1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 38th in the National Football League. They improved from a league-worst 1–13 record the previous year, finishing with a 5–9 record and third place in the newly formed AFC Central. The Steelers began the decade in a new conference and a new stadium with a new quarterback. After nearly 40 years in the NFL they shifted to the AFC, to complete the merger between the NFL and AFL. It was the NFL's weakest division that season, as the Steelers finished three games behind the division-winning Cincinnati Bengals—a team that was only in its third year of existence that season.

1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Owner	Art Rooney
Head coach	Chuck Noll
Home field	Three Rivers Stadium
Results
Record	5–9
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	2 DT Joe Greene LB Andy Russell
AP All-Pros	None
Team MVP	Joe Greene

Offseason

Coach Chuck Noll's reshaping of the squad from the year before continued for 1970.

Undoubtedly the greatest change that took place was Chuck Noll's trade of the team's lone superstar, Roy Jefferson. Although Jefferson was among the league leaders in receiving in 1968 and 1969, despite playing for the worst team in football with mediocre quarterbacks, he was sent packing after being publicly vocal in criticizing team management.[1] The trade sent Jefferson to Baltimore, where he earned a Super Bowl ring. Years later, Jefferson pinpointed what he had done to get traded.

"I was [in Baltimore] to make a statement. I wanted to show Pittsburgh they'd made a mistake in getting rid of me. I mean, I wasn't a 'yes' man for coach Chuck Noll. If you cursed me, I cursed you back. I messed over the curfew rules a lot and, in training camp, I'd park my car in the coaches' spaces."[2]

Hence, 1970 brought change with Ron Shanklin emerging as a steady receiver for the next few years until John Stallworth and Lynn Swann joined the team in 1974.[3][4]

As a result of the NFL-AFL merger being finalized for the 1970 season, three teams from the "old" NFL were moved to the newly formed AFC alongside the former AFL teams. The Steelers agreed to be one of them after their archrivals, the Cleveland Browns, volunteered to join the AFL franchises in the AFC. The Browns mainly joined because of the possibility of an intrastate rivalry with the AFL's Cincinnati Bengals (now known as the Battle of Ohio), largely due to the animosity at the time between Browns owner Art Modell and Bengals owner & coach Paul Brown, who was fired from the Browns by Modell after the 1962 season. The Steelers joined the AFC in order to keep the Browns-Steelers rivalry alive on a regular basis, due to the proximity of the cities of Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Another change came in the draft. For the first time since 1956, the Steelers owned the number one selection in the draft after winning a coin toss with the Chicago Bears for the top pick, as the two teams had identical 1–13 records in 1969. (The Steelers would have won the tiebreaker under the modern NFL tiebreaker rules anyway, since the Bears' one win was against the Steelers in week 8 of that season.)

1970 Pittsburgh Steelers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Terry Bradshaw * ^†	QB	Louisiana Tech
2	28	Ron Shanklin *	WR	North Texas
3	53	Mel Blount * ^†	CB	Southern
4	80	Ed George	T	Wake Forest
5	105	Jon Staggers	DB	Missouri
6	132	Manuel Barrera	LB	Kansas State
6	155	Clarence Kegler	T	South Carolina State
7	157	Terry Brennan	T	Notre Dame
8	184	Dave Smith	WR	Indiana (Pa.)
9	209	Carl Crennel	LB	West Virginia
10	236	Isaiah Brown	DB	Stanford
11	261	Calvin Hunt	C	Baylor
12	288	Rick Sharp	DT	Washington (St. Louis)
13	313	Billy Main	RB	Oregon State
14	340	Bert Askson	LB	Texas Southern
15	365	Glen Keppy	DT	Wisconsin–Platteville
16	392	Frank Yanossy	DT	Tennessee
17	417	Harry Key	TE	Mississippi Valley State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

In the 1970 NFL Draft, only two Hall of Famers were selected in all 17 Rounds and 442 Picks. One being 1st Round, 1st Pick selection Terry Bradshaw, and the second being 3rd Round, 53rd Pick Mel Blount. Bradshaw would later become a Hall of Fame Inductee in 1989, and Blount became an inductee in 1989 as well. Also, both players were part of the 70s Steeler Dynasty. In his 14-year professional career, Bradshaw got off on a bumpy start from 1970–1975. Bradshaw threw a career-high 24 interceptions and only 6 touchdown passes. In wasn't until 1976 when Bradshaw's career had begun to peak. Blount's career was an overall consistent one. In 1975, he intercepted 11 passes for 121 yards.

