Why Steelers draft lots of brothers — and Devin Bush
More than a few football fans have wondered just what the Steelers were thinking when they traded up to draft Devin Bush with the 10th overall selectionin the 2019 NFL draft.
Local sportswriter Jim Wexell answers the question — sort of — in his breezy new book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Pittsburgh Steelersat the NFL Draft.’’
Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin is a big believer in pedigree, Wexell says. He thinks that the offspring of successful athletes are attractive prospects because of their “bloodlines.’’
Pedigree explains why Tomlin’s first draft selection as Steelers head coach was Lawrence Timmons, the son of a former college basketball player; and why Tomlin pushed for selectingOhio State’s Cam Heyward, the son of former Pitt running back Craig “Ironhead’’ Heyward. It also explains why the Steelers, under Tomlin, have had more brother acts than a teen talent contest — the Watts, Heywards, Edmundses and Davises,to name four.
Wexell only implies that bloodlines led to the selection of Bush, the son of a former NFL player, because, contrary to the subtitle, this book really isn’t a behind-the-scenes examinationof the Steelers’ draft room.
It’s instead an anecdotal retrospective on Steelers’ drafts through the decades. Early hits and misses like Bill Dudley, Ernie Stautner,
Johnny Unitas and Len Dawson make cameo appearances before the book settles into the meat of the story — the excellent drafts of the early 1970s and ’90s that helped propel the Steelers to eight Super Bowl appearancesand six championships.
Unlike his previous book, “Polamalu,’’ which featured scores of first-person interviews, “On the Clock’’ relies instead on deep dives into dusty source material, including Pittsburgh Press and Post-Gazette newspaper clippings and Roy Blount Jr.’s classic book, “About Three Bricks Shy of a Load.’’
“On the Clock’’ rightfully shines a light on the many significant contributions of Bill Nunn, a Pittsburgh Courier sportswriter whom Steelers President Dan Rooney hired to assist in scouting the talent-rich southern Black colleges. It was Nunn who helped the Steelers identify and draft such future Hall of Famers as Mel Blountand John Stallworth.
Among the recycled stories that never get old is why the Steelers passed on Pitt’s all-American quarterback Dan Marino — and how the fallout seemed to affect future draft decisions.
Marino was among a half-dozen highly regarded quarterbacks available in the 1983 draft. Chuck Noll decided to pass because the organization was comfortable with Cliff Stoudt at quarterback, Wexell writes. Noll said the Steelers were built on defense — Joe Greene was his first draft pick in 1969 – and ordered the team to select Gabe Rivera, a Texas Tech defensive lineman. Rivera’s career ended in the middle of his rookie year when he was paralyzedin a car wreck.
Steelers founder Art Rooney was livid that the Steelers had passed on Marino, and he never stopped reminding his sons of his discontent. Three years later, Dan Rooney fired his brother, Art Jr., as personnel director. Art Jr. attributed it to “the Marino thing.’’
The trauma of passing on Marino was still on Dan Rooney’s mind over two decades later, as the Steelers assessed talent for the 2004 draft. Coach Bill Cowher was high on Arkansas offensive lineman Shawn Andrews. Rooney liked Ben Roethlisberger, a strapping quarterback in the mold of Terry Bradshaw. Rooney was in the Steelers’ war room when it came timeto make their first pick.
“Take the quarterback!’’ Rooney insisted, according to a contemporaneous news report.
Wexell says Steelers scouts were focusing on other players because they believed Roethlisberger would be off the board when it was their turnto select. When he became available, the brain trust, by “consensus,’’ agreedto pick Roethlisberger.
The Steelers took Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett in the first round of the most recent college draft. Pickett, a New Jersey native, doesn’t appear to have the athletic pedigree that Tomlin seems to desire. Which begs the question: Was Pickett’s selection further evidence that the ghost of Dan Marino is still haunting the Steelers’ draft room? Perhaps Wexell’s next bookwill supply the answer.