We’re almost to the finish line of the 2023 offseason. To get us over the hump, I’m taking a look at some Pittsburgh Steelers’ history and a list of franchise “firsts,” from the standard to the quirky. The pioneers who were the first to reach milestones no Steeler had hit before.
The First 1,000-Yard Rusher – RB John Henry Johnson (1962)
A Hall of Famer, one fun fact coinciding with John Henry Johnson becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher in team history is that it was first and would be just one of two 1,000-yard seasons of his NFL career. In fairness, he played in an era where there were just 14 regular-season games and for a chunk of his career, was one leg of the San Francisco 49ers “Million Dollar Backfield” with Y.A. Tittle, Hugh McElhenny, and Joe Perry.
The four-digit season came in Johnson’s third season as a Steeler, signed from Detroit in 1960. His first two seasons were solid but ’62 was the money year, rushing for 1,141 yards by year’s end. His season got off to a slow start, rushing for 21 yards in a season-opening blowout loss to the Lions and just 54 yards the following week.
He took off in Week Three, rushing for 100-plus yards in three straight games: 113 yards against the New York Giants, 128 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles, and 123 yards again versus the Giants. He would rush for a season-high 138 yards in a 26-17 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
That year, JHJ was the team’s workhorse back, averaging nearly 18 carries per game. He finished third in the league that year in rushing attempts and second in yards, only behind Green Bay’s Jim Taylor. Taylor would go over the 1,000-yard mark one more time as a Steeler, finishing 1964 with 1,048 yards.
No other Steeler would match Johnson’s feat until Franco Harris in in 1972. And no one would surpass Johnson’s 1,141 mark until Harris did so in 1975.
To date, only nine players in team history have put together 1,000-plus yard campaigns. Seven of the nine, including JHJ, have done it more than once, most recently Najee Harris. Harris has a good shot to do it a third time, but it all goes back to the first man in 1962, one of the best backs in his era and an early Steelers star.