In 1966, the NFL agreed on a merger with the rival AFL (American Football League). In 1970, the merger became final, as a result of the merger, the AFC (American Football Conference) featuring all the AFL teams and the NFC (National Football Conference) featuring all the "old" NFL teams. Two teams from the NFL were asked to join the AFL in the AFC, the Baltimore Colts, and the Cleveland Browns (the Browns owner, Art Modell asked the NFL Commissioner, Pete Rozelle if he could join to play the Cincinnati Bengals in the Battle of Ohio). Upon hearing this, Art Rooney (Steelers Owner) asked Rozelle if he could join to keep the Steelers-Browns rivalry alive. So, the Steelers would begin playing in the AFC and would leave the Eagles rivalry and many others they had playing the NFC teams. Also, the Steelers moved into the then state-of-the-art, Three Rivers Stadium and left Pitt Stadium. The new Three Rivers was one of the many "cookie-cutter" stadiums across the league and became an icon to Pittsburgh.

The opening of Three Rivers ended their relatively brief stay at Pitt Stadium, where they had only been playing on a full-time basis for six years. Before that, the Steelers played most of their home games at Forbes Field, with occasional games being played at Pitt Stadium to take advantage of the larger capacity. The Steelers later returned the favor to the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 when the Pitt Panthers football team moved into Three Rivers for one season as an interim home before Heinz Field was ready in 2001. Pitt would also play their Backyard Brawl games against West Virginia in years Pitt hosted the game during the existence of Three Rivers.

WTAE-TV sportscaster Myron Cope joined the Steelers radio network as color commentator for the 1970 season. Cope remained a fixture of the Steelers radio network through the 2004 season and became beloved by fans due to his enthusiasm and catchphrases behind the announcing booth. In 1975, Cope invented the Terrible Towel, originally conceived as a gimmick in the Steelers playoff game against Baltimore and now a staple among Steelers fans.

Personnel

Staff

1970 Pittsburgh Steelers staff

	Front office President – Arthur J. Rooney Vice President – John R. McGinley Vice President – Daniel M. Rooney Director of Player Personnel – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr. Public Relations Director – Ed Kiely Ticket Manager – Joseph H. Carr Traveling Secretary – James A. Boston Publicity Director – Joe Gordon Office Manager – Terrence Jacobs Ticket Office Assistant – Arthur Laughlin Assistant Director of Player Personnel – Bill Nunn Head coaches Head Coach – Chuck Noll Offensive coaches Offensive Backfield – Max Coley Offensive Line – Bob Fry Receivers – Lionel Taylor			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Walter Hackett Defensive Backfield – Charlie Sumner Strength and conditioning Strength Coach – Louis Riecke Team Physician, Orthopedic – Dr. John Best Team Physician, M.D. – Dr. David S. Huber Team Dentist – Dr. Robert Gray Trainer – Ralph Berlin Assistant Trainer – Robert Milie Equipment Manager – Anthony Parisi Field Manager – Jack Hart [5]

