Rocky Bleier, second from left, took pictures with attendees in Cleveland
photo by John Shearer
Most Pittsburgh Steelers players and fans over the years have not cared for Cleveland – at least the Cleveland in Ohio that is home to the traditional archrival Browns.
But 1970s-era Steelers running back Rocky Bleier said Saturday he was glad to be in another Cleveland – the one just east of Chattanooga on Interstate 75.
The reason was that he was helping the Bradley Sunrise Rotary Club gross roughly $100,000 for various needy charities through his appearance at the annual Sunrise Sunset Gala at Cleveland Country Club.
“What the Rotary does and the money they raise and what they’ve done in the past, it’s a great cause to be able to be a keynote speaker for and be involved in,” he said during a media gathering before the evening event.
But he jokingly said his wife thought they were initially going to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was telling her his next appearance while making sure he had time to heal from double knee replacement surgery.
“She said, ‘No problem.
I’ll drive you,’ ” But as it got closer to the date, I said, ‘I’m going to Cleveland, Tn., not Cleveland, Ohio,’ ” he recalled with a laugh, hinting that Cleveland, Tn., was a little too far to drive from the Pittsburgh area with two bum knees.
As Mr. Bleier talked with members of the media before meeting certain gala attendees and speaking to the total gathering of about 225 people, he showed a sense of humor and a self-effacing manner.
That also included telling about how he as a player of limited ability was able to join star running back Franco Harris in each gaining over 1,000 yards as members of the same backfield in 1976. He said some injuries to Terry Bradshaw and a stout Pittsburgh defense lent itself to Pittsburgh having a ball-control offense, with each getting to run the ball plenty.
Mr. Bleier jokingly added that he now has some aching limbs to show for all his blocking for Mr. Harris, and that Mr. Bleier got nothing from Mr. Harris for it.
But he did say, “What made it work is we complemented one another.”
While stats might echo his sentiments Saturday that he was an average NFL player, a look at his heart during that time of old told a different story.
The former Notre Dame standout’s ability to overcome a serious combat injury while serving in the Vietnam War and then helping lead the Steelers to four Super Bowls before retiring was one of most inspiring sports or non-sports stories of the 1970s.
He won over Vietnam veterans and school kids alike – in part through his offseason workouts to get himself in condition to be able to make the team after his war injury that included losing part of his foot.
The accomplishment also came after doctors initially told him he would never play football again.
For pure inspiration, the man who wore No. 20 was No. 1 in a lot of Steelers fans’ hearts.
He did admit Saturday that he was honored to be an inspiration for Vietnam veterans, many of whom received little praise or support due to the fact not everyone had been in favor of the war during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“Given the war, given our society at that time, the Vietnam veterans, they needed someone they could at least look up to and say, ‘He’s one of us,’ ” Mr. Bleier said.
He did talk a little about some current issues, including the controversy about concussions. He said he did not really care for the 2015 movie, “Concussion,” about the topic, but it did create a dialogue.
“For parents, it created a dialogue, for children it created a dialogue, from Pop Warner guys into high school,” he said. “Coaches became more aware and there’s more knowledge in how to deal with it.”
He did add that when pro football players sign contracts, they don’t ask about health benefits or retirement, but simply how much money they are going to get.
Regarding his old team, he said that the Pittsburgh Steelers have become a national brand around the country, due in part to their sustained success over much of the last four decades. He pointed out that the team had been perennially bad for the four decades before that until he and the others helped lead them to four Super Bowls under coach Chuck Noll.
Also contributing to the fact that Steelers fans can now be found around the country is that the economy in such traditional Western Pennsylvania industries as steel and coal soured beginning in the early 1980s, and people left to find jobs elsewhere.
Mr. Bleier – who in recent years has become a motivational speaker, financial adviser on radio and actor in a one-man play – said he still gets together occasionally with former Steeler teammates for special events.
He also gladly tries to help make public appearances on behalf of the team. He still pulls for Pittsburgh, he said, although he admits he is not like some fans, who know everything about the players and live and die with each win or defeat.
But as many fans will say, Mr. Bleier was always a winner through every loss or victory, and his story still serves as inspiration more than 40 years after it came to fruition.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net