by Rudy Dicks
26. Joe Falls, “NFL Predictions: New Threats, Old Champions,” Sports All-Stars 1963 Pro Football, 44.
27. William N. Wallace, “Steelers: A Lot of Discards Seeking a Jackpot,” New York Times, Dec. 10, 1963.
28. Arthur Daley, “The Great Untangling,” New York Times, Dec. 10, 1963.
29. “The Way People Live Today,” U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 11, 1963, 56.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid., 56–57.
32. Ibid., 58.
33. Ibid., 59.
34. Ibid., 59.
35. Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 7, 1963.
36. Al Abrams, “Monday Morning’s Sports Wash,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 11, 1961.
37. Robert Gordon, “Hate Bomb Kills 4 Girls at Negro Church,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 16, 1963 (UPI).
38. “Fiery Deaths of 3 Laid to Race Insult,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 16, 1963.
39. Geoffrey Gould, “Valachi Will Resume Crime Expose Tuesday,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963 (AP).
40. UPI, “Luciano Aide Reveals Story of U.S. Mafia,” Pittsburgh Press,Sept. 19, 1963.
GAME 1
1. Timothy Gay, The Physics of Football: Discover the Science of Bone-Crushing Hits, Soaring Field Goals, and Awe-Inspiring Passes (New York: Harper, 2005).
2. Al Abrams, “Monday Morning’s Sports Wash,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 3, 1962; Lou Michaels, conversation, Aug. 29, 2007.
3. Jack Sell, “Steelers, Bears Battle to 17–17 Deadlock,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 25, 1963.
4. Al Abrams, “Steelers Ooze Confidence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 11, 1963.
5. Ibid.
6. Buck Jerzy, “They Don’t Make ’Em like Lou Anymore,” National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, http://polishsportshof.com/inductees/football/lou-michaels.
7. Lou Michaels, conversation, Aug. 29, 2007.
8. John Steadman, “Sub’s Life No Role for Michaels,” Baltimore News American, Dec. 30, 1964.
9. Richard G. Hubler, “Hollywood’s Frightening Lover,” Saturday Evening Post, Nov. 13, 1954, 44.
10. Pat Livingston, “Lou Michaels Went to College to Get Grid Education,” Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 8, 1962.
11. “Lou Michaels, Brother of Walt, Spurs Rams Hopes,” Proball, July 1958.
12. Steadman, “Sub’s Life No Role.”
13. Bill Wise, 1963 Official Pro Football Almanac (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1963), 65.
14. Jack Sell, “Steelers Win, 16 to 7, on Michaels’ Toe,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 9, 1963.
15. “Steel Shuffle Bringing Jobs to City,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 19, 1963.
16. Johnny Sample with Fred J. Hamilton and Sonny Schwartz, Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer (New York: Dial Press, 1970), 97.
17. Bob Barnett, “Profile: Ray Kemp,” Pro Football Hall of Fame, Jan. 18, 2005, http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.aspx?release_id=1379.
18. Richard Goldstein, “Lowell Perry, 69, Football Star and Ford Aide,” New York Times, Jan. 11, 2001.
19. Ibid.
20. “Rooney Rates with Rickey, Brown as Benefactor—Kemp,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 31, 1963.
21. Al Abrams, “Parker’s Best Team,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 8, 1963.
22. Al Abrams, “Is Parker on Way Out?,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 4, 1962.
23. Abrams, “Parker’s Best Team.”
24. Jack Sell, “Raymond K. Parkers Host Arthur J. Rooneys of the Steelers,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 11, 1963.
25. Abrams, “Steelers Ooze Confidence.”
26. Al Abrams, “The Best Is Yet to Come,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 3, 1960.
27. Michael MacCambridge, ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game (New York: ESPN Books, 2005), 710.
28. Pat Livingston, “Apathy, Not Team, Discourages Rooney as Season Nears,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 27, 1963.
29. Ibid.
30. Pat Livingston, “Show Great But Gate Flops As Steelers Whip Eagles, 31–0,” Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 30, 1959.
31. Pat Livingston, “Ernie Stautner Raps Booing Fans and Small Crowds,” Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 29, 1961.
32. Roy Blount Jr., About Three Bricks Shy of a Load: A Highly Irregular Lowdown on the Year the Pittsburgh Steelers Were Super but Missed the Bowl (Boston: Little, Brown, 1974), 102.
