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The Forgotten Steelers Playoff Game · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, everybody.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Tim Hannon.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Steve Wert.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: We always talk about the hard-hitting questions and issues.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And on this podcast, we always take a look back at the memorable moments in Pittsburgh sports history.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: This episode, we're going to talk about the Forgotten Steelers playoff game.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're diving back into Betamax classics.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Betamax classics.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and I am excited to do this episode because i i this was a game that a lot of people don't remember And it is a game that I my parents had taped on on a Betamax tape when I was a kid.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And for some reason, I watched it a lot.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've always been really fascinated by this game.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I covered it when I did my old Steelers blog.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I did a whole long forum piece about it then.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it it it's it's just a game that kind of got sandwiched in between errors and a lot of people just don't remember.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um The Steelers, through the end of the 2019 season, the Steelers have played in 61 postseason games.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of postseason games.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, you know, all Steelers fans know there's an incredible history of Steel War playoff games.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: You have the Immaculate Reception, you have the Hail Mary game against the Colts in 95.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: You have the AFC Championship game against the Ravens.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: But this game, there's a game that was played, and the game we're going to talk about today was a game against the San Diego Chargers in 1982.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And most Steel War fans don't remember it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so we wanted to cover it because I think it's pretty interesting.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a lot of interesting context to it.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it was a pretty crazy and memorable game that just sort of got forgotten in history.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So before we get to the game itself, let's just talk about the background heading into the game.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And let's start, let's let's talk about both teams.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the Steelers.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: In 1979, the Steelers win their fourth Super Bowl.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're the team of the decade.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: They're one of the great teams of all time.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And almost immediately people start talking about one for the thumb.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's that was going to be the fifth Super Bowl, the one for the thumb.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes when you you have a great team, you know, fans of that team, they don't see an end.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're just enjoying it and they're just waiting for the next championship.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And what people didn't know at the time was that was that was the sort of the end of the winning.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: The stars were all aging.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the Steelers weren't drafting as well as they had in the 70s.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we did a whole episode about the downfall of the Steelers in the 1980s.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Please go back and listen if you haven't.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And we detailed just the just the pitiful drafts they had during that era.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so in 1980, uh the Steelers still do okay.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: They go 9-7, but that's not good enough to qualify for the playoffs.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the defense, which had carried them through to four Super Bowl victories, was the 15th ranked defense in the league that year, and that was back when there was only 28 teams.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that put them you know in the bottom uh 50% of the league in defense.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: The offense that year had 42 turnovers, so definitely not championship caliber play in 1980.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: 1981 wasn't a whole lot better.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: That year got gets off to a rocky start.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Terry Bradshaw breaks his toe on his kitchen counter while he's chasing his dogs around.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Is he recording a country music album at the same time?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm tempted to laugh at that, Steve, except that I've also broken my toe on my kitchen counter.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not gonna say anything uh about Terry doing that.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh again, they missed the playoffs.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this time they go eight and eight.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, they're not a they're not a bad team, but they're now they're sort of a mediocre team.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And after that 1981 season, Joe Green retires.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um lot of people, Dan Rooney included, say Joe Green's the greatest stealer of all time, and he calls the quits after that year.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh LC Greenwood and Rocky Blyer also retire.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And and so now after two years of mediocrity, I think fans maybe start to wonder okay, maybe maybe the good times are over for good.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's where the Steelers are heading into 1982.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, let's talk about San Diego.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because they had been going really in the exact opposite direction of the Steelers.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: In the 1970s, uh, they were they were just a miserable franchise.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: They never finished higher than third in their division, um, played in the same division as the Oakland Raiders, who were one of the dominant teams of that era.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and near the end of the decade, they hire a new head coach.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: This guy's name is Don Coriel.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Don Coriel is an offensive mastermind.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: He brings this very innovative style of offense to the Chargers.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's nicknamed Air Coriel.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And very quickly after hiring Coriel, they become a relevant franchise.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: They start putting up a lot of points.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Their quarterback was Dan Fouts, who's a future Hall of Famer.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and and they're not just scoring points, more importantly, they're winning games.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: In 1979, they go 12-4.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's the best record in the NFL.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: It makes them the number one seed in the AFC going into the playoffs.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers that year are the number two seed in the AFC.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: So everyone's sort of anticipating this dramatic, you know, passing of the torch potential AFC championship game in San Diego between the Chargers and the Steelers.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the Chargers that year had beaten the Steelers in the regular season.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that was going to be this epic AFC championship game.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is it never happens.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: The Houston Oilers, who are a wildcard team, go to San Diego in the divisional round and they upset the Chargers 17 to 14.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's it's really a monumental upset, not just because the Oilers were a wild card team going to play at San Diego, but because uh the Oilers' starting quarterback was Dan Pascarini.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: He did not play, he was injured for that game.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And their best player was running back Earl Campbell, a Hall of Famer.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: He also is injured and doesn't play in that game.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: So they don't have their starting quarterback, they don't have their Hall of Fame running back, and they still go out to San Diego and beat the Chargers and the divisional round.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's just a really devastating blow for the Chargers.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a game that's not without controversy.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And and Steve, this is an interesting story.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've ever heard this before, because it's the first time I ever heard it.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um in this game, so so San Diego, uh, their offensive coordinator is Joe Gibbs.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: We know who Joe Gibbs is, becomes the later becomes the head coach of the Redskins and wins Super Bowls there.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: In 1979, he's the offensive coordinator, and a lot like a lot of offensive coordinators, he sits up in the box and then he relays um plays down to the sidelines, and then the coaches on the sidelines would then signal the plays into the huddle.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, uh the the defensive coordinator for the Oilers is a guy named Eddie Biles, and he breaks the code of the signaling.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's much like baseball where they're they're signing in you know um plays and he breaks the code, and the Oilers uh figured out what plays they were calling.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so Biles, the defensive coordinator, he would signal in the plays to the Oilers middle linebacker Greg Bingham, and that guy would call the Houston defense.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh the result is that Houston really shuts down the high-powered San Diego offense.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's um Vernon Perry, who's the Oilers strong safety, intercepts four passes from Dan Fouts, three of them while he's playing in double coverage against the Chargers.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and the funny thing about this was it wasn't a secret.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can actually, if you go back to the Sports Illustrated issue from the week after that game, the Oilers are openly talking about how they stole the signals uh from the from the Chargers.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just feel like that would be a huge controversy today.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: But at the time it was kind of like, well, you weren't smart enough to hide your signals.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Tough.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I I think too, like it wasn't like they were videotaping them or using some sort of technology to assist them.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: They just, I mean, if I sit there and watch your signals and I figure out, you know, what am I supposed to do?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Close my eyes, you know.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's like the baseball that's been going on forever.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like you know, when there's a guy at second base, you have to change your signals.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can't the catcher can't, you know, give the same signals or you know, they're gonna have it.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: So is this the same Joe Gibbs that owns a NASCAR team?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: No, no.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Same guy.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, before NASCAR, I guess.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: They learned to change the signals in NASCAR too, I guess.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: After that.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I just thought I just thought that was interesting, and it's it's I don't know what it is about.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: He's a very good coach, he's very successful.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I don't know what it is about Houston sports franchises and stealing signs, but man, apparently that's a that's a thing to do in Houston.