Roster

1970 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster

	Quarterbacks 12 Terry Bradshaw  5 Terry Hanratty Running backs 46 Warren Bankston TE 30 Terry Cole 33 John Fuqua 42 Dick Hoak 26 Preston Pearson Wide receivers 32 Hubie Bryant PR 84 Dave Kalina 25 Ron Shanklin 82 Dave Smith  2 Jon Staggers KR 86 J. R. Wilburn Tight ends 85 Bob Adams 82 Dennis Hughes		Offensive linemen 74 John Brown T 57 Sam Davis G 76 Mike Haggerty T 55 Jon Kolb T/C 56 Ray Mansfield C 73 Rick Sharp T 66 Bruce Van Dyke G 62 Ralph Wenzel G Defensive linemen 71 Dick Arndt DT 75 Joe Greene DT 68 L. C. Greenwood DE 64 Chuck Hinton DT 60 Ben McGee DE 65 Lloyd Voss DE/DT 67 Clarence Washington DT		Linebackers 58 Chuck Allen MLB 31 Carl Crennel LB 53 Henry Davis OLB 54 Doug Fisher MLB 69 Jerry Hillebrand OLB 34 Andy Russell OLB 61 Brian Stenger OLB Defensive backs 28 Ocie Austin S 29 Fred Barry DB 37 Chuck Beatty S 47 Mel Blount CB/KR 44 Lee Calland CB 24 Kenny Graham S 27 Clancy Oliver S 48 John Rowser CB 49 John Sodaski S Special teams 56 Ray Mansfield LS/PK 55 Jon Kolb LS/P 21 Gene Mingo K 14 Allan Watson K 39 Bobby Walden P/H		Reserve lists Practice squad 76 Bert Askson DE    Gerald Brown DE 50 Jim Clack C 16 Bob Leahy QB    Ara Person TE [6] [7] [8] Rookies in italics 49 active, 0 inactive, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result
1	September 20, 1970	Houston Oilers	L 19–7
2	September 27, 1970	at Denver Broncos	L 16–13
3	October 3, 1970	at Cleveland Browns	L 15–7
4	October 11, 1970	Buffalo Bills	W 23–10
5	October 18, 1970	at Houston Oilers	W 7–3
6	October 25, 1970	at Oakland Raiders	L 31–14
7	November 2, 1970	Cincinnati Bengals	W 21–10
8	November 8, 1970	New York Jets	W 21–17
9	November 15, 1970	Kansas City Chiefs	L 31–14
10	November 22, 1970	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 34–7
11	November 29, 1970	Cleveland Browns	W 28–9
12	December 6, 1970	Green Bay Packers	L 20–12
13	December 13, 1970	at Atlanta Falcons	L 27–16
14	December 20, 1970	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 30-20

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Oilers 7 7 2 3 19 Steelers 0 0 0 7 7 Date: September 20 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game attendance: 45,538 Referee: Walt Fitzgerald

Scoring Drives:

• Houston – LeVias 22 pass from Johnson (Gerela kick) HOU 7–0
• Houston – LeVias 10 pass from Johnson (Gerela kick) HOU 14–0
• Houston – Safety, Bradshaw forced out of end zone by Pritchard HOU 16–0
• Houston – FG Gerela 8 HOU 19–0
• Pittsburgh – Shanklin 15 pass from Hanratty (Mingo kick) HOU 19–7

The Steelers played their first regular season game at the brand new Three Rivers Stadium. Terry Bradshaw made his NFL debut, but struggled, going 4 for 16 for 40 yds. Bradshaw was also sacked for a safety, the first of three straight games in which this would happen. With the loss, the Steelers dropped to 0-1.

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 10 3 0 13 • Broncos 7 0 9 0 16 Date: September 27 Location: Mile High Stadium Game attendance: 50,705 Referee: Jack Vest

Scoring Drives:

• Denver – Crenshaw 1 run (Howfield kick) DEN 7–0
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 4 run (Mingo kick) T 7–7
• Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 9 PIT 10–7
• Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 13 PIT 13–7
• Denver – Safety, Washington tackled Bradshaw in end zone PIT 13–9
• Denver – Van Heusen 38 pass from Tensi (Howfield kick)DEN 16–13

With the loss, the Steelers fell to 0–2.

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 7 0 0 7 • Browns 2 0 13 0 15 Date: October 3 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium Game attendance: 84,349 Referee: George Rennix

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – Safety, Bradshaw tackled in end zone by Snidow CLE 2–0
• Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 22 run (Mingo kick) PIT 7–2
• Cleveland – Morrison 53 pass from Phipps (kick failed)CLE 8–7
• Cleveland – Barnes 38 pass interception return (Cockroft kick) CLE 15–7

With the loss, the Steelers fell to 0–3.

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 3 0 7 0 10 • Steelers 3 7 3 10 23 Date: October 11 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game attendance: 42,140 Referee: Bernie Ulman

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 28 PIT 3–0
• Buffalo – FG Guthrie 52 T 3–3
• Pittsburgh – Smith 6 pass from Hanratty (Mingo kick) PIT 10–3
• Buffalo – Simpson 4 run (Guthrie kick) T 10–10
• Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 49 PIT 13–10
• Pittsburgh – Pearson 2 run (Mingo kick) PIT 20–10
• Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 43 PIT 23–10

The Steelers won their first game, improving to 1–3.

