Before I start, can we have a shout out for the 1966-67 Steelers uniforms? They were the most iconic and attractive uniforms to ever see the light of day. Shame that it was the Steelers in them. Someone should bring this look back, and not just for “retro” days. Maybe the “Commanders” who need all the PR help they can get…
Anyway.
Our jersey model, Andy Russell, was an intelligent man—even if in this card, he looks like he’s been distracted by a cropduster or a low flying bird. After graduating from Missouri in 1963, his father, a business executive, told him to, well, go into business, or to go for his masters degree, so they wrote every NFL team to tell them he wasn’t interested in pro ball. Every team, but one. Pittsburgh never got a letter, and of course they drafted him. Both Russell and the Steelers can be grateful for the slight.
After serving two years in the military, Russell convinced his father that the NFL would be a good source of revenue to develop business interests, so his father allowed him to go to training camp…and Andy made the team with ease. But, the Steelers sucked back then, and their head coaching position was a literal revolving door of mediocrity. Until the Steelers were at their very low ebb in 1969, and Art Rooney hired a former Colts assistant named Chuck Noll to try to save the team.
Andy remembered his first meeting with Coach Noll this way…
“So, Coach Noll’s first meeting, I’ll never forget the speech he gave. He gets up and says, ‘I’ve been watching the game film since I took the job, and I can tell you guys why you’ve been losing.’
You could have heard a pin drop in that room.
He says, ‘The reason you have been losing is you’re not any good. I’m going to get rid of most of you.’
Five of us made it from that room to the Super Bowl in ’74.”
Noll was smart. Despite a 1-13 record, he kept Russell, who became one of his foundation players for the Steel Curtain. And the other four “survivors”? Rocky Bleier (who would serve—and be wounded–in Vietnam that year, and didn’t play that season), center Ray Mansfield, kicker Bobby Walden, and guard Sam Davis. The draft choices, including Mean Joe Greene and LC Greenwood, hadn’t reported to camp yet.
Russell, who as he predicted became a highly successful businessman with his NFL earnings, would also be a wonderful source for interviews and documentaries about the Steelers until his death.
Shame they never kept the jerseys, though.
Check out this video of Andy Russell in action!