• 9:28
  unknown: Yeah.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Steal the other team's signs.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a big up.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: But if they could steal, why didn't it work against the Steelers?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the Steelers are obviously smart enough to not do that, or you know, or right.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you know, come on.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean fool me once, shame on me.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you, you know, fool me twice, shame on me, something like that.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So so 1980 for the Chargers, their offense keeps rolling.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Felt that year had 4,500 yards passing and 30 touchdowns, which in today's NFL would be really good numbers, probably league leading numbers.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Back then, that was mind-blowing for a quarterback to have 4,500 yards and 30 touchdowns.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it just shows you what kind of offense they had.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: They also become the first team in the history of the NFL to have three receivers go over a thousand yards.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh John Jefferson, Charlie Joyner, and tight end Kevin Winslow.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this time they do make it past the divisional round.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: They make it to the AFC Championship game, which they're hosting against the Oakland Raiders.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Another team, you know, team that was in their division, team they'd beaten during the regular season.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And uh Oakland upsets them, and it's Oakland that goes on the Super Bowl 15 and not San Diego.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So they they they lost at home to the Oilers in 79, they lost at home to the Raiders in 1980.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's starting to look like missed opportunities.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: 1981, the Chargers again put up huge numbers, again win their division.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the the thing that changed in 1981 is you know their offense is really all passing.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And in 1981, they really established a great running game.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Chuck Muncie was their running back.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: He rushes for over 1,100 yards and scores a then NFL record, 19 touchdowns.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: That season.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: What's the record now, like 34 or like 40 or something?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I know Ladane Lee and Tomlinson broke it at one point, and maybe Adrian Peterson broke it another time.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I I don't remember what the number was, but at the time 19 was the record.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's unheard of.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: So just a very high-powered offense.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: That year in the playoffs, um, they go to Miami for the divisional round, and they play the Dolphins in a very famous game that has a has a name to it.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's so famous called the Epic in Miami.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: That game goes deep in overtime, and the Chargers end up winning at 41-38.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're not familiar with that game, you've probably seen the clip of Kellen Winslow, the Hall of Fame tight end, being carried off the field after doing like everything he could to lift the team to victory.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that game's just very famous, very epic, always relived.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you would think, you know, just like the Immaculate Reception launched the Stewart's or the or the uh Tuck roll launched the Patriots, you know, all these great teams have these like uh sort of uh milestone games.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: You would think that finally this is gonna launch San Diego into a championship.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and it again, it's not what happens.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh for the AFC championship game, they have to go to Cincinnati, and it ends up being the coldest game in NFL history.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And for a team from Southern California that doesn't really bode well for them, Cincinnati wins.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is a story.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Is this the one where Dan Fouls tells a story like because they're in Cincinnati, and I guess the airport's in Kentucky?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: So they were sitting on the tarmac and the probably and there was a big snowstorm, and they're like, oh, the fight's gonna be late.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: And just so you know, there's no drinking in whatever county they're in in Kentucky.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like I remember Dan Fouls saying that not only like they lost like this horrible game, it's like you can't even have a drink afterwards.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's exactly right.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's he he tells that story about that game.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: He also talks about how he couldn't throw a tight spiral in that kind of weather, but Kenny Anderson for the the Bengals threw a really tight spiral, and and so the the Bengals end up winning.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people think that the ice bowl, the Packers, uh Cowboys game from the 60s was the coldest game in NFL history.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is temperature-wise.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: This one um was a minus 59 degree wind chill.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati was called Riverfront Stadium because it was right on the river there, and it was like it was freezing, freezing cold.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so now the Chargers have been one of the best teams in the AFC for three straight years, and three straight years they lose to a team that probably they should have beaten in the postseason.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so that that brings us into 1982.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's the Steelers 50th season.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so there was a lot of pop and circumstance around that.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I remember when I was a kid, I had all kinds of stuff with that little like Steelers 50 seasons logo on it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: There was just a lot of celebration over it's the 50th season.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: But really, the big question heading into the season was does this team have enough for at least one more run?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or are they finished?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there were some big changes on defense that year.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Chuck Noel made the bold decision to switch to a 3-4 defense.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it was it was it almost seemed sacrilege because the steel curtain, right?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: The steel curtain, that's what that's what the Steelers were built on.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's what had won them all those Super Bowls, and that was the four defensive linemen was the steel curtain.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: But Knoll decided really, it was two reasons he wanted to move to 3-4.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Number one was the league was changing into a more pass-happy league, and the 3-4 was better equipped to deal with passing.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: You saw that with the Chargers, uh, you saw that with some other franchises back then, and so Noel thought having four linebackers that could drop into coverage and be more versatile was better against the pass.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then it was also a personnel decision because they didn't have those four defensive linemen anymore.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: They had all um gone, and Green and Greenwood had retired, as we said, the year before.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: But he did have a pretty good group of linebackers.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Jack Hamm and Jack Lambert were still there.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Lauren Taze and Robin Cole were the other linebackers.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: They also had on the bench, they had future pro bowlers David Little and Mike Merriweather.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: So they had they had a really deep, good group of linebackers.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so getting more linebackers in there instead of defensive linemen, um, that was the gamble that Null took.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: It ended up working pretty well.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that year, 1982, the Steelers were going to finish fourth in the NFL in points allowed.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: So they really rejuvenated their defense, and that 3-4 would be employed for really, Steve, decades to come.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: All the way into the Dick LeBeau era.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: They still they still use it primarily, although I don't think they're back till 4-3 yet.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, defenses are now, they have all the sub packages and everything.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's tough to yeah, it's tough to really say what they're playing.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people play like just a lot of like extra defensive backs anymore because of passing.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so they opened the season in 1982 uh on Monday night football at Dallas.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a huge game.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Monday night football back then was the game of the week.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody was watching, had huge ratings.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it was the Cowboys were still one of the league's best teams.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think you know, Roger Staubach retired in 79, and I think people always kind of remember the Cowboys' uh great years ending with Roger Staubach.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: But the in the early 80s, the Cowboys actually make it to three NFC championship games in a row uh under Danny White.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Danny White was their quarterback at that point.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: They lost all.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was pretty good.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: They still had a really good team.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Three NFC championship games.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, they were coming off of the Dwight Clark championship game the year before, where Dwight Clark made the catch in in uh Candlestick Park.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: So they were they almost made it to the Super Bowl the year before, if not for a last second touchdown by the 49ers.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So they were still a really good team.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: The the rivalry is still fresh from the Super Bowls in the 70s.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: And Dallas also had the NFL's longest opening day streak.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: They had won every season opener for the previous 17 seasons.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: The Cowboys never lost on opening day, and they were playing at home on Monday night football.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers go down there, Terry Bradshaw throws three touchdown passes, and the Steelers win.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers snap that streak on Monday Night Football in week one.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Week two, the Steelers come back and they open their home schedule with a divisional matchup against the Bengals.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: The Bengals, as we had said before, are the defending AFC champions.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the Bengals are a really good team.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that game goes down to the wire.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Bengals are lining up for a game-winning field goal.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Tom Beasley of the Steelers blocks it, sends the game into overtime.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: And in overtime, Bradshaw hits John Stalworth for a touchdown pass, and the Steelers win.