending his four-year career. Tom returned to what he was doing before becoming a Steeler. He taught and coached high school for 33 years. He just died this past January at age 93.

Terence Garvin: The Steelers signed Terence Garvin as an undrafted free agent following his college play at West Virginia University. He mostly played on special teams, playing just 50 defensive compared to 810 special team snaps. He spent his final three NFL seasons playing for three different teams: Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco 49ers. Garvin is still playing football. He is now on the XFL’s Saint Louis Battlehawks 2020 roster.

Ralph Anderson: Ralph “Sticks” Anderson drafted fifth round in 1971. He intercepted four passes in 21 games played over two seasons. The Steelers traded Sticks just before the 1973 season.

Art Jones:  Bert Bell of the Eagles drafted Art Jones in December 1940. After he became co-owner of the Steelers, Bert Bell signed Jones  in July 1941. On offense he scored five touchdowns. He averaged 37.7 yards per punt and even returned 14 punts to average 16.6 yards per punt. He led the league with seven interceptions. His all-around performance led to selection to the all-star game. Unfortunately, Art entered the navy following his rookie year.  Following his war service, Jones rejoined the Steelers in October 1945. New Steelers coach Jock Sutherland released Jones just before the start of the 1946 season.

Merlyn Condit: The Cleveland Rams drafted Merlyn Condit in the second round of the 1940 draft. He had starred for Carnegie Tech and Art Rooney traded a player to acquire his rights. Condit broke up a pass to preserve a tie against the New York Giants in his debut as a Steeler. Condit was selected to play for the NFL All-Stars who played the champion Chicago Bears at the end of the 1940 season. Condit was caught in the whirlwind when Rooney sold the Steelers in 1941 ultimately ending up with Brooklyn. He played one more season for Pittsburgh in 1946 before retiring. He worked as an engineer for the Mine Safety Appliance Company for 35 years. Merlyn Condit passed away in 1982.

Jonathan Scott: Jonathan Scott signed consecutive one-year contracts with the Steelers in 2010 and 2011. The Steelers projected Jonathan to be a backup tackle to Wille Colon and Max Starks. He started half of the 28 games he played in two seasons with the Steelers. He ended up starting in the 2010 playoffs including the Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers. This was the patchwork line that ended its final game with none of the projected preseason starters.

Lou Allen: A fifth round draft choice out of Duke in 1950. Lou Allen was 26 year old rookie as he had joined the Navy after high school and participated in the Normandy invasion before enrolling in college.  Allen was an offensive lineman in the single wing under John Michelson. He started in all 24 games played in his first two seasons. When Rooney hired Joe Bach before the 1952 season, the Steelers were converting offenses and Allen was not in the starting line-up. He quit the team along with halfback Jerry Nuzum. Allen played one game for the Montreal Alouettes that year. He is in the Duke University Hall of Fame.

Max Fiske: Art Rooney signed Max Fiske out of DePaul University in 1936. In 1937, Fiske married Art Rooney’s sister-in-law  but and was traded to the Chicago Cardinals the next week to complete a previous trade for Ed Brett. Ironically, Brett was the best man at Fiske’s wedding. Fiske returned to Pittsburgh the following season. Johnny “Blood” McNally released Fiske after the first game of the 1939 season.  Fiske was an eyewitness at the murder trial of Joseph “Joe the Barber” Tuminello accused of killing two people at a North Side café in 1940. He served in the military during World War II and later opened a restaurant in Chicago. Following his divorce, the Rooney family raised Fiske’s daughter. He passed away in 1973.

Jack Deloplaine: The Steelers drafted Jack “Hydroplane” Deloplaine in the sixth round out of Salem College in 1976. Myron Cope nicknamed him “Hydroplane” because most of his college film featured muddy fields that he appeared to glide through. He made the team as a rookie eventually earning two Super Bowl rings. Deloplaine was involved in some fancy maneuvering by Chuck Noll involving he Washington Redskins and the Chicago Bears. Vito Stellino who wrote the article tweeted me that “this was not Noll’s usual style, which made it a good story.”