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Steelers 0 7 0 0 7 Oilers 3 0 0 0 3 Date: October 18 Location: Houston Astrodome Game attendance: 42,799 Referee: Bob Finley

Scoring Drives:

• Houston – Gerela 34 yard field goal – HOU 3–0
• Pittsburgh – Shanklin 67 yard pass from Bradshaw (Mingo kick) – PIT 7–3

With the win, the Steelers improved to 2–3 and split the regular season series with the Oilers.

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 7 7 0 14 • Raiders 7 17 7 0 31 Date: October 25 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Game attendance: 54,423 Referee: Norm Schachter

Scoring Drives:

• Oakland – Chester 37 pass from Lamonica (Blanda kick) OAK 7–0
• Pittsburgh – Pearson 2 run (Mingo kick) T 7–7
• Oakland – Wells 44 pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) OAK 14–7
• Oakland – FG Blanda 27 OAK 17–7
• Oakland – Chester 19 pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) OAK 24–7
• Pittsburgh – Hughes 12 pass from Bradshaw (Mingo kick) OAK 24–14
• Oakland – Chester 43 pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) OAK 31–14

In the first in what would become many regular and postseason games between these 2 teams, the Steelers would lose the very first game to the Raiders as the team dropped to 2–4.

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Bengals 0 7 3 0 10 • Steelers 0 7 0 14 21 Date: November 2 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 38,968 Referee: Fred Swearingen TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell, and Don Meredith

Scoring Drives:

• Cincinnati – Crabtree 2 pass from Carter (Muhlmann kick) CIN 7–0
• Pittsburgh – Hughes 27 pass from Hoak (Mingo kick) T 7–7
• Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 43 CIN 10–7
• Pittsburgh – Hughes 72 pass from Hanratty (Mingo kick) PIT 14–10
• Pittsburgh – Bankston 2 run (Mingo kick)PIT 21–10
• First Monday night football game played at Three Rivers Stadium.

The Steelers won the very first game between them and the Bengals and the teams' record improved to 3–4.

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 3 0 7 7 17 • Steelers 7 7 7 0 21 Date: November 8 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game attendance: 50,028 Referee: Walt Fitzgerald

Scoring Drives:

• New York Jets – FG Turner 17 NYJ 3–0
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run (Mingo kick) PIT 7–3
• Pittsburgh – Bankston 12 run (Mingo kick) PIT 14–3
• New York Jets – Mercein 15 pass from Woodall (Turner kick) PIT 14–10
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 6 pass from Hanratty (Mingo kick) PIT 21–10
• New York Jets – Nock 1 run (Turner kick) PIT 21–17

With the win, the Steelers improved to 4–4.

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Chiefs 3 7 7 14 31 Steelers 0 0 7 7 14 Date: November 15 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game attendance: 50,081 Referee: John McDonough

Scoring Drives:

• Kansas City – FG Stenerud 32 KC 3–0
• Kansas City – Cannon 20 pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 10–0
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 2 run (Mingo kick) KC 10–7
• Kansas City – Cannon 8 pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 17–7
• Kansas City – Taylor 42 pass from Dawson (Stenerud kick) KC 24–7
• Pittsburgh – Staggers 7 pass from Bradshaw (Mingo kick) KC 24–14
• Kansas City – Holmes 2 run (Stenerud kick) KC 31–14

With the loss, the Steelers fell to 4–5.

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 7 0 7 • Bengals 6 7 7 14 34 Date: November 22 Location: Riverfront Stadium Game attendance: 59,276 Referee: Jack Reader

Scoring Drives:

• Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 17 CIN 3–0
• Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 13 CIN 6–0
• Cincinnati – Carter 5 run (Muhlmann kick) CIN 13–0
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run (Mingo kick) CIN 13–7
• Cincinnati – Robinson 15 run (Muhlmann kick) CIN 20–7
• Cincinnati – Trumpy 53 pass from Carter (Muhlmann kick) CIN 27–7
• Cincinnati – Crabtree 10 pass from Carter (Muhlmann kick) CIN 34–7

In their first ever game in Cincinnati, the Steelers would lose it by 27 points as the team dropped to 4–6.