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so all of a sudden, you know, it's early in the season, but a lot of excitement's building because the Steelers have opened the season with two huge wins against two teams who were in the final four uh of the NFL the previous year.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these were not bad teams.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and it's starting to kind of feel like the 1970s again after week two.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so that brings us to week three, but actually it it doesn't.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because week three never happens, and neither do weeks four through ten due to a 57-day middle of the season player strike.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this had been brewing for quite some time.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh a lot of animosity between players and owners.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Players wanted a bigger share of the revenue.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: The owners laughed at that.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it it's it's a weird time because in it's the middle of the football season, there's no football.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and some of the networks start doing these crazy things like airing classic games uh or picking up CFL games.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they even had Matt CBS had Madden Summerall calling Division III college games.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh Steve, I don't I don't know if we can imagine what that's like with no sports and having to watch old games.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine all that, huh?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: For like a month, yeah.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean the the who could imagine what that must have been like.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um eventually the union fractures.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um some players even publicly state to the media that they disagree with striking.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not really gonna win what you want in that case when you have your union members going out there and saying, I don't really know about this.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so they they eventually strike a deal where the owners mostly win.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm certainly not going to go into the details of that, but there's another strike later in the 80s, then free agency doesn't really come about until the early 90s.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So um it it's a lot of lost games, and the players don't really get a lot out of it.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody agrees, okay, we're gonna come back, but most of the season has been lost.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: So now what?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: What are you gonna do with the rest of the season?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Again, Steve, imagine imagine having to make those kinds of decisions.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, baseball's you know definitely shooting itself in the foot right now, they can't make up their mind.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: At the time of this recording, what we're referring to is we're in the middle of this whole COVID thing, and at least at the time we're recording this, nobody's playing.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: And uh everybody's coming back, everybody's except for the NBA.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about the NBA, but I know baseball's just being stupid.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the Premier League's coming back June June 17th, and hockey's gonna come back.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, I don't know what baseball thinks they're doing, or you know, I don't know.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a lot of a lot of well, similar to this time, owners and players can't agree on anything.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: Millionaires and billionaires fighting over millions of dollars.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty much who do I root for here?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's pretty much how fans see it, and I don't blame us for seeing it that way.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So in 1982, they have to decide, okay, now what?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do with the rest of the season?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And Dan Rooney actually puts a plan forward and and the league adopts it.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the plan is uh we've already played two games, we'll play seven more, and we'll make it a nine game season.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of traditional playoffs and division structures, we'll have a Super Bowl tournament.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, what that means is uh at the time there were 14 teams in each conference, and they literally just seeded the teams one through eight.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Playoff teams in each conference, which was a lot more than they usually had.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: They usually only had five back then.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if you were in the top eight, you made it.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if you were in the bottom six, you didn't make it.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: There were no division winners, there was no wild cards.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: It was just straight up top eight teams in each conference got seeded into a Super Bowl tournament.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the way they that's a yeah, that's not a bad idea.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: I wish some of the leagues well, I I think hockey kind of did that, but yeah, you could do there's a lot of creative stuff you can do, and it just once again, I don't think baseball gets it sometimes.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean that was creative.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: It also, you know, you you talked about the NHL coming back from this COVID thing, and they expanded their playoff field.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what that does, what that did for the NFL also was a lot of fans were angry because you had all these games canceled, and now you have teams that maybe wouldn't have made the playoffs now or going to make the playoffs.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: You have a bigger kind of fan base, you know, fan interest would be more there at the end of the season.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what they decided to do.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um the Chargers were one and one when the strike started.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: They came back showing little rust.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Fouts throws for 444 yards and five touchdowns in a game against the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he follows that up the next week by throwing for 435 yards against the Bengals in a rematch of the 81 championship game.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: San Diego, in their final six games, they scored 30 or more points in each of those final six games.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Which again, um, that would be a lot for today.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: That would even be a lot for today, but back then that was not typical.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: So San Diego is right back as one of the high-powered offenses in the league.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the Steelers, meanwhile, they're they're continuing to win games uh primarily thanks to the defense.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: They they hold opponents to 16 points or fewer uh for the first six weeks following the strike.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Lambert uh and Donny Shell both make the Pro Bowl that year.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Dwayne Woodruff, the defensive back, is voted team MVP.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So really the the defense was carrying them.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: The offense really was um, yeah, for lack of a better word, inconsistent.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um just here's some of their results from the end of that season, just to show you how inconsistent the offense was.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Week 12, they're shut out by Seattle.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Week 13, they put up 35 points against Kansas City.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Week 14, they're shot off by Buffalo.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: Week 15, they're held to nine points in a loss at Cleveland, but then week 16 and 17, they score 37 points in wins over the Patriots and Browns.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: So one week they're scoring zero points, the next week they're scoring 30-something points.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very inconsistent.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Bradshaw is in his 13th season at this point.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he he does start every game.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: He does throw for 17 touchdowns.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: So he he still is the solid veteran that that you know you can hopefully count on.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Both teams finished the season, the Chargers and Steelers both finished the season with six and three records.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: That makes them the number four and number five seeds respectively in this AFC Super Bowl tournament.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: And what that means is that they are going to play each other in the first round of the Super Bowl tournament at Three River Stadium.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, one more note on the regular season before we dive into this playoff game.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um we mentioned that it was the 50th anniversary.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: On October 9th that fall, the Steelers held a banquet to celebrate the 50th season.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was a$100 per plate affair.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was attended by something like 2,600 people.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: They had Howard Cosell there to MC it.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Pete Rosell was there, uh, both the Pennsylvania Senators.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so it was a big, it was a big fancy to do.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the current players came.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that says a lot, Steve, about the Chief, because you know, those players were on strike against the ownership.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of those players came to honor Art Rooney and the Steelers at that banquet, even though they were currently on strike.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I just I don't know you'd see if you'd see that today in the middle of a strike.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so so yeah, so so of course the highlight of the evening was the introduction of the man who made it all possible, Mr.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Rooney.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so when Art Rooney comes to the microphone, um, I have a quote here of what he said when he when he came up to speak.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: He said, quote, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce somebody who the sports world has rarely seen or heard of, but someone who has been a wonderful wife and mother, and then he points it at his wife and he says, Mrs.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Rooney, and he and it was his wife, Kathleen.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she and Art had been married for 51 years at that point.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, uh Art Art was we we did the episode about Art Rooney and Stevie talked about all sort of like the business mentors he had going and and and all those things he was out managing kept him very busy.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: And Kathleen was at home taking care of their five boys and running the house and and doing all those things.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um Art wanted to use that opportunity to publicly thank her.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and Kathleen Rooney stands up and she just kind of humbly waves at the crowd and everybody roars with applause.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I I it's a really bittersweet moment because literally a few weeks later, uh Mrs.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Rooney has a very sudden and very massive heart attack and she passes away at the age of 78.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is sad.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize that.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he uh he survived her by a couple years because he didn't die till eighty-eight.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and Dan Rooney writes about that in his book, That event, and how it was just a nice it was nice that she was honored, and you know, I don't think she was ill or anything at the time.