The Super '70s: Memories of Pro Football's Greatest Era

by Tom Danyluk

“A little west of here, son… a little west of here.”

“The only discipline that lasts is self-discipline,”

Guys in the backwards baseball caps will love it.

The question is, What about the game? What about the action on the field? In most publications and newspapers, it’s now a secondary item, taking a disturbing backseat to hype and triviality.

After 18 years, I cancelled my subscription.

Rudyard Kipling, once describing how he found his lines, stated, “I keep serving six honest men (They taught me all I know); their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.”

Terry Bradshaw was one. I used to love watching him play. He was so tough. Bradshaw would have been a great Raider because he played every game for keeps. You knew that when you were going up against Bradshaw he was going to play every single down. I couldn’t believe it when Chuck Noll would get down on that guy. If Noll had to play against Terry Bradshaw, he never would have gotten down on him.

You know who else would have been a great Raider? Steve Largent from Seattle. My God, what a great receiver!

Bradshaw, who sometimes dressed like he grew tobacco,

I mean, I could play some ball.

However, the Steelers were by far the best football team I had ever seen.

I played in the Pro Bowl one year, and I looked over at our defense and realized that eight or nine of them were the regulars on Pittsburgh’s team. Every person on that defense was as good as or better than anybody in the league. They had the NFL’s three best linebackers, Jack Lambert, Andy Russell and Jack Ham, who were so talented and fast that they could’ve been receivers. Thomas and Mel Blount were at the corners. I think Blount was the best player I ever played against. Nobody dominated his position and controlled one half of the football field like he did. So your other choice was to throw to the other side of the field, and there was J.T. Thomas, another All-Pro.

then at season’s end the interim coach is blindfolded and given his last Camel.

The NFL draft process intentionally puts great players in the wrong place at the wrong time,

I would have to say that Pittsburgh’s Joe Greene was the best I ever played against. He was a combination of strength, speed and quickness. And he was nasty.

But Joe Greene had everything. I could never take a play off against that man.

I guess the answer is that I’d still knock the hell out of those guys.

We would’ve fucked him up. We would have absolutely fucked him up!