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ARTICLE
1975 AFC Divisional Playoff Another in a series of stories about
the 47 playoff games in Steelers history. Ham,
Harris key playoff win in By BOB
LABRIOLA Steelers.com Even a generation ago, long before
free agency and salary caps and eight-figure signing bonuses attached to
nine-figure contracts, teams that won championships one season faced tumultuous
offseasons the next. Athletes want to be paid, unchecked satisfaction can fester
into complacency, and the competition is always looking
t As January rolled into February back
in 1975, the Pittsburgh Steelers were champions for the first time in franchise
history, and if everything about being in this predicament was new they also
were finding ways to deal with it all. The receptionist who answered the
telephone, "World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers," was told gently by Art Rooney
Sr. to dispense with the self-promotion. As for the newly-crowned champions
themselves, it was a more innocent time. Players might have been fattened up by
a steady diet of rubber chicken and stuffed pork chops at all those sports
banquets, but this wasn't the era of professional athletes as rock stars. Some
guys still had offseason jobs. Dan Rooney would be dealing with the
business aspects as usual, but this offseason he was doing it in his new role as
team president. "Dad walked into my office and said, 'You're the president,'"
said Dan Rooney. "There wasn't a whole lot of fanfare involved. It's a title
without a raise." At that specific time, part of the
business of the NFL was eagerly awaiting the final breaths of the World Football
Over on the football side, Art
Rooney Jr. and his scouts along with Chuck Noll and his staff were preparing for
the draft, and the Steelers were not going to make the mistake of having one
influence the other. "We don't draft on the basis of our
existing personnel," said Noll. "This is where you can wind up hitting the panic
button. We can't say, 'We're going to grab all the defensive ends.' That's
panicking, and you can screw up your whole draft that way. Say you're going to
lose L.C. Greenwood. Then you may be able to help your football team more by
being better offensively. You don't make decisions based upon positions. The
defensive end that's available may really be a fifth-round choice. So you end up
bypassing a lot of good people who could help you in other areas to get that
defensive end. That's why we don't draft that way." By the time the Fourth of July
rolled around, everything was settled. The Americans folded, and
"This offseason has been pretty much
the same as all the others," said Noll. "I'm not a big savorer. It was doing
what we did that was the enjoyable part, not looking back on it
afterward. "Well, we had the best team in the
playoffs last year. Now we want to have the best team in the regular season … to
take care of the detractors." By the time the team was to report
to "I don't know why it is, but I think
a lot of people look at our win last January as a fluke," said Dwight White. "I
think the general public across the country think that the first time you win a
Super Bowl it's a fluke. Win it a second time, and they call you a dynasty, but
the second one is the key to the proper form of
recognition." Said Hanratty, sounding like Noll,
"If we have the same single-mindedness, the same dedication on the field as well
as off the field and the same high quality of leadership we had last year, I see
no reason why we can't win the Super Bowl again. Certainly, the talent is there,
but if anybody thinks winning the Super Bowl a second time will be easy, they're
crazy, damn crazy." Training camp began with a stretch
so smooth that Noll was moved to say on July 29: "It's scary. It's hard to find
someone who's not doing well." But then on the heels of a 3-4 preseason, he was
dour. "Intensity is the thing that set up apart fro It turned out that Noll's opinion on
July 29 was correct. The Steelers opened with a 37-0 win over the Chargers, and
then after a loss to Buffalo only because O.J. Simpson was spectacular, they ran
off 11 wins in a row before dropping a meaningless finale in a
For their playoff opener against the
Baltimore Colts at Three Rivers Stadium they would have to do that again: Joe
Greene, Jack Ham, Andy Russell, Mike Wagner, Loren Toews and Hanratty all were
nursing injuries. "Our front four – ends Fred Cook and
Added
Greene wouldn't play, and Bradshaw
injured a knee in the game, but Franco Harris made up for a season spoiled by
groin and toe injuries by rushing for 153 yards on 27 carries, and Jack Ham was
magnificent. Ham finished with two sacks and an
interception, and then he forced a fumble and threw the key block that allowed
Andy Russell to return it 93 yards for the clinching touchdown in a 28-10
win. "I ran the first 50 yards in 9.4
seconds, and I slowed down some after that," joked Russell in the winner's
locker room. I thought about running straight into the dressing room because
there was no way I was going to be ready for the next defensive series. What a
great play that was (by Ham). First, he knocked the ball loose and then in the
same motion he blocked Bert Jones so I could get started." When the rest of the opening round
of the 1975 NFL Playoffs had concluded, a headline in the Beaver County Times
got right to the heart of the Colts 0 7 3 0 10 Steelers 7 0 7 14 28
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