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: It was very I sounds like it was very sudden when she passed.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it was kind of nice that he had that that moment.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the actual playoff game.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: It takes place on January 9th, 1983, and fans are really pumped for this game.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you not only had this long 57-day delay in the middle of the season with no football, it's also the first time you have a postseason football game at Three River Stadium since the 1979 championship game.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: So the whole city is pumped, to say the least.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um Hank Bauer for the Chargers uh later is quoted as saying he's never seen a stadium that loud before.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody's excited, and right off the bat, this game, in my opinion, has the single most insane opening of any playoff game in the history of football.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Gary Anderson is the kicker for the Steelers, he's a rookie, he's lining up to kick the ball off to the Chargers.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Standing next to Anderson is his teammate at Syracuse, Guy Ruff.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Guy Ruff is a linebacker who doesn't see a lot of playing time, um, really only plays on special teams when he does.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: So he's kind of just happy to be in the game.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: And back to return for the Chargers is James Brooks, who is a dangerous kick returner.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: No player in the NFL had more return yards than Brooks did in 1982.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: And in addition to being a really good kick returner, he's also a very solid running back.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's averaging almost five yards per carry.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so Brooks is back there, very good kick returner, but something happens.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: Something happens that makes Brooks lose focus.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if it's the crowd, I don't know if it's the the weather, um, whatever it is.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the ball goes right through his arms.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: And here is the great Dick Enberg with the call of that play.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: Deep to return for the Chargers, James Brooks, and we're underway.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Brooks at the three.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: And Pittsburgh has the ball in the end zone.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't get an oh my on that one.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: We will later, don't worry.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's Guy Ruff, the the special teams linebacker that falls on the ball in the end zone.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the fastest scorer ever in a postseason game up to that point.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's 12 seconds in, and the Steelers are up 7-0, 12 seconds into the game.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: So that that's a crazy way to start a playoff game, the guy muffing the kickoff, and the Steelers uh just scoring right away uh after he does that.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: So now the Steelers score, so now they're lining up to kick off again.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: And again, James Brooke is James Brooks is back there to return the kick.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Brooks had worn gloves for the first kickoff return, even though it was 33 degrees that day, which you know, for Pittsburgh in January isn't too cold.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty, yeah.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, not not freezing.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Brooks takes off the gloves.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's later quoted as saying, I don't I don't care how cold it ever gets, I'll never wear gloves during a game again.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: So he takes the gloves off.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, things go haywire.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: And and here's the call.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna play the call again.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I just I want you to listen to the crowd.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's the walls literally blow off at the River Stadium.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: And that wasn't a dress rehearsal.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: That counted.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: And now they'll try it again.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: James Brooks with a second chance.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: So what happens is Brooks muffs the ball again.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Fortunately for the Chargers, this time he's able to fall on it on the one-yard line rather than the Steelers recovering it for another touchdown.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that because that would have been just obviously beyond disastrous to be down 14-05 seconds into the game.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was unbelievable.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: He he muffs both opening kickoffs, and and so now San Diego has yet to take the field on offense or defense.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: They're down 7-0 on the road, and now they're at the one-yard line.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Feltz later is quoted as saying, uh, as I ran onto the field, I thought to myself, thanks a lot.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Only 99 yards to go.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this does prove to be a pivotal moment in the game, though.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: The first play, so they're at the one yard line, and the first play that they run is an outside sweep by Muncie.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit of a risky play to run a sweep in the end zone when you're at your own one yard line, because you know, if there's somebody out there on the outside and he gets tackled, then it's a safety.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or a hold works.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you're holding in the end zone, I mean yeah.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that too.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, the the smart play there is to run like just run something up the middle, get yourself some space.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: But again, the Chargers, uh, Coriel was a really um offensively minded coach, and he was successful for a reason.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this play, he runs it, it gains 11 yards, it gets the Chargers out of danger, and um more significantly, it opens up the door for Coriol to run that same play later in the game.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that later.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, San Diego ends up driving 91 yards.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they only get a field goal, but it's still really significant because it quiets the crowd, it resets the game.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's seven to three instead of 14-0, like it could have been if the Steelers recover that second fumble.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really the first of several blown opportunities by the Steelers defense to put their foots on the throats of the San Diego offense.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it so it's 7-3 Steelers.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers offense finally gets to take the field, and they say, I'll raise your 91-yard field goal drive with a 71-yard touchdown drive.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Bradshaw leads them down the field, caps it off with a short TD run.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: Steelers are now up 14 to 3.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and really the story of this game is momentum swings.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Just momentum swings back and forth, and this is the first of many of those.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: In the second quarter, San Diego mounts an 80-yard drive.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: This time they do finish it off with a touchdown.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's an 18-yard run by James Brooks, who has settled himself down and who's now now playing pretty well.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: The gloveless James Brooks.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: The gloveless James Brooks uh gets an 18-yard touchdown, so now it's 14-10.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the game's starting to develop into a shootout.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's right from the opening, it's pretty obvious this is going to be a shootout.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is not going to be a 6-3 defensive game.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, what really matters in a game like this is if the if a D if one of the defenses can make a huge play, because if you're just gonna trade touchdowns, you have to have the defense.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: The defense might be giving up a lot of yards and a lot of points, but if they can make a huge turnover, um, you know, then that's key.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the Steelers do that.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers make one of those plays, they force a fumble, and now the offense has a chance to put the team up by two scores again.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: However, Bradshaw throws an interception right at the San Diego one-yard line.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the we talked about the inconsistency with the offense.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: There are also questions about Bradshaw's health headed into that game.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: He had sprained his shoulder at one point late in the season, and he later admitted that he was actually sidearming some of his passes because it hurt too much to throw overhand, which is probably not good.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm not a quarterback expert, but I'm guessing that that's not a good thing.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you probably would have gonna, yeah, you figure, yeah, can't put as much zip on the ball.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: Starting to look like Philip Rivers out there, probably.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that that that turnover ends up being a big momentum shifter.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Feltz gets the ball back, drives San Diego downfield in the final two minutes of the first half.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, their offense is really clicking, Muncie's finding holes to run through.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: Felt is really picking apart the secondary, and he throws a 10-yard touchdown pass right before the half and gives San Diego the lead.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: So now at halftime, the Chargers lead 17 to 14, and they've already racked up 325 yards of offense in the first half.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's easy to do when you got like 99 yards to go on one of your drives.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, all four actually, they had four drives in the first half, and all four um led them inside the Steelers' 10-yard line.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um the two touchdowns, one field goal, and then the fumble.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, the the the those opening kickoff fumbles that the Steelers had and the crowd was going crazy.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, at halftime, that's that's ancient history.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, things were going in San Diego's direction.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers, of course, were not panicked.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is a veteran team.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: They had won four Super Bowls.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this was not their first rodeo, so to speak.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: And they start to um come back in the third quarter and and start um getting some of the momentum back.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: They regain the lead early in the third quarter.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: Bradshaw hits Benny Cunningham, the tight end, for a touchdown.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's after a long drive.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: That gives Pittsburgh the lead back.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: And now, again, it's on the defense.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: Can they actually stop the Chargers?