33. Charles Danver, “Travelin’ Judge,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 24, 1963.
34. Myron Cope, “Pittsburgh’s Patient Whipping Boy,” Sports Illustrated, Dec. 19, 1966, M3.
35. Mitzi Michaels in Al Abrams, “Who Are the Animals?,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 13, 1963.
36. Joe Tucker, Steelers’ Victory after Forty (New York: Exposition Press, 1973), 156.
37. Livingston, “Apathy, Not Team.”
38. Ray Didinger, Pittsburgh Steelers (New York: Macmillan, 1974), 136.
39. “D.C. Steelers’ Fan Pin-Points Parker’s Problems,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 31, 1963.
40. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Hope to Rebound with Giants,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 18, 1963.
41. Didinger, Pittsburgh Steelers, 23–24.
42. Pat Livingston, “Eagles Ready Attack, Fans for Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 13, 1963.
43. John Underwood, “The Magnificent Squirt,” Sports Illustrated, Oct. 8, 1962, 48.
44. Sandy Grady, “Nice Old Lady Meddles and Hexes,” Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Dec. 10, 1962.
45. Hugh Brown, “Best Defense in Years Saves Eagles 21–21 Tie with Steelers,” Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Sept. 16, 1963.
46. Ibid.
47. Steadman, “Sub’s Life No Role.”
48. Underwood, “The Magnificent Squirt,” 50.
49. Roy McHugh, “Is Tommy McDonald Pro Football’s Piersall?,” Sport, Nov. 1962, 84.
50. Gay, The Physics of Football, 161.
51. Pat Livingston, “Steeler Star’s Kick Hits Post,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 16, 1963.
52. John Dell, “Michaels Had Cross to Bear,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 16, 1963.
53. Livingston, “Steeler Star’s Kick Hits Post.”
54. Good, “Choking Steeler Saved from Death,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 16, 1963.
55. Ibid.
56. “Fast Action Saved Reger from Choking,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 16, 1963.
57. “Bears’ Defense Halts Packers,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 16, 1963 (UPI).
GAME 2
1. AP, “Big Daddy Happy, Has Big Day,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 14, 1963.
2. Clendon Thomas, conversation, Aug. 30, 2008.
3. Preston Carpenter, conversation, Sept. 8, 2007.
4. “Steeler Star Lipscomb Dies, Dope Hinted,” Pittsburgh Press, May 10, 1963.
5. “Requiem for Big Daddy,” Esquire, Sept. 1963, 89.
6. Ibid.
7. Al Abrams, “The Big Pro Trade,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 20, 1961.
8. Johnny Sample with Fred J. Hamilton and Sonny Schwartz, Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer (New York: Dial Press, 1970), 339.
9. Pat Livingston, “Lipscomb’s Death Shock to Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, May 10, 1963; UPI, “Sports Stars Join Drive for Kennedy,” New York Times, Oct. 18, 1960.
10. Jimmy Miller, “Big Daddy Flying High,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 8, 1962.
11. Ibid.
12. Al Abrams, “Monday Morning’s Sports Wash,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 9, 1963.
13. “Steelers High on Curry as West Liberty Camp Starts,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 20, 1963.
14. “D.C. Steelers’ Fan Pin-Points Parker’s Problems,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 31, 1963.
15. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008.
16. James F. Lynch, “New Cheers for an All-American,” New York Times, Feb. 2, 1960.
17. William N. Wallace, “‘It’s Not Magic,’ Says Tittle,” New York Times, Nov. 10, 1963.
18. Y. A. Tittle, con
versation, Sept. 8, 2008.
19. 1964 Steeler press guide.
20. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Jim Sargent, “Frank Varrichione: All-American and Pro Tackle,” Coffin Corner, 21, no. 5 (1999), 2.
24. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008.
25. Pat Livingston, “Apathy, Not Team, Discourages Rooney as Season Nears,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 27, 1963.
26. Al Abrams, “A Day We Won’t Forget,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 17, 1963.
27. Arthur Daley, “Savoring a Rare Treat,” New York Times, Sept. 22, 1963.
28. Y. A. Tittle, conversation, Sept. 8, 2008.
29. Ibid.
30. Ben Thomas, “Glynn Griffing’s Passing Sparks Rebs in Sugar Bowl,” Youngstown Vindicator, Jan. 2, 1963 (AP).
31. At the time, a team could draft a player if his class had graduated even though he had not used up his eligibility. If the player had been redshirted or sat out a year after transferring, he could be drafted after his fourth year, and the rights to him would remain with the team that picked him even if he didn’t sign for a year. Jim Campbell, “1936–37 NFL Draft,” Coffin Corner, 7, no. 5 (1985).
