Alternative venues were top choices in strike years

Training facilities closed during labor disputes

For NFL players, training during the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging. While many veterans have sweet set-ups in their home gyms, many younger players have resorted to old-school training methods to stay in shape.

From James Conner chucking logs over his head in the wilderness to Chukwuma Okorafor pushing trucks up a suburban hill, the unique workouts stand in stark contrast to the ones they usually would be doing this time of the year at a state-of-the-art practice facility.

“I think of it like the old Rocky [IV] movie when Rocky was fighting the Russian,” said Dwayne Woodruff, who played cornerback for the Steelers from 1979-90. “The Russian has all the high-tech equipment. All Rocky has are some sand bags and old-fashioned stuff. I kind of like the old-fashioned stuff. I think these guys now are getting an idea of what it’s like to do things the old-fashioned way.”

Woodruff and other former Steelers in the 1980s twice were left to train on their own after they went out on strike. They could not access the facilities at Three Rivers Stadium for two months in the 1982 season and again for three weeks during the 1987 season. They remain the only two instances since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 that the league did not complete a full schedule of games.

In 1982, Woodruff lived in the Bellwood Manor apartment complex in Bellevue. He found a field nearby, and that’s where he and a few teammates trained during the weeks they were not allowed to use the Steelers facilities.

“Back then, even going back to my days at Louisville, I was used to working out away from the facility,” Woodruff said. “I always worked to find good spots to work out. There was this nice field with a big hill on the side of it. It was secluded. No one really bothered us. Some of the other defensive backs would come from time to time. We’d run gassers and we’d run the hills. We tried to keep it similar to what we would do in practice. That way, when you did go back, you didn’t have to worry about the physical side of it. You’d just have to worry about the mental side.”

For other Steelers of that era, it wasn’t nearly as old school. Tunch

“I think these guys now are getting an idea of what it’s like to do things the old-fashioned way.”

— Dwayne Woodruff Steelers CB, 1979-90

Ilkin, who played on the offensive line for the Steelers from 1980-92, said Pitt football coach Foge Fazio allowed many Steelers to use the Pitt weight room and field at Pitt Stadium. Fazio had the Panthers practice after classes in the afternoon; Steelers players used the facilities in the morning. Ilkin said as many as 20 Steelers would show up for practices that included pass skeleton drills that Chuck Noll and his staff used.

“It was good,” Ilkin said. “We were together. Now everything is virtual for the players. It’s crazy.”

Craig Wolfley, another offensive lineman on that team, remembers going to the basement of Red Bull Inn restaurant in McMurray. Lou Curinga owned the restaurant, but, in his spare time he was a powerlifter and had a stacked weight room to accommodate NFL players.

Wolfley was joined by teammates Jon Kolb, Ted Petersen and Steve Furness. “There were many times we’d go work out and then go upstairs and eat a steak,” Wolfley said.

No one was more thrilled than Wolfley and Ilkin when the strike ended. Ilkin attended a life insurance seminar the night the news broke that the season was going to resume. Wolfley had something lined up, too.

“I was about to take a job with a moving company,” Wolfley said. “I was in my third year and making $50,000.”

Emil Boures was a rookie offensive lineman in 1982 fresh off a standout career at Pitt. He made the Steelers roster after being selected in the seventh round of the draft.

Boures trained with Pitt strength coach Buddy Morris in the early morning hours and then got some extra work with friends in “The Hole” in old Pitt Stadium, a room beneath the stadium where legendary line coach Joe Moore’s players would gather for drills.

For those two months, it was like old times for Boures, but it wasn’t necessarily ideal for his pro career. A traditional rookie season learning the ropes of the NFL would have been much more beneficial.

“As a rookie, you don’t know [anything],” Boures said. “Then all of a sudden there’s a strike. You’re confused. You don’t know what the future holds. You kept hearing some of the vets wanted to go back. I just wanted to do something to stay in shape.”

In 1987, Ilkin, who served as the Steelers union representative, said team president Dan Rooney called him after he heard Ilkin and other players were looking for a field to use for their training while they were on strike. He left the key to the fenced-in practice field near Three Rivers Stadium with his secretary and told Ilkin: “You didn’t get it from me.”

Ilkin and other Steelers also had access to the downtown YMCA, where Bill Parise, a player agent, was the executive director.

The unconventional training paid off for the Steelers in 1982, especially for Woodruff, who was named team MVP after he intercepted a careerhigh five passes in a ninegame season. The Steelers had the NFL’s fourth-ranked defense and the top-ranked run defense.

“I felt in tip-top shape,” Woodruff said. “I never really got out of shape. When we came back, I felt fresh and ready to go. I remember I had a great season. Donnie Shell and I led the league in interceptions.”

The 2020 Steelers also might face something the 1982 and 1987 Steelers faced — condensed seasons. In 1982, the players went on strike after the first two games and did not return to work until late November. The NFL scheduled seven more regular-season games to make it a nine-game season and then staged a Super Bowl tournament with 16 teams — eight from each conference.

In 1987, there was a 15game season. The players went on strike again after the second week of the season. Week 3 games were canceled and replacement players were used for three weeks before the players returned to work.

The NFL is intent on playing a full 16-game schedule in the fall, but there are contingency plans should COVID-19 cause a shutdown. The league is hushing individual clubs from talking about the plans, but there are scenarios where games could be canceled or postponed and played in January, with the playoffs and the Super Bowl pushed back.

“If you only play half a season, one game might kill you,” Woodruff said. “Some teams have a tough time getting started early in the season. Well, you better be ready from day one. One game might be the reason you don’t make the playoffs.”

The Steelers were 2-0 with impressive victories against the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals in 1982 before the strike. Upon returning, they lost three of their next five before rebounding to win their final two games to finish 6-3.

They finished fourth in the AFC and played the then-San Diego Chargers at Three Rivers Stadium in the firstround of the tournament. It was a typical Pittsburgh winter during the week, and the Steelers thought they were going to get the “beach boys” from San Diego in another cold-weather contest. The Chargers lost in Cincinnati in the AFC championship one year earlier in one of the coldest games on record in the NFL.

“But on game day, it was something like 70,” Wofley said. “The Chargers brought their own weather. It was unbelievable.”

The Steelers led, 28-17, in the fourth quarter before Dan Fouts led a late charge with two touchdown passes to tight end Kellen Winslow, including a 12-yard pass with a minute remaining on the clock for a 31-28 victory.

“We were kicking their butts the entire game,” Ilkin said.

It was only the second playoff defeat for the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium, and it marked the final postseason appearance of Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw’s career.