The '63 Steelers
by Rudy Dicks
How a team of vagabonds made a charge at football history The year 1963 percolated with dreams—big dreams. Martin Luther King Jr. had one, and he articulated it to an audience of a quarter of a million people assembled in a commitment to civil rights. President John F. Kennedy had his own dreams, one of which involved sending a man to the moon. Prosperity and new technology fostered the belief that in the USA anything was possible. In western Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Steelers, their fans, and the Irish American family that owned the team also had a dream: to end 30 years of futility on the field and bring the city its first NFL championship. Author Rudy Dicks recreates the Steelers' 1963 season game by game and profiles the ragtag squad of rejects, misfits, and scalawags that coach Buddy Parker jury-rigged into a contender. He shows how a group of unsung players banded together to overcome tough breaks, injuries, and a losing tradition, challenging the more glamorous...