32. Thomas, “Glynn Griffing’s Passing.”
33. Y. A. Tittle, conversation, Sept. 8, 2008.
34. “What’s Wrong with the Civil Arena?,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 20, 1963.
35. “Steelers to Stay Here—Rooney,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 17, 1963.
36. Herbert G. Stein, “Big Crowds at Pitt Hear Meredith,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 19, 1963.
37. Al Abrams, “Monday Morning’s Sports Wash,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 11, 1961.
38. Jimmy Miller, “Steelers Brush Up on ‘Pressure’ Tactics,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 19, 1963.
39. Pat Livingston, “Tittle Ready? Giants to Wait for Kickoff,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 22, 1963.
40. “Tittle Is Still Ailing for Steelers’ Game—42,000 Expected,” New York Times, Sept. 22, 1963.
41. William N. Wallace, “Sherman Adds It Up,” New York Times, Sept. 24, 1963.
42. Gene Ward, “Giants in 31–0 Pitt Shocker,” New York Daily News, Sept. 23, 1963.
43. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Sub Team Play for Lipscomb,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 1, 1963.
44. “Steelers High on Curry as West Liberty Camp Starts,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 20, 1963.
45. Livingston, “Steelers Sub Team.”
46. Jack Sell, “JHJ Makes a Suggestion,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 26, 1963.
47. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Turn Giant-Killers before 46,068,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 23, 1963.
48. Al Abrams, “It Was a Great Day,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 23, 1963.
49. Gordon S. White Jr., “Losers Helpless without Tittle,” New York Times, Sept. 23, 1963.
50. Livingston, “Steelers Turn Giant-Killers.”
51. Ibid.
52. Y. A. Tittle, conversation, Sept. 8, 2008.
53. “Tittle Wanted to Play but Sherman Said No,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 23, 1963.
54. Ward, “Giants in 31–0 Pitt Shocker.”
55. Wallace, “Sherman Adds It Up.”
56. Y. A. Tittle, conversation, Sept. 8, 2008.
57. UPI, “Packers Win the ‘Big One,’” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 23, 1963.
GAME 3
1. Andy Russell, conversation, Oct. 4, 2007.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. AP, “Baker, Oregon State QB, Drafted by Rams,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 4, 1962.
6. Jack Sell, “Question Mark Buddy Parker Still ? Mark,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 5, 1962.
7. Andy Russell, conversation, Oct. 4, 2007.
8. Ibid.
9. Andy Russell, interview, April 19, 2010.
10. Jack Sell, “Steelers Play Annual Alumni Game Tonight,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 3, 1963.
11. Jack Sell, “Steelers (6) Favorites Over Cards,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 25, 1963.
12. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Face Cards, Problem,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 29, 1963.
13. Murray Olderman, “Two Careers for Charley Johnson,” Sport, March 1964, 86.
14. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Wary of Cardinals,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 27, 1963; Pat Livingston, “Cards’ Lemm Protégé of Conzelmann,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 28, 1963.
15. Livingston, “Steelers Wary of Cardinals.”
16. Olderman, “Two Careers for Charley Johnson,” 25.
17. Dave Anderson, “Toughest Guy in Pro Football,” Sport, Dec. 1966, 81.
18. Pat Livingston, “Card Blitz Worries Parker,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 26, 1963.
19. Livingston, “Steelers Wary of Cardinals.”
20. Jimmy Miller, “Steelers, Cards ‘Stuck’ with Battle Plans,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 26, 1963.
21. Robert Riger, Best Plays of the Year 1963: A Documentary of Pro Football in the National Football League (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1964), 17.
22. Ibid., 18.
23. Ibid., 18.
24. Ibid., 17.
25. Ibid., 17.
26. Gordon S. White Jr., “4th-Period Rally Tops Cards, 23–10,” New York Times, Sept. 30, 1963.
27. John Kuenster, Chicago Daily News; Dick Kaplan, ed., 1961 Football Yearbook Kick-Off (New York: Popular Library), 10.
28. AP, “‘I Have to Show Them I Can Play Pro Ball,’ Says Fullback,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 8, 1963.
29. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Find Title High-Priced,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 30, 1963.
