by Rudy Dicks
42. Andy Russell, conversation, Oct. 4, 2007.
43. Pat Livingston, “Genius QB Ryan Next for Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 1, 1963.
44. Jack Hand, “Inside Football’s Biggest Brains—Frank Ryan and Charley Johnson,” Pro Sports, Jan. 1966, 20.
45. Livingston, “Genius QB Ryan Next for Steelers.”
46. AP, “Paul Brown ‘Shocked’ by Firing,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 11, 1963.
47. Pat Livingston, “New 1–2 Punch Browns’ Weapon,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 3, 1963.
48. Livingston, “Genius QB Ryan Next for Steelers.”
49. Pat Livingston, “Bob Ferguson May Start at FB,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 4, 1963.
50. Pat Livingston, “Dick Hoak Gets Steeler Starting Job,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 15, 1961.
51. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Facing Last Big Test,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 8, 1963.
52. Pat Livingston, “Defense Keeps ‘Heat’ on Thomas,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 24, 1963.
53. Roy McHugh, “Brady Keys Talk of the Town,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 15, 1964.
54. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Find ‘Buoyancy’ in Title Bid,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 2, 1963.
55. Al Abrams, “About Great Promotions,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 21, 1962.
56. Jack Sell, “Steelers Tried Field Goals as Browns Went for TDs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 7, 1963.
57. Pat Livingston, “Parker Defends Strategy against Brown,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 8, 1963.
58. Sell, “Steelers Tried Field Goals.”
59. Chuck Heaton, “84,684 Watch Browns Win, 35 to 23,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 6, 1963.
60. Andy Russell, interview, April 19, 2010.
61. Sell, “Steelers Tried Field Goals.”
62. Edward Chay, “Browns’ Defense Cheered,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 7, 1963.
63. Heaton, “84,684 Watch Browns Win, 35 to 23.”
64. Pat Livingston, “Steeler QB a Standout in Defeat,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 7, 1963.
65. Jimmy Miller, “Odds Favor Steelers to Lose First,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 2, 1963.
66. Jimmy Brown with Myron Cope, Off My Chest (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964), 212.
67. Livingston, “Steeler QB a Standout in Defeat.”
68. Sell, “Steelers Tried Field Goals.”
GAME 5
1. Stephen Norwood, Real Football: Conversations on America’s Game (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2004), 90.
2. Tex Maule, “Why Oklahoma Is Unbeatable,” Sports Illustrated, Nov. 18, 1957, 73.
3. Ibid.
4. Gary T. King, An Autumn Remembered: Bud Wilkinson’s Legendary ’56 Sooners (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005), 137.
5. Deane McGowen, “Oklahoma Star Back Is Rushing toward More Records,” New York Times, Nov. 2, 1957.
6. Pat Livingston, “Defense Keeps ‘Heat’ on Thomas,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 24, 1963.
7. AP, “Oklahoma Crushes Kansas State and Sets Record with 32nd Straight Triumph,” New York Times, Oct. 7, 1956.
8. UPI, “Oklahoma Overwhelms Texas to Tie Pitt’s Record of 33 Victories in Row,” New York Times, Oct. 14, 1956.
9. Joseph M. Sheehan, “Oklahoma Trounces Notre Dame, 40 to 0,” New York Times, Oct. 28, 1956.
10. AP, “Thomas Scores Twice as Oklahoma Eleven Bests Oklahoma State,” New York Times, Dec. 1, 1957.
11. Deane McGowen, “Sooners Are Better with Thomas,” New York Times, Nov. 2, 1957.
12. Pat Livingston, “Defense Keeps ‘Heat’ on Thomas,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 24, 1963.
13. Ray Didinger, Pittsburgh Steelers (New York: Macmillan, 1974), 20.
14. Gabe Essoe, Tarzan of the Movies: A Pictorial History of More than Fifty Years of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Legendary Hero (New York: Cadillac, 1968), 182, 184.
15. Jack Sell, “Steelers Obtain Thomas in Deal,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 4, 1962.
16. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Sub Team Play for Lipscomb,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 1, 1963.
17. Clendon Thomas, conversation, Aug. 30, 2008.
18. Pat Livingston, “Steeler QB a Standout in Defeat,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 7, 1963.
19. 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.
20. J. Kirk Sale, “The Man to Watch Is … the Middle Linebacker,” New York Times, Dec. 10, 1967.
21. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Find Title High-Priced,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 30, 1963.