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it looks like no, because the Chargers again drive deep into the Steelers territory, they're in the red zone, but they're faced with a fourth and one.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: And Coriel could kick a field goal here, but because the offense has just been so overpowering all day, he decides he's gonna go for it.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: And he calls a run up the middle to fullback John Capoletti.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: And this time the Steelers defense is up for the task and they stuff him.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's huge, especially because it ends up being San Diego's only possession of the entire third quarter.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a long drive, but they get no points out of it.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: And when the Steelers get the ball back, their offense then puts a long drive together that crosses over into the fourth quarter and ends with a touchdown pass to Stalworth.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: So now, you know, the Steelers are up by two scores, and when you're playing against a great offensive like that, um, sometimes the best the best defense is ball control.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: So the Steelers in the second half have two long drives, and they stop the Chargers on a fourth and one on their only drive.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: And and the Steelers offense is now clicking.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um Bradshaw actually completed a career high 14 consecutive passes uh and uh had already gone over 300 yards, and that was the first time he had done that in 23 games.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Franco Harris is beating the Chargers underneath.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: He actually catches 11 balls in that game, which is a lot.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't recall Franco being used as a receiver a lot, Steve.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's yeah, yeah.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: Franco is a pass catcher.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't think that was kind of his thing, but yeah, 11 passes.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Franco caught made it easier for him to run out of bounds.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: No, I just jest.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: People just always ripped on him.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we're we kid, we kid Franco.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: So so the Steelers now up um 28 to 17, and on the Chargers next possession, Maury Buford makes an appearance.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know who Maury Buford is, Steve?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't know.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: There's a city in South Carolina called Buford that I've been to, but uh besides that, no, I couldn't tell you.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: So he's the he's the San Diego punter.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, cool.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the it's the first time all day that he comes out.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: So the the Chargers uh actually have to punt the ball, and there's about 11 minutes left in the game.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: Again, the guy probably doesn't punt too much.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: He he no, he does not.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and there's 11 minutes left.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers are up 28 to 17.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: They just made the Chargers punt for the first time.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're getting the ball back, and they literally have all the momentum, right?
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, that's when disaster strikes.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Bradshaw scrambles and he throws a terrible pass in the coverage.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jeff Allen, who's kind of a no-name defensive back for the Chargers, picks it off, returns it to the Steelers 29-yard line.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um Bradshaw, if you if you look at the replay of this, Bradshaw could have run for a first down, but instead he throws it against his body.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's it's very similar.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember the pass that Brad Favre threw in the in the 2009 championship game against the Saints when he was playing for Minnesota, yeah.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: He kind of did the same thing.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: He was running, and he's like, no, you know, it I think Bradshaw was similar to Favre.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: He's sort of a a cowboy quarterback, and I can I can complete this, and it he just he throws a terrible pass right in the coverage, it's picked off.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's a good point there, like, because I remember like I'm I now I never saw Bradshaw play like when he was playing, but the highlight, he just seems like a guy that would throw it up at times, and Favre would do that too.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's like, ah, I'm just gonna chuck it deep and see what happens.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that might have been one of the reasons Noel, I mean there's many reasons why Noel and Bradsock flashed, but that was not Chuck Noel was not a you know a hey, let's just throw it up and see what happens.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: That was not Chuck Noel's style of coaching, even though especially like you said, you're up 28 to 17.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_01: If you punt there, it's not the end of the world.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, even even if he couldn't run for a first down, even if he runs and gets stuffed, or even if he just throws it out of bounds, yeah, punt the ball back and let your defense, you know, at the very least, um, make San Diego have to use a lot of time to score.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now San Diego gets the ball at the 29, at the Steelers 29-yard line.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_00: And um it's again, now it's it's it's up to the defense, the vaunted Steelers defense, to to shut the door on any chance for a San Diego comeback.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: So Fouts, you know, he sees this as an opportunity, right?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: To to we just got the ball back.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go for broke, and he throws a pass into the end zone, and here's the call of that play.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: That game is behind ours.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_02: Going for joiner.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_02: Intercepted by Mel Blood.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: A flag is down.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: And hold on.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: It could be against Pittsburgh.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: It was thrown in the secondary.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: Bob Frederick going to be searched.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Defensive holding number 59.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, there we go.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: There's your OMI.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: So Mel Blunt intercepts the ball in the end zone.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great Steelers defensive moment play just like the 70s, the defense shuts the door, wins the game, but holding on number 59.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: Who's number 59, Steve?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Jack Hamm.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jack Hamm, the Hall of Fame linebacker who's playing in his last ever game.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he's called for holding.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so now San Diego gets another chance.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: A few plays later, um the the Steelers actually get another chance to make a stop because San Diego has fourth down.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: And six from the Steelers eight-yard line.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: And again, at this point, down by down by two scores, they're not going to kick a field goal.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: And Feltz tries to gun a pass over the middle.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: He says later, I don't think I ever threw a ball harder.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: And he hits Kellen Linslow for a touchdown between three Steelers defenders.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gutsy pass.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great pass.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: It succeeds.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: And now the Steelers lead is down to four.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the Steelers get the ball back and they try to make some first downs to run the clock.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't go very well.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: Cunningham tries to catch a pass that's thrown low on third down.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_00: The referees say it's incomplete.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Cunningham argues doesn't do any good.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: Steelers are forced to punt from their own 44, which isn't bad, right?