30. AP, “‘I Have to Show Them.’”
31. Ibid.
32. Al Abrams, “‘Larrupin’ Lous” to Rescue,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963.
33. Ibid.
34. Official game play-by-play account.
35. Livingston, “Steelers Find Title High-Priced.”
36. Ibid.
37. Al Abrams, “‘Larrupin’ Lous’ to Rescue,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963.
38. Livingston, “Steelers Find Title High-Priced.”
39. “Never Threw a Punch—Michaels,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 30, 1963.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Ibid.
43. Andy Russell, interview, April 19, 2010.
44. Livingston, “Steelers Find Title High-Priced.”
45. Ibid.
46. Riger, Best Plays of the Year 1963, 18.
47. Jack Sell, “Cards Bow to Steelers by 23 to 10,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963.
48. Riger, Best Plays of the Year 1963, 22.
49. “Never Threw a Punch,” Pittsburgh Press.
50. Chuck Heaton, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sept. 30, 1963.
GAME 4
1. Jimmy Miller, “Steelers Get Brown, Deal Bobby Joe Green,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 5, 1962.
2. Jack Sell, “Steelers’ New Passer Here for ‘Schooling,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 13, 1962.
3. Jack Sell, “Parker Irked—Seeks Trades,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 20, 1962.
4. Joe Tucker, Steelers’ Victory after Forty (New York: Exposition Press, 1973), 156.
5. Al Abrams, “A Play-Off Classic,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 7, 1963.
6. Pat Livingston, “Parker Tells Bobby Layne to Retire,” Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 8, 1963.
7. Arthur Daley, “The Leader,” New York Times, March 28, 1963.
8. Gary Cartwright, “Layne Was Toughest,” Dallas Morning News, Feb. 19, 1967.
9. Ray Didinger, Pittsburgh Steelers (New York: Macmillan, 1974), 135.
10. “Parker Unruffled by Steeler Loss,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 12, 1963.
11. “Steeler Boss Cautious but Happy,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 18, 1963.
12. “Steeler Coach Disgusted by Defeat,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 26, 196
3.
13. Didinger, Pittsburgh Steelers, 136.
14. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008; B. Faye, “Meanest Man in Pro Football,” Collier’s, Nov. 25, 1950, 17.
15. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008.
16. Cope, “Bobby Layne: I Have No Regrets,” Sport, Jan. 1963, 77; Bobby Layne as told to Murray Olderman, “This Is No Game for Kids,” Saturday Evening Post, Nov. 14, 1959, 97.
17. Jim Wexell, Pittsburgh Steelers: Men of Steel (Champaign, Ill.: Sports Publishing, 2006), 47.
18. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008.
19. Michael MacCambridge, America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation (New York: Random House, 2004), 79.
20. Preston Carpenter, conversation, Sept. 8, 2007.
21. Shelby Strother, NFL Top Forty: The Greatest Pro Football Games of All Time (New York: Viking, 1988), 42.
22. Red Mack, conversation, Aug. 8, 2007.
23. Ibid.
24. Brady Keys, conversation, Sept. 4, 2007.
25. Carlton Stowers, “Life with the Fast Layne,” n.d., newspaper clipping on file with the author.
26. Alex Karras and Herb Gluck, Even Big Guys Cry (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977), 124.
27. Preston Carpenter, conversation, Sept. 8, 2007.
28. Arthur Daley, “The Leader,” New York Times, March 28, 1963.
29. Paul Hornung, Football and the Single Man (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday), 152.
30. Myron Cope, The Game that Was: An Illustrated Account of the Tumultuous Early Days of Pro Football (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974), 257.
31. Lou Cordileone, conversation, Aug. 13, 2008.
32. Charley Feeney, “Odds and Ends,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 26, 1971.
33. “Trolley Intercepts Bobby Layne’s Pass,” Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 12, 1961.
34. “2 Killed as Auto Slams into Trolley,” Pittsburgh Press, Dec. 16, 1961.
35. AP, “Boy Steals Trolley in Philadelphia,” Dec. 17, 1962.
36. Karras and Gluck, Even Big Guys Cry, 124–25.
37. Bob St. John, Heart of a Lion: The Wild and Woolly Life of Bobby Layne (Dallas: Taylor, 1991), 108–11.
38. Karras and Gluck, Even Big Guys Cry, 126.
39. Dick Haley, conversation, May 14, 2008; Red Mack, conversation, Aug. 8, 2007.
40. Al Abrams, “‘Larrupin’ Lous’ to Rescue,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963.
41. Jimmy Miller, “Ex-Steeler Helps Locals with Phone,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963.