1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season

NFL sports season August 2023 March 2026 Pittsburgh Steelers 1970 5–9 3rd AFC Central Chuck Noll Art Rooney Three Rivers Stadium Did not qualify border:none; padding:0; 2 DT Joe Greene LB Andy Russell None Joe Greene Steelers seasons 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 first place Cincinnati Bengals — a team that was only in its third year of existence. Offseason Coach Chuck Noll's reshaping of the squad from the previous season 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 with mediocre quarterbacks for the worst team in football, he was sent packing after being publicly vocal in criticizing team management.“How the Steelers Traded Roy Jefferson” http://www.footballperspective.com/how-the-steelers-traded-roy-jefferson-and-won-four-super-bowls/ Football Perspective 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."Catching Up With Former Colt Roy Jefferson The Baltimore Sun November 7, 2013 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. Pro-Football-Reference.com Ron Shanklin Career Statistics https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/ShanRo00.htm“The Legend of Ron Shanklin” Still Curtain http://stillcurtain.com/2015/04/29/steelers-draft-legend-ronnie-shanklin/ 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 and 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 1 1 Terry Bradshaw Quarterback Louisiana Tech yes yes yes 2 28 Ron Shanklin Wide receiver North Texas yes yes 3 53 Mel Blount Cornerback Southern yes yes yes 4 80 Ed George Tackle Wake Forest no 5 105 Jon Staggers Defensive back Missouri yes 6 132 Manuel Barrera Linebacker Kansas State no 6 155 Clarence Kegler Tackle South Carolina State no 7 157 Terry Brennan Tackle Notre Dame no 8 184 Dave Smith Wide receiver Indiana (Pa.) yes 9 209 Carl Crennel Linebacker West Virginia yes 10 236 Isaiah Brown Defensive back Stanford no 11 261 Calvin Hunt Center Baylor no 12 288 Rick Sharp Defensive tackle Washington yes 13 313 Billy Main Running back Oregon State no 14 340 Bert Askson Linebacker Texas Southern yes 15 365 Glen Keppy Defensive tackle Wisconsin–Platteville no 16 392 Frank Yanossy Defensive tackle Tennessee no 17 417 Harry Key Tight end Mississippi Valley State no In the 1970 NFL Draft, only two Hall of Famers were selected in all seventeen Rounds and 442 Picks. These were 1st Round, 1st Pick selection Terry Bradshaw, and 3rd Round, 53rd Pick Mel Blount. Both were part of the 1970s Steeler Dynasty, and both inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989. In his 14-year professional career, Bradshaw got off on a bumpy start from 1970 to 1975, and threw a career-high 24 interceptions and only 6 touchdown passes in 1970. In wasn't until 1976 that Bradshaw's career began 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 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 / Coaches 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers #08214A white #EEC607 President – Arthur J. Rooney Vice president – John R. McGinley Vice president / General Manager – 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 coach – Chuck Noll Offensive backfield – Max Coley Offensive line – Bob Fry Receivers – Lionel Taylor Defensive line – Walter Hackett Defensive backfield – Charlie Sumner 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 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide Roster 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers 40 6 7 12 Terry Bradshaw y  5 Terry Hanratty 30 Terry Cole American football 33 John Fuqua 26 Preston Pearson 32 Hubie Bryant 25 Ron Shanklin y 82 Dave Smith wide receiver y  2 Jon Staggers y 86 J. R. Wilburn 85 Bob Adams American football 82 Dennis Hughes American football y 74 John Brown offensive tackle T 57 Sam Davis American football G 76 Mike Haggerty T 55 Jon Kolb C 56 Ray Mansfield C 73 Rick Sharp y T 66 Bruce Van Dyke G 62 Ralph Wenzel guard G 71 Dick Arndt DT 75 Joe Greene DT 68 L. C. Greenwood DE 64 Chuck Hinton American football DT 60 Ben McGee DE 65 Lloyd Voss DE 67 Clarence Washington DT/DE 58 Chuck Allen MLB 53 Henry Davis American football OLB 69 Jerry Hillebrand OLB 34 Andy Russell American football OLB 61 Brian Stenger MLB 29 Fred Barry y CB 37 Chuck Beatty SS 47 Mel Blount y CB 44 Lee Calland CB 27 Clancy Oliver FS 48 John Rowser CB 39 Bobby Walden P 14 Allan Watson y American football K 28 Ocie Austin S IR 46 Warren Bankston RB IR 20 Rocky Bleier RB IR 54 Doug Fisher American football LB IR 79 Larry Gagner G NF-Inj. 42 Dick Hoak RB IR 51 Bert Askson y LB 50 Jim Clack C 24 Kenny Graham American football S 84 Dave Kalina y WR 16 Bob Leahy American football y QB    Ara Person TE 49 John Sodaski S 1971 Pittsburgh Steelers Preseason