Legendary Steelers scout Bill Nunn Jr., who was a key orchestrator behind the 1970’s dynasty, passed away today due to complications from a stroke he suffered two weeks ago. Nunn Jr. worked for the Steelers for 46 years, and was Senior Assistant of Player Personnel up until his death.
Bill Nunn Jr. worked as a sports reporter, and later editor, for The Pittsburgh Courrier during the 1940’s though 1960’s. After telling Dan Rooney that he didn’t think the Steelers would ever be successful, the team hired him as a part time scout in 1967. According to Nunn (via Steelers.com) the conversation went as follows. “I said, ‘I don’t think you’ll ever be a winner.’ He [Rooney] said, ‘If you think you can help us be a winner, why don’t you come and join us.’ I said I have a job. He said, ‘Well you look at these (black college football) games – because I was covering a game every week at that time – why don’t you start doing some part-time work and tell us what you think about certain players. I said, OK.”
Nunn Jr. was possibly best known for finding talent from small black colleges, many of whom would go on to be household names. L.C. Greenwood, Mel Blount, Ernie Holmes, John Stallworth, and Donnie Shell are some of the great names on that list.
Steelers chairman Dan Rooney gave this statement via the team’s website about the super-scout’s passing.
“We have lost a great friend and a great person who did so much for the Steelers organization with the passing of Bill Nunn. Bill was a special person who did everything in his career, from playing sports to being an excellent journalist all of which led to his outstanding career in scouting for the Steelers.
“Bill had extraordinary instinct in identifying talent throughout his career, including the legendary 1974 NFL Draft for us. He put us ahead of so many other teams in the NFL by leading the efforts of drafting African-American football players at traditional black colleges. Very few people had a bigger impact in the history of our franchise, and his positive attitude and contributions will truly be missed.
“Bill meant so much to this organization and we will all miss him terribly. My thoughts and prayers are with Frances, Bill III and Lynell, along with the entire Nunn Family.”