STEELER Trivia

Great trivia question. I googled it, here's a good summary of 'the coin toss'.

The Steelers of the 50’s and 60’s are remembered for getting rid of a rookie quarterback (and Pittsburgh native) named Johnny Unitas, as well as passing up Jim Brown in the NFL draft. This was a franchise that could have had Unitas handing off to Brown in the backfield. Instead, fans has come to expect that somehow they would foul things up.

The 1969 Steelers finished tied with the Chicago Bears for the league’s worst record at 1-13. That continued a history of failure for the Steelers, who, for most of their existence, were characterized as perennial losers similar to the Detroit Lions of the last decade.

The Bears’ only victory that season was over the Steelers. In today’s NFL that head-to-head victory would have guaranteed the Steelers the first pick in the NFL draft. However in 1970, if teams were tied with identical won-loss records, then a coin flip was used to determine who picked first.

So it came to be that the future of the Steelers would be decided by a coin flip in a New Orleans hotel in 1970. Steeler fans expected the worst. With NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle ready to flip the coin, the Steelers’ owner Dan Rooney allowed Bears’ executive Ed McCaskey to make the call. Rooney was following the advice of his father, Steelers’ founder Art Rooney Sr., who always advised deferring the decision to the opponent, apparently for karmic reasons.

McCaskey called heads, and when Rozelle flipped the 1921 silver dollar in the air it came down tails. While Rooney and Noll beamed triumphantly, Chicago Sun-Times writer Jack Griffin bellowed from the back of the room “McCaskey, you bum, you can’t even win a coin toss!”

The reason for Rooney and Noll’s elation had to do with the unanimous consensus No. 1 draft pick that season—a strong-armed quarterback from Louisiana Tech named Terry Bradshaw.

Both the Bears and the Steelers coveted the talented collegian, who they felt was a quarterback that they could build around for a decade or more. So disappointed were the Bears in the turn of events that they traded down in the draft, giving their No. 2 pick to the Green Bay Packers, who drafted a defensive tackle out of Notre Dame named Mike McCoy.

 

BigfaninKY is up. The person who answers correctly gets to ask the next question.

 

Good Lord. I knew about Unitas, but passing up Brown too? And all this time I was mad they passed on Marino (not that I would have been old enough to appreciate a backfield like Unitas and Brown anyway, but still...)

 

Doesn't seem like BSF wants to ask one, and I need entertainment.

I don't object if no one else does.

 

You are evil...

 

Complete guesses:

Won IX
Lost X and XIII
Won XIV
Lost XXX and XL
Won XLIII (this being the most recent, I'm ashamed to not remember)

 

I know the answer now. And all I have to say is... wow.

 

Legitimately won the toss or officially won?

PS-I don't know the answer.

 

I didn't look it up. Is it none?

 

No.