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 3 3 3 0 9 • Steelers 7 7 7 7 28 Date: November 29 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game attendance: 50,214 Referee: Ben Dreith

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Shanklin 8 pass from Hanratty (Watson kick) PIT 7–0
• Cleveland – FG Cockroft 16 PIT 7–3
• Cleveland – FG Cockroft 38 PIT 7–6
• Pittsburgh – Beatty 30 interception return (Watson kick) PIT 14–6
• Cleveland – FG Cockroft 46 PIT 14–9
• Pittsburgh -Shanklin 81 pass from Bradshaw (Watson kick) PIT 21–9
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 57 pass from Bradshaw (Watson kick) PIT 28–9

With the win, the Steelers improved to 5–6 and finished 3–3 in their division.

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • Packers 6 0 7 7 20 Steelers 3 0 6 3 12 Date: December 6 Location: Three Rivers Stadium Game attendance: 46,418 Referee: Norm Schachter

Scoring Drives:

• Green Bay – Krause 100 kickoff return (kick failed) GB 6–0
• Pittsburgh – FG Watson 15 GB 6–3
• Pittsburgh – Smith 87 pass from Bradshaw (kick failed) PIT 9–6
• Green Bay – McGeorge 13 pass from Starr (Livingston kick) GB 13–9
• Pittsburgh – FG Watson 45 GB 13–12
• Green Bay – Hilton 65 pass from Starr (Livingston kick) GB 20–12

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 6 10 0 0 16 • Falcons 7 3 10 7 27 Date: December 13 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Game attendance: 54,162 Referee: Jack Vest

Scoring Drives:

• Atlanta – Malone 5 pass from Johnson (Vinyard kick) ATL 7–0
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 10 run (kick failed) ATL 7–6
• Pittsburgh – FG Watson 21 PIT 9–7
• Atlanta – FG Vinyard 35 ATL 10–9
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run (Watson kick) PIT 16–10
• Atlanta – FG Vinyard 17 PIT 16–13
• Atlanta – Mitchell 12 run (Vinyard kick)ATL 20–16
• Atlanta – Flatley 18 pass from Johnson (Vinyard kick) ATL 27–16

Week 14 (Sunday December 20, 1970): Philadelphia Eagles

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 7 7 3 3 20 • Eagles 6 14 0 10 30 Date: December 20 Location: Franklin Field Game attendance: 55,252 Referee: Bob Finley

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 72 run (Watson kick) PIT 7–0
• Philadelphia – Hawkins 21 pass from Snead (kick failed) PIT 7–6
• Philadelphia – Dirks recovered blocked kick in end zone (Moseley kick) PHI 13–7
• Pittsburgh – Fuqua 85 run (Watson kick) PIT 14–13
• Philadelphia – Ballman 19 pass from Snead (Moseley kick)PHI 20–14
• Pittsburgh – FG Watson 21 PHI 20–17
• Pittsburgh – FG Watson 17 T 20–20
• Philadelphia – FG Moseley 18 PHI 23–20
• Philadelphia – Watkins 1 run (Moseley kick) PHI 30–20

John Fuqua would run for 218 yards

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals	8	6	0	.571	3–3	7–4	312	255	W7
Cleveland Browns	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–4	286	265	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–6	210	272	L3
Houston Oilers	3	10	1	.231	2–4	3–7–1	217	352	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

References

1. "How the Steelers Traded Roy Jefferson" http://www.footballperspective.com/how-the-steelers-traded-roy-jefferson-and-won-four-super-bowls/
2. "Catching Up With Former Colt Roy Jefferson, Baltimore Sun, November 7, 2013
3. Ron Shanklin Career Statistics https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/ShanRo00.htm
4. "The Legend of Ron Shanklin" http://stillcurtain.com/2015/04/29/steelers-draft-legend-ronnie-shanklin/
5. 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
6. 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
7. 1971 Pittsburgh Steelers Preseason Prospectus.
8. "1970 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-12-17.