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: Punting from your own 44 should be good enough to pin the Chargers deep in their own territory.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, John Goodson, who was the Steelers punter that season, barefooted punter, shanks the kick and it only goes 20 yards.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you should have been wearing a shoe.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe that would have helped.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just saying.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't want to tell you how to do your job or anything.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: But 20-yard punt and now San Diego.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: They probably even would let me do it.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I I don't It would be interesting.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know who's like the last.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if so, for those of you that may not be familiar, because I you know, I don't remember how long ago it was, but but there was a time when there were punters and kickers who played barefoot.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: They literally didn't wear shoes.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: And they would kick the ball barefoot.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, I I Tony Franklin was one of those guys for the Eagles and Patriots, and the the um the Broncos had a guy on their 80s Super Bowl teams.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think he was a barefoot kicker.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it it you know, for those of you that might be younger and might not remember this, that was a thing, if you can believe it, that guys would punt and kick without a shoe on or a sock if you just have their barefoot.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, too, if you would see like even nowadays, like if you watch a punter, you'll always notice like the the foot they punt with or they kick with is very like the shoe they wear is way smaller than like a normal shoe.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I I just for some reason they you want it to conform your foot as much as possible for some reason.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: I guess that gives you better contact with the ball or what, but maybe that was the same idea of not wearing yeah.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I don't know.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think you would like break your toe a lot.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can't unless I carry Broadstal chasing dogs around the kitchen.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can't I can't imagine that.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and and yeah, but definitely in this instance, for whatever reason, and it and I I'm saying this kind of jokingly.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it may have had nothing to do with the fact that Goodson didn't wear a shoe, but whatever the reason, sinking a punt at that point in the game is is just the last thing you want to see.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Especially now you're giving, yeah, instead of you know, would you say 20 yards and their own like 40 instead of like I mean if he hits a normal punt, they're like at their own 20, maybe right, or maybe even pin them like inside their 10 or something.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and the Chargers are down by four, so they have to score a touchdown.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there was no two-point conversion back then.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so when they scored that that first touchdown, all they could do was be down by four.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: They couldn't go for two and make it down by three.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so now it there's about four minutes left in the game, and the chargers probably have time for one one final drive.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: So the game, you know, this this great back and forth matchup really comes down to what everybody expected.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: The great Chargers offense versus the legendary Steelers defense.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: And um, what happens on this drive is really a lot of credit to Coriel and his play calling because the Steelers are expecting Phelps to throw the ball.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's late in the fourth quarter, there's not a lot of time left.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be passing, but Coriel is patient.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: He realizes there's four minutes left, there's not one minute left, and he starts mixing it up and he calls sweeps to Muncie.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: We mentioned how that that first play of the game in their own end zone, they call it a sweep to Muncie and it worked.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they pull it out again, and they call a handful of sweeps to Muncie, and uh and that works really well.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: Muncey burns the Steelers for 33 yards on the drive and 126 yards rushing on the day.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: The drive comes down to a third and seven from the Pittsburgh 12-yard line, and before that play, the Chargers call timeout, and in the booth, they they decide that the play call is going to be a screen pass to Winslow.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: And again, you just it's football such a chess game.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: That that play is totally predicated on Robin Cole, the Steelers linebacker, uh coming after Fouts, blitzing Fouts instead of dropping back into coverage to cover Winslow.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's that's their gamble that Robin Cole's gonna charge at Fouts, and it works.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um Fouts fakes a hands off to Muncie, and Cole charges straight ahead, and Winslow's wide open in the flat.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: He catches the pass, he has some blockers.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: At the one-yard line, he can block he collides with Mel Blunt and pushes his way into the corner of the end zone and scores.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: And with only 60 seconds left in the game, the Chargers have now come all the way back to take a 31-28 lead.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: And after the play, Winslow limps off the field because apparently anytime Kellen Winslow did something dramatic, he had to follow it up by limping off the field.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he was yeah, he was hard to.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he wasn't.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I maybe go hang out with the barefoot kicker.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_00: I I've never I've never been a big fan of Kellen Winslow or his entire family.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_00: I just never have.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, so all I'll say is that I mean he he he came to play that game.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he scored the two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: He he beat Mel Blunt to the end zone, so you gotta give him credit.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't like him or his son.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, the Stewart.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_00: The Stewart still had a chance to um to get into field, you know, the Stewart are down by three, and Gary Anderson's their kicker.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: Gary Anderson, probably the greatest kicker in the history of the franchise.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: And um, if they can just get him into field goal range, they could push the game into overtime.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there's only 60 seconds left, but they still have a timeout.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um they they start kind of trying to drive down the field.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: They make it, they're only able to make it to about midfield.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and with about 10 seconds left, uh Bradshaw has Stalworth wide open near the left sideline, uh, but he underthrows it and it's incomplete.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: Had that been a completion, uh, and Stallworth would have been out of bounds, it still would have been a long field goal attempt, it would have been like a 50-yard field goal.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: But again, Gary Anderson could have potentially made that.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_01: That was on the Heinz field at or Heinz Field, the the three River Stadium Astor turf.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: And three River Stadium, I remember, was pretty friendly to field goal kickers.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: If I I mean I remember it being that difficult to kick a field goal there.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and as we previously said, it wasn't a bitterly cold day.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it was a missed opportunity.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: So now there's only four seconds left in the game, and the only thing you can do is throw a Hail Mary.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: So Bradshaw airs it out down the left sidelines for Stalworth.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_00: The ball doesn't even stay in bounds, it's not even close.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: The ball just kind of sails out of bounds, and that's the end of the game.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: Final score is San Diego 31, Pittsburgh 28.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the Chargers come all the way back and win this really epic playoff game in the final minute.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: And and I I do want to talk about that that that last play for a moment because if you watch it on a tape, it's just a miserably failed Hail Mary that doesn't even come close to anybody.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: But it actually is pretty significant.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one guy that we didn't mention on this episode is Lynn Swan.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_00: Lynn Swan's still playing at this point.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_00: He did not have he does he did not have a good season in 1982.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_00: It was the first time in his career he didn't catch a touchdown pass the whole season.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_00: So he's definitely not the Lynn Swan that was making acrobatic catches in the Super Bowl, right?