Prospectus https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/1970_roster.htm 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers Pro-Football-Reference.com 2014-12-17 Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record 1 September 20 Houston Oilers L 19–70–1 2 September 27 at Denver Broncos L 16–130–2 3 October 3, 1970 at Cleveland Browns L 15–70–3 4 October 11 Buffalo Bills W 23–101–3 5 October 18 at Houston Oilers W 7–32–3 6 October 25 at Oakland Raiders L 31–142–4 7 November 2, 1970 Cincinnati Bengals W 21–103–4 8 November 8 New York Jets W 21–174–4 9 November 15 Kansas City Chiefs L 31–144–5 10 November 22 at Cincinnati Bengals L 34–74–6 11 November 29 Cleveland Browns W 28–95–6 12 December 6 Green Bay Packers L 20–125–7 13 December 13 at Atlanta Falcons L 27–165–8 14 December 20 at Philadelphia Eagles L 30–205–9Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1 Oilers 7 7 2 3 Steelers 0 0 0 7 September 20 Three Rivers Stadium 45,538 65 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 68%, wind 8 mph km/h knots 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 consecutive games in which this would happen. With the loss, the Steelers dropped to 0-1. Week 2 Steelers 0 10 3 0 Broncos 7 0 9 0 September 27 Mile High Stadium 50,705 49 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 54%, wind 7 mph km/h knots 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 Steelers 0 7 0 0 Browns 2 0 13 0 October 3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 84,349 54 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 66%, wind 16 mph km/h knots 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 Bills 3 0 7 0 Steelers 3 7 3 10 October 11 Three Rivers Stadium 42,140 59 °F °C or, relative humidity 85%, wind 7 mph km/h knots 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 Steelers 0 7 0 0 Oilers 3 0 0 0 October 18 Houston Astrodome 42,799 indoors (domed stadium) 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 Steelers 0 7 7 0 Raiders 7 17 7 0 October 25 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 54,423 55 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 71%, wind 8 mph km/h knots 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 of what would become many regular and postseason games between these two teams, the Steelers would lose their very first game to the Raiders as the team dropped to 2–4. Week 7 Bengals 0 7 3 0 Steelers 0 7 0 14 November 2 Three Rivers Stadium 9:00 p.m. EST 38,968 55 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 81%, wind 10 mph km/h knots Fred Swearingen Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell, and Don Meredith ABC 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 Jets 3 0 7 7 Steelers 7 7 7 0 November 8 Three Rivers Stadium 50,028 46 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 74%, wind 7 mph km/h knots 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 Chiefs 3 7 7 14 Steelers 0 0 7 7 November 15 Three Rivers Stadium 50,081 42 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 89%, wind 14 mph km/h knots 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 During the game, Dave Smith dropped the ball while attempting to score a touchdown. With the loss, the Steelers fell to 4–5. Week 10 Steelers 0 0 7 0 Bengals 6 7 7 14 November 22 Riverfront Stadium 59,276 47 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 56%, wind 16 mph km/h knots 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 Browns 3 3 3 0 Steelers 7 7 7 7 November 29 Three Rivers Stadium 50,214 45 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 97%, wind 10 mph km/h knots 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 Packers 6 0 7 7 Steelers 3 0 6 3 December 6 Three Rivers Stadium 46,418 23 °F °C or, relative humidity 74%, wind 22 mph km/h knots, wind chill 7 °F °C 1 or 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 With the loss, the Steelers dropped to 5-7 on the year. This would be their last home loss to Green Bay until 2025. Week 13 Steelers 6 10 0 0 Falcons 7 3 10 7 December 13 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 54,162 42 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 62%, wind 13 mph km/h knots 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 Steelers 7 7 3 3 Eagles 6 14 0 10 December 20 Franklin Field 55,252 44 °F °C 1 or, relative humidity 62%, wind 14 mph km/h knots 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 References External links 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Pro-Football-Reference.com 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season at JT-SW.com Category:Pittsburgh Steelers seasons Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steel Category:1970 in Pittsburgh