Chuck Noll Has Passed Away

Once Noll retired he never sought any limelight for his many accomplishments, he just spent his time with his wine endeavors and family, a class guy and a coaching legend, he was humble in life and will be remembered as a humble legend in death....

 

I've been out of town for funerals (2 actually in the last couple of weeks) and haven't been keeping up with the news, so I just found out about this this morning.

RIP Coach Noll. You were one of the best, if not THE best, ever!

 

I had the privilege of sitting next to him for dinner once at a charity event. Fine, pleasant, gentleman. We talked about a bunch of stuff, including airplanes. I never once asked him a question about football. I figured I would give him a break from the same old same old from fans.

 

I connected to a link on things being said about Noll after his passing. One of my favorites was by some columnist from the USA Today - he said something akin to: "Seems like anytime a coach wins a SB, he puts out a book and eventually goes on the circuit as some broadcaster, Chuck Noll won 4 Super Bowls and he never wrote a book."
That captures a lot of the essence of Coach Noll.

I also like what Woodson said - that he would tell his young players as soon as they got there to be thinking about their futures - that they wouldn't be playing football forever and that they need to think about what they may want to do with the rest of their lives. That alone is a great service that he provided to his players.

Also the man was more than football - he had other interests besides football. Supposedly one of his happiest moments of his life was when he was allowed to guest conduct the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the coach was a great lover of the arts, especially classical music.

I am sure he had his faults too, but I think the coach made the world a better place with him being in it - he sure as hell made it a lot better for Pittsburgh Steeler fans. RIP Coach Noll.

 

Terry Bradshaw is taking some heat he was in Pittsburgh Saturday to do his one man show, but he skipped Noll's viewing and funeral that's not cool. We shouldn't be surprised Bradshaw skipped Art Rooney's funeral also.

 

Yeah, that would be too bad if this turns out to be true.

 

People react to death different ways. I'm sure Bradshaw didn't want to become the story and so he chose to have a separate time to express his grief and pay his respects. It's a personal choice that appears to have the opposite effect he was looking for which is he becomes the story by staying away. Bottom line for me whether he went to the visitation or gets together with team members still alive and toast Chuck Noll or just lights a candle in church it is his choice and I will respect that.

 

it could have been a number of things that kept him from this. maybe he went and talked to the family without anyone knowing or went to the funeral home before visitation started and paid his respects and left. I doubt the funeral home director would have turned him away early and for good reason. who really knows?

all I know is I got the last autograph before chuck coached his last home game. he signed my hat before he went inside to the locker room. he was like that every time I saw him. he would sign them until everyone that wanted one got one. he is a cornerstone of this ball club. 4-0 in super bowls is stuff of legends and he was our greatest, not terry. I hope he didn't just blow it off.

 

I was listening to The Fan and they said some guy (forget his name) who was connected to Noll commented on how Bradshaw and Lambert handled the situation differently. He basically implied Bradshaw blew it off and made no effort or contact with Marianne Noll or with the funeral home. Lambert did not attend the funeral, but he reached out to Marianne and met w/her privately prior to the funeral. As we know Lambert is not a guy who likes crowds anymore.

It does look kind of suspect that Terry didn't make any kind of appearance, but maybe Terry has his reasons and let's face it, Noll and Bradshaw had a pretty frosty relationship. Some even argue that Bradshaw's career was shortened possibly for a couple of years because Noll played him late in the season when he was still hurt. I did see Bradshaw put out a statement after Noll's death that was very respectful and sounded very honest. He didn't sugarcoat that Noll and he had issues, but he did credit Noll with being a great leader and playing a big part in turning Terry into a great QB.

 

It's been reported in the press that Bradshaw addressed the audience at the beginning of his show, and spoke about Chuck Noll and what an honor and privilege it was to play for him. He indicated by his respectful behavior that he meant his comments to be separate from his show. I agree with others here who acknowledged that each of us handles the death of someone important to our own lives as best we can, and may handle it differently than others would. Sometimes that might be even differently than our own handling of similar situations. These matters are usually deeply personal. Bradshaw might have even felt cautious and concerned about encouraging references to the famed stormy times in their relationship.

 

The 'guy' was longtime Steeler PR man (and Chuck Noll pallbearer) Joe Gordan. Who also told Joe Starkey that TB was 'the most insincere man he'd ever met'.

Terry has issues and always has. He is an odd combination of ego, pride, sensitivity and insecurity. He remember 'slights' for a long time. His line of BS is a mile long.


He didn't go to Art Sr's funeral, and always says he regretted it. I guess we'll hear soon how much he regretted not going to Nolls.

 

Was away for the week. R.I.P. Chuck!

 

Chuck Noll's Greatest stat...He was Home EVERY Night by 6:00 P.M. for dinner with his family!

 

Attending funerals is a personal decision one makes.. i have immediate family members that have passed on and i didn't attend. People need to let it go and get off Terry's back.

 

just because they had a working relationship many years ago, doesn't mean they were best friends or anything. remember this is a job to them and 53 plus people all have different personalities in those locker rooms. not everyone is as close as we all think. 24+ years ago is when terry played for him. I probably wouldn't go to a funeral of a boss I had 24 years ago either, if we were not close then or since then.

 

I dont attend funerals either, some people dont go to funerals, i'm one of them as well, i'm noticing a lot of people dont have a formal funeral these days, instead they have a small memorial for family members and only a few close friends, and usually they request cremation, so if someone chooses not to a tend a funeral it's no ones business, so nose out....

 

Should be there.

 

I agree!

 

That funeral should be all about Noll and his family. Given the history, Terry would have been a distraction.

 

you go.

 

Crappy cars! Good thing they don't make them anymore!