22. Pat Livingston, “Cardinals ‘Hungry’ for Steelers’ Victory,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 11, 1963.
23. “Bob Ferguson Glows in Steelers’ Victory,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 30, 1963.
24. Pat Livingston, “No Fumbles,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 1, 1963.
25. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Review Feud with Cardinals,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 12, 1963.
26. Pat Livingston, “Parker Playing Hunch with Sapp,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 9, 1963.
27. Pat Livingston, “Vengeful Cards Battle Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 13, 1963.
28. Ric Roberts, “Fans Still Optimistic about Snake-Bitten Steelers,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 12, 1963.
29. Pat Livingston, “Excitement Cowboys’ Commodity,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 23, 1963.
30. Livingston, “Vengeful Cards Battle Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 13, 1963.
31. Jack Sell, “‘Bomber’ Obtained from Eagles, Will Be Ready for Cards Sunday,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 8, 1963.
32. Ibid.
33. Jack Sell, “Fullback John Henry Johnson Sidelined for Sunday Action,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 10, 1963.
34. Bill Nunn Jr., Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 9, 1963.
35. Pat Livingston, “Steeler Plum Turns into Lemm-on,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 14, 1963.
36. Al Abrams, “Suddenly, It Was a Loss,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 14, 1963.
37. Robert Morrison, “Late, Late Show Puts Steelers to Bed, Ends Big Nightmare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 14, 1963.
38. “Pottios Picks up Steelers on Defense,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 26, 1963.
39. Livingston, “Steeler Plum Turns into Lemm-on.”
40. Morrison, “Late, Late Show Puts Steelers to Bed.”
41. Livingston, “Steeler Plum Turns into Lemm-on.”
42. Pat Livingston, Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 14, 1963.
43. Al Abrams, “Suddenly, It Was a Loss,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 14, 1963.
44. “Can Steelers’ Line Finally Chain Brown?,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 9, 1963; Al Abrams, “Card Strategy Misfires,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 14, 1963.
45. Don Smith, Coffin Corner 16, no. 6 (1994).
46. Norwood, Real Football, 106.
47. Bill Wise, 1963 Official Pro Football Almanac (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1963), 66.
48. Livingston, “Steeler Plum Turns into Lemm-on.”
49. Pat Livingston, Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 24, 1963.
50. Pat Livingston, “‘Prevent Defense’ Defies Football Theory,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 15, 1963.
51. Pat Livingston, “The Volatile Mr. Ramsey,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 14, 1963.
52. Pat Livingston, Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 10, 1963.
53. Al Abrams, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 15, 1963.
54. Livingston, “Steeler Plum Turns into Lemm-on.”
55. Riger, Best Plays of the Year 1963, 38.
56. “Johnson’s Stock up as Steelers Stagger,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 19, 1963.
57. Didinger, Pittsburgh Steelers, 24.
58. Livingston, “Steeler Plum Turns into Lemm-on.”
59. Ibid.
60. AP, “Browns Batter Giants by 32–24,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,Oct. 14, 1963.
61. Riger, Best Plays of the Year 1963, 29.
62. Jimmy Cannon, Nobody Asked Me, But: The Worl
d of Jimmy Cannon, ed. Jack Cannon and T. Cannon (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1978), 226.
63. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Find ‘Buoyancy’ in Title Bid,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 2, 1963.
GAME 6
1. “Dry Spell—and Autos—Make It Tough on Sam,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 17, 1963.
2. Al Abrams, “Buddy Hasn’t Given Up,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 15, 1963.
3. Howard Whitman, “Make Friends with Your Nerves,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 9, 1963; Howard Whitman, “You Must Release Inner Tension,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 10, 1963.
4. Al Abrams, “Buddy Hasn’t Given Up,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 15, 1963.
5. Pat Livingston, “Redskins Tilt Crossroads for Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 17, 1963.
6. Pat Livingston, “Snead’s Passes Pose Threat for Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 19, 1963; Pat Livingston, “‘Prevent Defense’ Defies Football Theory,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 15, 1963.
7. UPI, “McPeak Hits Criticism of QB Snead,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 15, 1963.
8. Dick Haley, conversation, May 14, 2008.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Joseph M. Sheehan, “Pitt Bows, 29 to 13,” New York Times, Oct. 20, 1957.
12. Michael Strauss, “Gerlick’s Field Goal Puts Orangemen on Top, 24–21,” New York Times, Nov. 3, 1957 (Strauss reports that the ball was on the Pitt 35-yard line).
