For those of us of a certain age, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll arguably may have been the best football coach who ever lived.
And if you are very young and don't know who we are talking about, you should take a few minutes and do a Google search to learn more about the man.
Noll, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, passed away Friday night of natural causes at his Pittsburgh area home. He was 82-years old.
Under his guidance, the Steel Curtain defense was born and the Steelers won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years in the mid and late 70's. Including back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975.
Guys like Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Lambert and Mean Joe Greene, all Hall of Famers, all were developed under Noll's leadership.
Noll coached the team for 23-years and hung up the clipboard in 1991. Two years later he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
We here at OSG Sports, who are of a certain age, and who are well read in football history, bow are heads and salute Chuck Noll. An extraordinary man who did a extraordinary job and one of the few people in Sports who will always have the word "Legend" attached and in front of any mention of his name.
WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh brings us a look back at the Life and Times of a Football legend:
Showing posts with label Franco Harris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Franco Harris. Show all posts
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Franco Harris and Mayor of Pittsburgh battling over Paterno
((ht: post-gazette.com))
This is an interesting sidebar to the Penn State scandal fallout.
Former Penn State running back and NFL star Franco Harris has attracted a lot of attention the past couple of days for his strong defense of his college coach Joe Paterno. And while all might not agree with it, Mr. Harris is certainly entitled to voice that opinion.
However, the mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl doesn't necessarily like it.
The reason he doesn't like it has to do with Harris's statement criticizing the Penn State trustees for not backing Paterno, but rather firing him. Harris also believes that Paterno did nothing wrong by not following up on the allegations brought to him about former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Those comments got Harris fired from the Meadows Race Track and Casino on Tuesday. And it is those comments that have Mayor Ravenstahl calling for Harris to step down in his role as board chairman of the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program.
However, the groups executive director defended Harris to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can read the story RIGHT HERE
As we said earlier, Harris has a right to his opinion. And he has a right to voice it. He doesn't have to be correct and we don't have to agree with him (for the record--we don't). But he is entitled to say it. What he said doesn't endorse Sandusky and isn't criminal. It may not be politically correct and many have interpreted it as support for what happens and callous disregard for the victims. It isn't, but again, he is entitled to say it.
We hope that politicians such as Ravenstahl stay out of this. It isn't his or any other politicians battle to fight.
As for Mr. Harris. Like we said, you are entitled to your opinion, you feel what you feel for your former coach and mentor, we get that. Just keep in mind that right now, there are very few people following what is going on who are going to like it...or take it very well.
 |
| Franco Harris |
This is an interesting sidebar to the Penn State scandal fallout.
Former Penn State running back and NFL star Franco Harris has attracted a lot of attention the past couple of days for his strong defense of his college coach Joe Paterno. And while all might not agree with it, Mr. Harris is certainly entitled to voice that opinion.
However, the mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl doesn't necessarily like it.
The reason he doesn't like it has to do with Harris's statement criticizing the Penn State trustees for not backing Paterno, but rather firing him. Harris also believes that Paterno did nothing wrong by not following up on the allegations brought to him about former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Those comments got Harris fired from the Meadows Race Track and Casino on Tuesday. And it is those comments that have Mayor Ravenstahl calling for Harris to step down in his role as board chairman of the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program.
However, the groups executive director defended Harris to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can read the story RIGHT HERE
As we said earlier, Harris has a right to his opinion. And he has a right to voice it. He doesn't have to be correct and we don't have to agree with him (for the record--we don't). But he is entitled to say it. What he said doesn't endorse Sandusky and isn't criminal. It may not be politically correct and many have interpreted it as support for what happens and callous disregard for the victims. It isn't, but again, he is entitled to say it.
We hope that politicians such as Ravenstahl stay out of this. It isn't his or any other politicians battle to fight.
As for Mr. Harris. Like we said, you are entitled to your opinion, you feel what you feel for your former coach and mentor, we get that. Just keep in mind that right now, there are very few people following what is going on who are going to like it...or take it very well.
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