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um He only has one reception in this game, but he is on the field for that Hail Mary attempt.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we mentioned that the Bradshaw aired it down the left sidelines.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: Swan was actually on the other side of the field running towards the end zone.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_00: And years later, um, here is how Lynn Swan described that play.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna read his quote.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: Quote, John's on the far left, I'm on the far right.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm uh I'm I'm on the far right moving down towards the scoreboard.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_00: And Bradshaw throws the pass to John, and had John caught it in the most spectacular way at the highest point that John was able to reach for the ball, he still would have been at least 10 feet out of bounds.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: If he throws it into the middle of the end zone, I come from where I am, come across, at least sell out, jump as high as I can, make the catch, sell out, grab the ball, whatever it is, try to make this catch.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_00: End quote.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Swann was already bitter at Bradshaw for what he perceived as Bradshaw's kind of intentional attempt to ignore him over Stallworth.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there's been a lot said about that.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: Swann and Stalworth were always, like a lot of receivers probably did, were always battling for their quarterback's time.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_00: But for Swan, this was kind of the icing on the cake.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, quote, to end my career and not have an opportunity to help us win that ball game, uh, and the ball was just uncatchable.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: I went into the locker room and I wanted to kill Bradshaw.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_00: And and in fact, um Swann claims that the only reason the only thing that stopped him from literally confronting Bradshaw in a potentially a physical way was that um Bradshaw's father was in the locker room sitting next to him.
• 54:06
  unknown: Wow.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's the first thing got that contentious with the 70s Steelers, yeah.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it it does.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it apparently really severs the relationship between Swan and Bradshaw.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: Swan says at one point, years later, that the only contact that they have is an occasional like hello during events that they're appearing at.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so Swan actually, that Hail Mary play, he carries a lot of bitterness.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it ends up being his his final play and final game in the NFL.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that was it, that was his career, and he feels like he should have had a chance to make a play there.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you never really hear about that kind of uh acrimony among the 70s Steelers.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_01: Normally it's always they you know kind of got along a lot, but uh it's uh kind of weird.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_01: I guess with Terry Bradshaw, though, that's kind of you get what you get.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and some people might say, like, really, you're that upset about about one play, uh, but the Swan, it was it was some kind of disrespect, perceived disrespect, and it was his last ever play in the NFL.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it was just that one play that might have been like you know the old you know culmination.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the whole season of not getting the ball for him to you.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I I'm sure, I'm sure it was.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but man, it's just interesting that that that play just had that big of a uh an impact.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a gun-wrenching loss for the Steelers.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um they, you know, they had the momentum clearly in their favor so many times, right from the opening kickoff all the way to the fourth quarter when they were up uh by 11 points, and they just couldn't close it out.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, so you know, let's let's take them in here.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's play the what-if game, right?
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_00: What if the Steelers hold on to that lead and win the game?
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_00: Are they really good enough to to because that's the first round of the playoffs, right?
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_00: Are they really good enough to put together a fifth round of the Super Bowl?
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's it's definitely that's a debatable opinion, but I can tell you what what is fact.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_00: What is fact is that the team that ends up representing the AFC in the Super Bowl that year is Miami, and Miami's starting quarterback is future Steelers backup David Woodley.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the team that Miami beats in the AFC Championship game that year is are the New York Jets.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: Their starting quarterback is Richard Todd, who throws five interceptions in that game and is shut out.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um so obviously, you know, teams are more than just their starting quarterbacks.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_00: Miami did have an excellent defense that season, for sure.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_01: Who won the Super Bowl in the NFC that year?
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_01: Was it San Francisco again?
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_01: The Redskins.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was the Redskins.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's why I thought that's the that's the game where they run Riggins for the Correct.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yes, that's the that's the John Regan.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_00: Joe Gibbs.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_00: Joe Gibbs again.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_00: Joe Gibbs comes back.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_01: You figured out how to not get a sign stolen in the people.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_00: He did, he got that figured out by that point.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_00: So so you know, but but the point being that the AFC was not, you know, in the 70s, you had to go through Oakland, Miami, the the great Miami um teams of the 70s with Bob Greasy and Larry Zonka.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_00: You had to go through the Houston Oilers with their great teams.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: You Buffalo with OJ Simpson, like there were these great AFC teams in the 70s.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_00: In 1982, you have David Woodley versus Richard Todd in the AFC Championship game.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_00: It is not it is not like that field was um you know unbeatable.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I I don't know that the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl, but I think they would have actually had a chance had they hung on and won that game.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's I think you could make an argument that they would have had a chance.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_00: But they don't.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the aftermath.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um Bradshaw, who throws, you know, two costly interceptions, especially the one in the fourth quarter, he's effectively done that day as an NFL quarterback.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_00: He only plays one more NFL game after that, and it's it's almost a full calendar year later, and it's only one half of a game at New York.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um he had he had elbow surgery after the season.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we talked about this in our 80s episode.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is the secret elbow surgery, yeah.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, the secret elbow surgery.
• 58:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers don't realize this, unfortunately.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_00: They, of course, end up passing on Pitts Dan Marino at the draft three months later, and the Steelers will not have a Super Bowl-capable quarterback again until the year 2004.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_01: Kent Graham was pretty capable.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, yes.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Kent Graham was, you know, definitely super capable.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's again Graham's Steeler.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_00: So again, lot of long-suffering line of quarterbacks after this.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Guy Ruff, the guy that recovered that fumble on the kickoff, he never plays another game in the NFL.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, more and more of the stars start retiring.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we mentioned this was the last game for Swan and Jack Hamm.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Mel Blunt and Terry Brass are retire after the 1983 season.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_00: Lambert and Harris retire after the 84 season.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_00: The Steelers do make the playoffs each of the next two seasons, but they um they really suffered through a miserable stretch to close out the 80s and into the 90s.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_01: This is the last gasp or the 70s dynasty team, really.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_01: I would I would probably this is probably their last gasp.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_00: I I would agree.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_00: I would say that's totally accurate.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's exactly 10 years to the day later before they host another playoff game.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's the 1990s.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_01: And plus you gotta remember the AFC was really weak like during the 80s and even into the mid-90s, like the the AFC really didn't become like you know, a good on even terms with the NFC for 10-15 years.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Denver was probably a mediocre team and Buffalo in the early 90s.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've always thought if you put Denver or Buffalo in the NFC, they're probably nine and seven teams, you know.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was definitely a shift, and that's why again, I go back to you know, I don't know that the Steelers beat the Redskins in the Super Bowl that year, but I think they actually would have had a chance to make it there, and it would have been an interesting, an interesting um item in Steelers history had they been able to do that.
• 1:00:40
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so uh so the Steelers start to go downhill.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the Chargers, uh, after they win, they go to Miami the following week for a rematch of the epic in Miami, but this time the Dolphins win.
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_00: So now that's that's four years in a row where San Diego has this elite offense and doesn't make it to the Super Bowl.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually, as it always does, the the bubble bursts.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's the end for San Diego, too.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_00: They finished in last place in their division in 1983, and it would be a full decade for them before they returned to the postseason.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Fouts retires in 1987 with just ginormous numbers, Hall of Fame numbers, and not one important win to show for his entire career.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Muncie gets caught trafficking cocaine.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_00: He spends 18 months in federal prison.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's the most 80s headline ever.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't it?
