Focus on catching up as 1979 Super Steelers convene for ceremony

When they convened this weekend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Super Bowl XIV, members of the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers had no shortage of memories to discuss.

They could talk about how they were the first team to win four Super Bowls and the only one to win it in back-to-back years on separate occasions, or how they remain the only team to win a Super Bowl entirely with home-grown players — a feat unlikely to be equaled.

How they overcame injuries to key players early in the season and again in the playoffs to cap the greatest decade in Pittsburgh sports history. How they trailed at halftime and again entering the fourth quarter before they found the will and determination to pull away from the pesky Los Angeles Rams.

They could talk about any and all of those accomplishments. They probably won’t unless prompted.

“I bet that in the whole weekend not one person will talk about that event and what happened in that game,” said Jon Kolb, an offensive tackle who earned his fourth Super Bowl ring that season. “We’ll catch up on families and what is going on. We’ve always been that way. We’re more interested in each other’s lives than what happened back then.”

A year after reuniting members of the 1978 and 2008 Super Bowl title teams, the Steelers will fete the 1979 group at a halftime ceremony Sunday at Heinz Field. It is fitting the Steelers, wearing throwback uniforms from that season, will play the Rams, the underdog NFC champion in 1979 who pushed the defending champs to the limit before the Steelers pulled away with a 31-19 win.

The ceremony will culminate a weekend of activities that include dinners, breakfasts and a tour of UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for the group.

“Everyone, I’m sure, has their own memories about it,” said Rocky Bleier, the running back who overcame a leg injuries in Vietnam to win four titles. “It’s been 40 years. I’ll have to go back and look at who we played, and that may create some memories of those games.”

Coming on the heels of a 14-2 season and 35-31 victory against the Dallas Cowboys in 1978, coach Chuck Noll challenged his Steelers to repeat again. They had done so in 1974 and ’75. Following missed opportunities the next two seasons — considered some of the best teams Noll produced — the Steelers had a chance to cement their 1970s dominance.

Despite injuries to Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Lynn Swann and several members of the offensive line, the Steelers got off to a 5-1 start. A dose of reality set in when they were blown out 34-10 by the 0-6 Cincinnati Bengals. They reeled off four more wins before a trip to San Diego ended with a 35-7 defeat.

A late-season loss to the division-rival Houston Oilers was their final one before the playoffs. The Steelers entered the postseason without injured linebacker Jack Ham and safety Mike Wagner. On the vaunted Steel Curtain defensive line, the only player to start every game was John Banaszak, who replaced Ernie Holmes in 1978.

The Steelers made quick work of the Miami Dolphins, 34-14, in the divisional round. They trailed the Oilers in the conference championship game, 10-3, before rallying for a 27-13 win in a game remembered for Mike Renfro’s controversial noncatch in the end zone that cost Houston a tying fourth-quarter touchdown.

Entering the Super Bowl, the Steelers were a heavy favorite over the 9-7 Rams, even though the game was held at the Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena.

“In my mind, nobody’s ever done this,” said John Stallworth, who caught a then-team record 70 passes while being named Steelers MVP. “You go through, what are the odds? What are the chances of winning four Super Bowls in six years? It seems like at some point, situations all just line up against you. That anything could go wrong.”

For the first three quarters, just about everything did for the Steelers. They trailed 13-10 at the half after the Rams converted a Terry Bradshaw interception into a field goal. Bradshaw threw two more interceptions in the third quarter. Swann left with a concussion, and the Rams took a 19-17 lead into the final 15 minutes.

Bradshaw found a steady hand, memorably throwing a 73-yard touchdown pass to Stallworth on a third-and-8. The play, known as 60 Prevent Slot Hook and Go, was one Bradshaw hadn’t completed in an entire week of practices.

An interception by Jack Lambert kept the Rams from driving for a go-ahead touchdown, and Bradshaw and Stallworth hooked up on a 45-yard completion, using the same play as the 73-yard score. It set up Franco Harris’ second 1-yard touchdown run that iced the win.

Stallworth realized how fortunate the Steelers were to escape with another championship.

“If the guy jumping up to bat the ball away on my touchdown, if he tips it a little bit, maybe I don’t catch it and maybe we don’t get that touchdown,” he said. “If we don’t do that, maybe we don’t go back to that play. … If it’s unsuccessful the first time, he doesn’t come back to me. There were little things we were able to do that won the football game.”

Little did anyone know that it would be 26 years before the Steelers got the coveted “One for the Thumb” championship.

The members of the vaunted 1974 draft class were entering their seventh seasons in ’80, yet core members of the team were aging, particularly on defense, and the Steelers missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. Joe Greene and Greenwood were 34. Dwight White was limited to seven games in his final season. Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Ham were 32.

“I think we kind of realized it was kind of the end of a great run, at least I did in a sense,” Ham said. “I couldn’t make the plays that I made before. You played 10-12 years, and you take into account all the playoff games.”

Bleier retired after the 1980 season. Greene, Greenwood and Kolb followed suit in ’81 and Ham a year later.

“When I retired, I said I don’t want this to be the best thing that ever happened to me,” Kolb said. “I never looked back. If you look back, you don’t know where you are going.”

There will be time to reminisce this weekend but also to look ahead.

“We were very close,” Kolb said. “We didn’t have cliques on that team, and I think that is one reason why we were so successful and it makes it so enjoyable when we get back together.”