Stallworth makes 10
It’s Monday night, and guess what I’m doing? Watching football!!! (Note the 3 exclamation points.) Tonight is the annual Hall of Fame game, which is the unofficial kickoff of the National Football League preseason. That, of course, means the real season is only a month away. To say I am excited would be a huge understatement.
The game follows a weekend of ceremonies in Canton, Ohio that includes the induction of members to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Of the 5 new inductees this year, one in particular is a long-time favorite of mine. John Stallworth holds most receiving records for the Pittsburgh Steelers and began his career in the mid-1970s. No team in the history of American football has come close to duplicating the success of the Steelers in the mid 70s: four Super Bowl championships in a 6-year span. Growing up north of Pittsburgh during this era is no doubt the seeds of my lifelong love of football. I’ll forever be a Steelers fan.
It’s pretty amazing that Stallworth is the 10th member of the great Steelers teams from the mid-70s to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And yes, since you asked, I can easily name the other nine: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, “Mean” Joe Greene, Lynn Swann, Jack Ham, Mike Webster, Mel Blount and Coach Chuck Noll. In comparison, there are 16 NFL teams that do not even have 10 members total in the Hall.
But enough about the past, because guess which team is the odds-on favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this year: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
My introduction to the NFL came during the mid- to late-70s courtesy of a fellow dorm rat, who was from Pittsburgh. That is, in part, why I’ve always been partial to the AFC and particularly hated Dallas.
Let’s hope Kordell doesn’t choke! I’d love to see the Steelers in the Superbowl! (Although I’d then have to pay attention to the GAME instead of just the commercials during our annual Superbowl gathering…)
Hooray, hoorah, someone else is as stoked for football as me!
It was a good day in Canton with the inductions of Stallworth and Jim Kelly. I like the Steelers for their blue-collar, underdog status, but of course my first love is the now Bledsoe-led Bills. It’ll be an AFC dogfight!