13. Joseph M. Sheehan, “Panthers Rally,” New York Times, Oct. 26, 1958.
14. Dick Haley, conversation, May 14, 2008.
15. Jack Sell, “Castoffs Spark Steelers to Upset, 17–13,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 6, 1961; Bridget Wentworth, Newark Star-Ledger, Jan. 25, 2009.
16. Pat Livingston, “Wrong Guesses Disturb Haley,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 21, 1962.
17. Dick Haley, conversation, July 23, 2010.
18. Art Rooney Jr., interview, Oct. 4, 2008.
19. Dick Haley, conversation, May 14, 2008.
20. Bob Thomas, “Vinton Is Big Time—Earns $25,000 a Year,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 16, 1963.
21. Vince Johnson, “Racket Raiders Nab 31 Here,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 17, 1963.
22. Al Abrams, “A Teammate of Jim Brown,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 16, 1963.
23. Jack Sell, “Steelers Turn Cards, 19–7, Regain Second,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 3, 1962.
24. Jack Sell, “Steelers Deal Ferguson for Draft Choice,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 16, 1963.
25. Pat Livingston, “Sapp to Take over as Steeler Fullback,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 16, 1963.
26. Ibid.; “Big Daddy of the Big Ten,” Stanley Woodward’s Football, Nov. 1960; Sam Huff and Leonard Shapiro, Tough Stuff: The Man in the Middle (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988), 168.
27. Jimmy Brown with Myron Cope, Off My Chest (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964), 195.
28. Pat Livingston, “Johnson Was Given OK to Pass Up Drills to Help Heal Ankle,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 21, 1963.
29. George Barrett, New York Times, “The Mirror Is Closed by Hearst Corp.,” Oct. 16, 1963.
30. “Time of Change for the Nation’s Newspapers,” U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 4, 1963, 44–45.
31. “Doghouse Blues! Injured JHJ Slow Healer, Says Parker,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 17, 1963.
32. Al Abrams, “Pros’ Lure Intriguing,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 17, 1963.
33. Jimmy Miller, “1,000 Nuns to See Game with Redskins on Sunday,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 17, 1963.
34. Ed Kiely, “A Man Nobody Knows,” Steelers game program, Oct. 29, 1961.
35. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Dial New TD Strategy,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 21, 1963.
36. Pat Livingston, “Snead’s Passes Pose Threat for Steelers,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 19, 1963.
37. Bill Wise, 1963 Official Pro Football Almanac (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1963), 75.
38. Jack Walsh, “Redskins Beaten on Two Miscues,” Washington Post, Oct. 21, 1963.
39. William N. Wallace, “Barnes Aims to Step Less Lively,” New York Times, Oct. 2, 1963.
40. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Muffed Chance for 2nd Week in Row,” Oct. 14, 1963.
41. Pat Livingston, “Johnson Was Given OK,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 21, 1963.
42. Lou Cordileone, conversation, April 30, 2010.
43. Jimmy Miller, “Steelers Have Special Rooters,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 17, 1963.
44. Livingston, “Johnson Was Given OK.”
45. Ibid.
46. “Haley Big ‘Thief,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 21, 1963.
GAME 7
1. 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), 17.
2. Art Rooney Jr., Ruanaidh: The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan (n.p.: Author, 2008), 115.
3. Ibid.
4. Red Mack, interview, Oct. 11, 2008.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Mervin Hyman, Morton Sharnik, and Herman Weiskopf, “Big Men of the Midwest,” Sports Illustrated, Sept. 16, 1960.
10. “Stanley Woodward’s All-Sectional Team for the Midwest,” Stanley Woodward’s Football, Nov. 1960, 40.
11. Red Mack, interview, Oct. 11, 2008; Ed Fay, conversation, Sept. 24, 2008.
12. Red Mack, interview, Oct. 11, 2008.
13. Red Mack, conversation, Aug. 8, 2007.
14. Ibid.
15. Ed Fay, conversation, Sept. 24, 2008.
16. “Mack Shows Speed in Steeler Scrimmage,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 6, 1961.
17. “Red Mack Starts in Steeler Drills,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 6, 1961.
18. “Military Status Steeler Concern,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 28, 1961; Tom Landry, “Ex-Steeler Moegele Big Help to Dallas,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 22, 1961.
19. Chester L. Smith, “Rooney U. Hopes Red Mack’s Knees Can Stand Strain,” Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 10, 1961.
