The 1984 Steelers

I came across the video yearbook for the 1984 Steelers on YouTube. I have always felt a special attachment to that team. It was the year I transitioned from casual fan to football junkie, watching every minute of football possible. I also moved home to Pittsburgh after being away for three years during that season, actually just a few days after seeing them lose to the Saints in New Orleans.

It just struck me how that team was dramatically different from the current version. They still had Chuck Noll, who at the time said it was his best coaching job. It was a stark contrast to Mike Tomlin having one of his worst seasons.

They still had John Stallworth, Mike Webster and Donnie Shell in starting roles and a few other members of the Super Bowl teams from the '70s, but they had rookies all over the starting lineup.

Stallworth was far from the diva that we have now in Antonio Brown. Shell was still a playmaker in the secondary.

That Pittsburgh team was second in the NFL in interceptions with 31. Shell picked off seven of them. All of the Steelers' defensive backs combined for only six interceptions in 2018, with two more coming from the linebackers.

That Pittsburgh defense was dominant against the run. They were the best in the AFC in rushing yards allowed and yards per carry. They held Eric Dickerson to 49 yards rushing and that was the year he set the league record with 2,105 total. They did the same to Marcus Allen, who was having the best year of his Hall of Fame career.

Of course, some things were the same. Their leading rusher wore number 30 and occasionally had issues hanging on to the football. (I was a big Frank Pollard fan.) That team was also thin and weak at cornerback, which is why they had no shot in the AFC Championship Game against Dan Marino.

The other reason was that they didn't have a quarterback. They just kept switching among two crappy ones, Mark Malone and David Woodley.

Anyway, it cheered me up a little, so I thought I'd share.

 

I love that season.

 

Life was so much simpler back then. 3 Rivers Stadium and a trolley was all you needed.

 

I watched the 1971 video and that was cool. That was the year I became a fan. The 1971 video showed highlights of most games.

 

If the Steelers had had Marino in the 80's.

 

We would've had 10 superbowls by now. And, still had Ben fall to us? Wow!

 

Slightly off-topic, but only just:

It's funny, because I started following the Steelers in the 80s (slightly later than this, as we didn't get any coverage in the UK regularly until 85/86ish). So while I know people look back at that period and shudder at how bad it was compared to the 70s and more recently, I always have a nostalgia for the teams because those were *my* teams. Lipps, Merriweather, Tunch etc. Even Brister lol.

Anyways, love watching these films, thanks for posting.

 

It was a struggle.

 

I am impressed with anyone who became a fan before the 70's, during the 80's, and now, during the 2010's.

 

Loved that season! Do any other 80's kids from Pittsburgh remember when School Crossing Guards used to hand out Steelers trading cards? My crossing guard was a big fan and she would always give me extra cards because I would talk Steelers with her for a few minutes after school. That AFCC loss was the first time I can remember being devestated by a loss. I completely forgot the we beat the 49ers that year. Good stuff.

 

The book, 'Lost Sundays', is a really good read if you can't get enough of the 80's Steelers. The author followed the team during the '88 season and chronicled it week by week, game by game. It wasn't a good season record-wise, but there was a lot going on in the franchise that makes the book interesting (Art Sr. passed away that summer). I haven't read the book in a long time, but I thought about it a lot during the course of this season, 30 years later.

 

Great find. Thanks for sharing.
A couple of thoughts....

In todays NFL the first int at the 2:30 mark by Washington would have been reviewed and down by contact. No TD.

Rich Erenberg still lives in the area. He owns a commercial real estate investment firm headquartered in Canonsburg. A friend of the family worked for him a number of years ago.

Robin Cole was a big roller skater. I used to see him a lot when I was a kid at the old Roll R Skate in Canonsburg during weekend night skates, even during the season.

Brian Hinkle was my neighbor in Bridgeville for 5 years when I lived there. I used to see him when we'd walk the dog and our oldest as a baby. He was still a pretty big guy back then. It's been over a dozen years since I lived there, so Im not sure if he still does. A check of the county records shows that he still owns the house.

Edmund Nelson as well. He lived close by in walking distance a few streets away, but in a different neighborhood in Upper St Clair.

 

I remember that Nelson lived in Upper St. Clair, but I'm not sure if he is still there. Doesn't he still broadcast preseason games?

 

I'm glad others see it how I do. My story is similar to yours. I was too young to properly appreciate the teams in the '70s. I know my father took me to some games, but I don't really remember them. It was during the '80s that I really became a fan. We were living in New Orleans at the time. I was going to Saints games, but constantly checking the out-of-town scores. I'd be watching Hokie Gajan, Rickey Jackson and Morten Andersen, but my loyalty was with Lipps, Ilkin, Merriweather, Stallworth and Shell.

As I briefly mentioned above, a few days before we moved back to Pittsburgh, my father took my brother and I to see the Steelers play the Saints on a Monday night in the Superdome. His friends took one look at me in my Steelers t-shirt and hat and booed. I clearly remember Stallworth catching a long touchdown pass and Lipps returning a punt for a score, but otherwise the Steelers played like crap and lost. I remember one woman who was a Saints fan noticed the miserable look on my face. "Don't cry, son. We've been crying about our team for 20 years."

 

No, back then , it was a different struggle. We just had to draft the talent needed to win.
I don't even recognize this team. From the top to the bottom ... it's a mess!

 

That is part of why I enjoyed the video and thinking about that team. Even before watching the video, I could still name every starter on that team and most of the backups, something I certainly can't do for most of the teams since then. I'm sure that team wasn't without its internal issues. I believe there was something of a rivalry between Pollard and Abercrombie. Merriweather ended up being traded a way due to a holdout. Webster was subjecting himself to the combination of steroids and brain injuries that ended up destroying him. The same was true of Terry Long.

I didn't realize before looking it up today that Dr. Cyril Wecht first ruled Long's cause of death as CTE, though it was later changed to suicide by drinking anti-freeze. Dr. Bennett Omalu, who should sound familiar to anybody who has learned about CTE or if you saw the movie Concussion, worked on the autopsy. He and Wecht both claimed that the CTE was likely a contributing factor to Long' suicide.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2307003

I am still very fond of that team, but it was far from perfect. Those Steelers teams were still a big part of the league's failure to protect players from the long-term effects of steroids and brain injuries.

 

I've really gone down the YouTube rabbit hole from this one. Now I found the 2002 Wild Card game against the Browns. I'd never seen the broadcast because I was in the stadium for this one, which was the best Steelers game I've ever seen live.

 

https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburg...gh-Steelers-didnt-draft-Dan-Marino-117300049/

 

I still say Dwayne woodruff was one of the most underrated players ever. I loved watching him play

 

I remember a fan holding a sign "There will be none for the thumb till Malone is done." LOL.

 

Good Player.he is now a judge in Allegheny County.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/1984_roster.htm