Nick Skorich: The Steagles drafted Nick Skorich in the 17th round of the 1943 draft. However, he delayed his NFL career to serve in the military during World War II. He played three seasons with the Steelers (1946-48). His biggest play was blocking a punt in 1946 against the Chicago Cardinals that led to the winning score.  In 1949, Skorich became head coach of Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High School winning a city championship in 1952. Skorich spent one year as a college coach when the Steelers hired him as an assistant coach in 1954. He resigned in 1957 to allow Buddy Parker to select his own staff. Skorich skippered the Philadelphia Eagles from 1961 to 1963. And then the Cleveland Browns 1971 to 1974. Once he left coaching, Skorich became an assistant supervisor of NFL officials, spending 26 years with the league office. He passed away in 2004.

Pete Ladygo: A West Brownsville native, Pete Ladygo was a 16th round draft choice from University of Maryland. He started 11 of 12 games played his rookie year. 1953 was a tumultuous year. First, his father died after his mother hit him in the head with an orange juice extractor during an argument. Ladygo then held out of camp along with several other players for a bigger paycheck. He broke his leg on the last play of a scrimmage after returning to the team and did not play his second season. He returned in 1954 to start all 12 games. Ladygo was negotiating with the Steelers to renew his contract when he ultimately signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders for the 1955 season. He later became an assistant football coach at Potomac State College where he started out his college ball. He is in their Athletic Hall of Fame.

Do you remember these players? If you have an interesting anecdote about any of them, please give us your story in the comment section.

NEWCOMERS TO THE TOP 500

Here are the new additions to the list:

Eight of the ascending players were on the 2019 roster. Minkah Fitzpatrick made it in his first season joining Whizzer White as the only players with one season played on the list.

Here are three blasts from the pasts:

Johnny Sample: A three-time Pittsburgh Courier All-American drafted by the Baltimore Colts. Johnny Sample helped the New York Jets win Super Bowl III with an interception. Also played in “The Greatest Game Ever Played” as a rookie helping the Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in 1958. Nice bookend to his professional football career. His autobiography, Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer, was an expose of the inequities of the league in the sixties. When the Colts planned to switch him to offense he left camp and they traded him to the Steelers just before the 1961 season for a second round draft pick. Sample scored a pick-six in his debut as a Steeler. His first season with the Steelers was his best season. He had a career high eight interceptions. Averaged 10.9 yards on 26 punt returns with a TD. In 1961 UPI and NY Daily News named him first team all-pro and the Newspaper Ent. Association named him to their second team. He was a consensus second team all pro that year. His falling out with Buddy Parker and injuries led to a poor second season and trade to the Redskins for a draft pick. Here is a Steelers Depot article about Johnny Sample.

Bam Morris: Steelers picked Byron “Bam” Morris in third round pick of the 1994 draft. In 1995 playoffs he scored four touchdowns including one in the Super Bowl loss to Dallas Cowboys (that matches the four-career playoff TD’s by Le’Veon Bell). He packed 244 pounds on a six-foot frame. Unfortunately, he was arrested for possessing four kilos of marijuana and a gram of cocaine. The Steelers cut him after his second season and the Baltimore Ravens signed him as a free agent. The fear of his unavailability led to the Steelers to make a draft-day trade for another beefy running back … Jerome Bettis.

David Woodley: With the Miami Dolphins, David Woodley was the youngest quarterback at 24 to start a Super Bowl back in 1982. The following year Dan Marino supplanted him. The Steelers traded two draft picks to acquire Woodley as one of a succession of replacements for Terry Bradshaw who retired after the 1983 season. He started 13 games by splitting starts with Mark Malone in two seasons with the Steelers and by 1986 was out of the league. Heavy drinking led to a liver transplant and unfortunately, he passed away at 44 due to liver and kidney failure in 2003.

CONCLUSION

23 players played a regular season game in Steelers uniforms for the first time in 2019. There are now 1,524 players who have worn the Black and Gold in at least one regular season game since the team entered the league in 1933.

Many of you may dispute where I rank different players. That’s ok by me. I use a matrix, so once the numbers are crunched players end up where they do. I wish some of my favorite players ranked higher. Conversely, there are some jagoffs that I wish came in lower on the rankings. It is what it is. Here we go.

The full list of top 500 Steelers is just below your music selection.

YOUR MUSIC SELECTION

I always like to include some music. I dedicate this song to all those Steeler Depot contributors writing deep into the night. Here is Black Coffee by Sarah Vaughan. Sarah was married to a player who was briefly with the Steelers but never made the regular season roster. Unfortunately, a sad story.

The Top 500 Steelers (2019 Edition):