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_00: Did Gibbs, who are the two Miami guys say Gibbs and uh topic with pastel wearing pastel suits.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Cory Else fired in 1986.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_00: Jeff Allen, the guy that made the big interception on Bradshaw, just like just like Guy Ruff, he never plays again after 1982.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe the guy that made out the best from this game is James Brooks, the guy that fumbled the the two opening kickoffs.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_00: He goes on to have a very successful career with the Cincinnati Bengals.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_00: He makes it to the Pro Bowl four times and he helps lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1988.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_00: So things worked out pretty well for James Brooks after a pretty miserable start to this game in 1982.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_00: So why is this game not remembered?
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_00: And before we get to why is it not remembered, I mean, why should it be remembered?
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_00: I I think it had all the elements of an epic NFL matchup.
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you had this great storyline, you had one team with an aging dynasty, like you said, Steve, kind of their last gasp.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_00: And going up against a team that was, you know, was the new blood was was elite, but they were also trying to get over the hump because they had these three straight years of playoff letdowns.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_00: You had 12 Hall of Famers participating in this game.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_00: 12.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it had the wildest opening of any game ever.
• 1:02:58
  SPEAKER_00: It had 900 yards of combined total offense.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_01: Not exactly a defensive masterpiece there.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, crazy.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_00: There were multiple lead changes.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's a huge comeback, uh, and there's a dramatic last second last-minute game-winning touchdown.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_00: You had heroes like Faust and Muncie, you had goats like Bradshaw and James Brooks, and then you had unsugged nobodies like Guy Ruff and Jeff Allen making huge plays.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it also forever turned a Hall of Fame Steeler receiver against his Hall of Fame Steeler quarterback.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_00: So to me, that's a pretty memorable.
• 1:03:33
  SPEAKER_00: encapsulate all those things in one game, it's pretty memorable.
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:03:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't realize Swan and uh Bradshaw were so didn't talk like that.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_01: But Bradshaw has ticked so many people off over the years.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_01: He has.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_01: He's good at burning a bridge.
• 1:03:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I think Swan is is he kind of has that Heinz Ward um kind of like chip on a shoulder, which I think helped them to succeed, but it can also make you maybe more bitter than you should be about things.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it should be remembered, but it's not.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's forgotten.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about some reasons why maybe it's forgotten.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think I have four reasons.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, you know, neither of those teams made a real impact in the Super Bowl tournament that year.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, for Steelers fans, it's a game the Steelers lost.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why would we want to remember that?
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_00: And for Chargers fans, okay, it was a great win, but then the next week they go to Miami and they lose to a team that you know maybe they shouldn't have for the fourth straight year.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it it also sends them into a decade-long tailspin.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_00: So again, what's there to remember if you're a fan of either team?
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_00: The game was also sandwiched between eras.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously the the 1970s, the Steelers, Steelers fans remember the 1970s very clearly.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then the 1990s also featured a lot of great moments and great teams, and Bill Cower coming in as the coach.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: But as we talked about in our 80s episode, it just wasn't a memorable time for the Steelers, period.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um they they made it to the playoffs a few times, but it was not a memorable time.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_00: And for the Chargers, it was just the beginning of the end.
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the 80s were not a good decade for the Chargers either.
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think the game being sandwiched between errors for both franchises is another reason it's not remember.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the third reason I think is the strike.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the 1982 season wasn't really even a season.
• 1:05:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was a nine-game season, and and really, I mean, those first two games were before the strike, so it's almost really like a seven-game season.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_00: The league MVP that year was a kicker.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's right, the Redskins kicker one.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_00: He was barefoot too.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_00: And he was barefoot kicker.
• 1:05:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Mark Mosley, I think, was the guy's name.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if that tells you anything about that season, and and see if you mentioned the John Reagan's run in the Super Bowl, that's really the only thing anyone would ever remember from that season.
• 1:05:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if the Redskins win that game by 30 points, I doubt anybody even remembers anything that happened that season.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_00: Again, the the Dolphins and Jets played in the AFC championship game.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_00: Who would Who would ever remember?
• 1:06:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think I've seen highlights of that game.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's a bot.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I don't know.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_01: That was were were the Jets playing in like the Mets Shea Shea Stadium or probably.
• 1:06:13
  SPEAKER_00: But but again, not definitely not like in the lures of NFL history that that 82 season.
• 1:06:19
  SPEAKER_01: The Jets in Shay Stadium is an odd thing.
• 1:06:21
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 1:06:22
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and then I think the fourth reason it's not remembered, uh, it was a transition time for everyone.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it wasn't it wasn't just the the players who were about to leave Pittsburgh, it was a lot of the fans as well.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh We talked about this in our um our our memorable moments uh episode.
• 1:06:41
  SPEAKER_00: We Steve, you talked about when the the um Galbury spot the uh or sold the pirates and and you talked about how you know that time in the 80s was not a good time economically in the city of Pittsburgh.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_00: The steel industry had collapsed.
• 1:06:56
  SPEAKER_00: The unemployment in Pennsylvania was at 12% uh which was the highest at that point since the Great Depression.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so you had you had people in Pittsburgh leaving the town in droves and um you know sort of taking their fandom to other places.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it just wasn't a good time period for a lot of people.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_00: So again, a game for Seahorse fans, a game we lost, uh a game that happened during an era that wasn't very memorable, and a game during a time that was not good for a lot of people's livelihoods.
• 1:07:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I don't know, for me, those are just some of the reasons why I think this game gets forgotten.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I I I had fun talking about it.
• 1:07:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's something that you know maybe a lot of fans don't know about, and I think it's something that's worth you know remembering.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh definitely an interesting game.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I can't believe 12 Hall of Famers were involved in this.
• 1:07:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's hard to believe.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_01: And then they went and lost to Miami with Woodley the next week.
• 1:07:55
  SPEAKER_01: San Diego, boy, I never I never really thought of San Diego like they when they were really like not chokers, they just couldn't win a big game.
• 1:08:04
  SPEAKER_01: They couldn't win a playoff game.
• 1:08:05
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's why like defense, I always say defense plays well in the playoffs.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_01: They had a little better defense, maybe they would have gone a little further than they did, at least made a Super Bowl.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mean the Dolphins made the Super Bowl with David Woodley, and that's saying something.
• 1:08:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:08:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that's uh that's all the time we have for this episode.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_00: I hope um you found that interesting.
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, it's just a game ever since I was a kid.
• 1:08:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's just been a game that's always fascinated me and and um had a lot of fun talking about it.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_00: Please uh subscribe to the podcast, please rate us um if you if you feel led to do so.
• 1:08:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um and check us out on the web or at Pittsburgh Sports Memories.weavely dot com.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're on Facebook and Twitter under that name as well.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks everybody.
• 1:08:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 1:08:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.