20. Bobby Layne with Fred Katz, “Pro Football’s 11 Meanest Men,” Sport, Nov. 1964, 14.
21. Ed Fay, conversation, Sept. 24, 2008.
22. Ibid.; Red Mack, interview, Oct. 11, 2008; Ed Fay, conversation, Sept. 24, 2008.
23. 1962 Steeler press guide.
24. Red Mack, interview, Oct. 11, 2008.
25. Jack Sell, “The Two Seasons,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 15, 1963.
26. Tom Landry, “The Cowboys Figure to Ride a Little Harder This Year,” in Pro Football The Pros Football ’63, 1963, ed. Herbert M. Furlow (New York: Counterpoint, 1963), 55.
27. Tex Maule, “A Shuttle Shakes Up the Pros,” Sports Illustrated, Nov. 5, 1962, 16.
28. Don Schiffer, Pro Football 1963 (New York: Pocket Books, 1963), 32.
29. “‘God of Heavens’ Rites Revived,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 23, 1963.
30. Roger Lane, “Steel Firms Tell of Bright Profits,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 24, 1963 (AP).
31. Lee McInerney, “Berle, Smith Top 2 Bills,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 21, 1963.
32. Mel McKeachie, “Joey Heatherton Finds Pittsburgh ‘Beautiful,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 23, 1963.
33. Jack Sell, “Steelers Made 8-Point Picks,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 23, 1963.
34. Ibid.
35. Pat Livingston, “Johnson Faces Fight to Regain Fullback Job,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 24, 1963.
36. Sell, “Steelers Made 8-Point Picks.”
37. Pat Livingston, “Johnson Faces Fight to Regain Fullback Job”
38. “Steeler Foes Prefer Games at Stadium,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 22, 1963.
39. Al Abrams, “Good Seating Big Help,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 5, 1962.
40. Lou Cordileone, conversation, April 30, 2010.
41. Pat Livingston, “Steelers Win Race to Stay in Race
,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 28, 1963.
42. Al Abrams, “Done Up Red and Brown,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 28, 1963.
43. Bill Wise, 1963 Official Pro Football Almanac (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1963), 38.
44. Sam Blair, “Cowboys Lose Again,” Dallas Morning News, Oct. 28, 1963; Al Abrams, “Cowboys Fight Back,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 28, 1963.
45. Livingston, “Steelers Win Race to Stay in Race.”
46. Blair, “Cowboys Lose Again”; Livingston, “Steelers Win Race to Stay in Race.”
47. Red Mack, interview, Oct. 11, 2008.
48. Al Abrams, “Done Up Red and Brown.”
49. Ibid.
50. Pat Livingston, “Brown Unloaded Long ‘Bomb’ and Hoped Mack Would Nab It,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 28, 1963.
51. Ibid.
52. Peter Golenbock, Landry’s Boys: An Oral History of a Team and an Era (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2005), 149.
53. Livingston, “Steelers Win Race to Stay in Race.”
54. Abrams, “Done Up Red and Brown.”
55. Livingston, “Steelers Win Race to Stay in Race.”
56. UPI, “Giants Pull Browns Down with Crowd,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 28, 1963.
57. Livingston, “Brown Unloaded Long ‘Bomb.’”
GAME 8
1. Tommy Devine, “Parker Keeps It Simple,” Sports Illustrated, Nov. 15, 1954, 29.
2. Tommy Devine and Bob Latshaw, “The Man Who Stirred up the Lions,” Sport, Oct. 1954, 82.
3. Ibid., 80.
4. Devine, “Parker Keeps It Simple,” 29.
5. Stanley Frank, “He Dies for Detroit Every Week,” Saturday Evening Post, Nov. 13, 1954, 109.
6. Dick Haley, conversation, May 14, 2008.
7. Arthur Daley, “Another Abrupt Departure,” New York Times, Sept. 8, 1965.
8. Frank, “He Dies for Detroit,” 109.
9. “A Pride of Lions,” Time, Nov. 29, 1954, 58.
10. Frank, “He Dies for Detroit,” 109.
11. Ibid., 112.
12. AP, “Slashing Centenary Halfback: Centenary Has Edge on Texas,” Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald Journal, Oct. 21, 1934.
13. “Lions on the Loose,” Newsweek, Aug. 26, 1957, 90.
14. Ibid.
15. Jack Sell, “Steelers Hire Buddy Parker for 5 Years,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 28, 1957.
16. Art Rooney Jr., Ruanaidh: The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan (n.p.: Author, 2008), 172.