Johnny Clement
John Louis Clement was born in October 1919. He played college ball at Southern Methodist University. As a sophomore, Clement was noted for his passing in a game against Jock Sutherland’s University of Pittsburgh team in 1938. As a senior, he started at left halfback versus Pitt, which ended in a 7-7 tie.
The Chicago Cardinals drafted Clement in the fourth round of the 1941 draft. He started four of nine games. He came into the game late and threw two touchdown passes in a 21-14 loss to the Eagles. A few days later he received orders to report for military duty from the draft board. The Army trained Clement to be a pilot. But he also played for the Maxwell Field Marauders along with his regular military duties. Clement spent the remainder of the war in a military uniform.
Johnny Zero
In 1946, Pittsburgh acquired the signing rights to Clement as part of a trade between the Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals. Jock Sutherland, who also served during the war, returned, and signed to coach the Steelers. Clement played behind Bullet Bill Dudley in 1946 but played in all 11 games. Sutherland often sent in the entire second team to start the second half. He had nerve damage in his left shoulder that he played with all year. Clement adopted the number zero, which he wore on service teams. He became known as “Johnny Zero.”
Steelers Backup to Starter
Jock Sutherland traded away All-Pro halfback Bullet Bill Dudley who led the league in rushing in 1946, after a dispute. Sutherland envisioned Clement as the replacement for Bill Dudley. Clement said he delayed signing to see if Dudley would return. “One of the reasons I delayed signing for 1947 was to see what Dudley was going to do. I like football too much to waste my time on the sidelines. Since I have the chance to be a regular left half-back now, I’m not going to muff it.”
Clement started out strong in 1947. He was among the league leaders in both rushing and passing. But then a dislocated elbow against the Chicago Bears in the tenth game sidelined him on the opening drive. The Bears demolished the Steelers 49-7 without Clement in the lineup. He missed the rematch with the Eagles, a 21-0 Steelers loss, after being instrumental in the victory in the first game. That’s where he scored two touchdowns on the ground and threw two more. The Steelers averaged 24 points a game in the first nine games.
Without Clement, they only scored 24 points in their last three games. Clement set a then-franchise record of 1004 passing yards despite missing two games and most of a third game. He also finished second in the league for rushing and led the NFL with 5.2 yards a carry. Good enough for second-team All-Pro behind the Eagles Steve Van Buren.
The Playoff Game
The late slump dropped Pittsburgh in the standings. But a 17-7 win over Boston in the last regular season game put them in a first-place tie with Philadelphia. This forced a playoff to determine who would face the Western Division champion Chicago Cardinals. In the playoff against the Eagles. Clement led all runners with 59 yards on 14 carries compared to 18 rushes for 45 yards by the Eagles’ Steve Van Buren. But Clement got off the mark in passing.
The Eagles used the T-formation, and former Steeler Tommy Thompson completed 11 of 17 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. But Clement completed four of 16 passes for 52 yards from the single wing. The Steelers lost the rubber match 21-0.
The Aftermath
In 1948, legendary Jock Sutherland’s sudden death in April stunned the Steelers. John Michelosen took over as coach. Clement injured his ribs in the preseason. The team doctor gave him shots of Novocain before the season opener against Washington. But then he separated his shoulder after gaining 127 rushing yards and passing for 81 more in a 17-14 loss. Michelosen wanted to rest Clement, but instead, he played the entire next game, throwing two touchdown passes, including a fourth-quarter toss that put the Steelers in the lead for a 24-14 come-from-behind victory.
Clement led the NFL with 223 rushing yards after three games. He reinjured himself in game five, a 34-27 loss to the Giants. He would dress one more time that season but as a tribute not to play. The Steelers finished the 1948 season with four wins and eight losses.
Pay Dispute
Clement hoped to return in 1949 but needed medical clearance. Art Rooney cut salaries and 14 players held out in a salary dispute. Clement did not show up for Steeler’s camp. Instead, newspapers reported Clement working out with the Chicago Hornets of the All-America Conference. Steelers general manager John Holahan revealed that salary negotiations had broken down as Clement signed with the Hornets. “Naturally, we ‘cut Clement’s salary,’ We cut all the salaries and he had to go along with the rest. We saw we were getting nowhere with him. We told him he was free to dicker with any club in football.”
The Steelers also lost John Mastrangelo to the All-America Conference. Steelers owner Art Rooney provided his perspective: “All our troubles are supposed to have started with salary cuts. No player likes to be cut down but there weren’t that many to worry about. For example, Clement made $7,000 ($96,288 today) with us in 1947. We raised him to $10,000 in 1948. He played only half the season, not even that, but received his pay just the same. This year, we weren’t sure he’d play at all but sent him a contract of $7,000 which I thought was very fair.”
The Steelers improved to 6-5-1 without the services of Clement or Mastrangelo. Clement played 12 games for the Hornets in 1949. Then Clement rejoined the military during the Korean war as a B-36 bomber pilot.
Tragic End
Clement gained a passion for flying from his WWII and Korean War service. He became a private pilot and acquired an aircraft. He was quite the barnstormer. For example, he flew from Texas to Pittsburgh on his own plane to meet with Jock Sutherland to discuss his contract in the 1948 off-season. Even landing in a cornfield on one of his stops, “I wanted to see friends in Loudonville …. So, I took a chance, flew over, and landed in a cornfield. It was a bit rough, but so are those Bears and Giants.”
After the Korean War, Clement went into construction and then flew an air taxi service. He would meet the Steelers teams at the airport whenever they flew to Dallas. Tragically, he died in December 1969 while piloting an aircraft. It crashed near Mountain City, Tennessee, but the wreckage was not found until January 29, 1970. He was just 50. He never got to see the Steelers win a playoff game.
But Johnny Zero remains a vibrant part of Pittsburgh Steelers lore.
Your Song Selection
I always like to include a bit of music. Johnny Clement loved to fly. Injuries hurt his chances in the Steelers’ very first playoff game. Philadelphia prevailed, so here is Fly Like an Eagle performed by the Steve Miller Band.
