1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season
The 1970 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 38th in the National Football League. They improved from a league-worst 1–13 record the previous year, finishing with a 5–9 record and third place in the newly formed AFC Central. The Steelers began the decade in a new conference and a new stadium with a new quarterback. After nearly 40 years in the NFL they shifted to the AFC, to complete the merger between the NFL and AFL. It was the NFL's weakest division that season, as the Steelers finished three games behind the division-winning Cincinnati Bengals—a team that was only in its third year of existence that season.
Offseason
Coach Chuck Noll's reshaping of the squad from the year before continued for 1970.Undoubtedly the greatest change that took place was Chuck Noll's trade of the team's lone superstar, Roy Jefferson. Although Jefferson was among the league leaders in receiving in 1968 and 1969, despite playing for the worst team in football with mediocre quarterbacks, he was sent packing after being publicly vocal in criticizing team management. The trade sent Jefferson to Baltimore, where he earned a Super Bowl ring. Years later, Jefferson pinpointed what he had done to get traded.
"I was to make a statement. I wanted to show Pittsburgh they'd made a mistake in getting rid of me. I mean, I wasn't a 'yes' man for coach Chuck Noll. If you cursed me, I cursed you back. I messed over the curfew rules a lot and, in training camp, I'd park my car in the coaches' spaces."
Hence, 1970 brought change with Ron Shanklin emerging as a steady receiver for the next few years until John Stallworth and Lynn Swann joined the team in 1974.
As a result of the NFL-AFL merger being finalized for the 1970 season, three teams from the "old" NFL were moved to the newly formed AFC alongside the former AFL teams. The Steelers agreed to be one of them after their archrivals, the Cleveland Browns, volunteered to join the AFL franchises in the AFC. The Browns mainly joined because of the possibility of an intrastate rivalry with the AFL's Cincinnati Bengals, largely due to the animosity at the time between Browns owner Art Modell and Bengals owner & coach Paul Brown, who was fired from the Browns by Modell after the 1962 season. The Steelers joined the AFC in order to keep the Browns-Steelers rivalry alive on a regular basis, due to the proximity of the cities of Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Another change came in the draft. For the first time since 1956, the Steelers owned the number one selection in the draft after winning a coin toss with the Chicago Bears for the top pick, as the two teams had identical 1–13 records in 1969.
In the 1970 NFL Draft, only two Hall of Famers were selected in all 17 Rounds and 442 Picks. One being 1st Round, 1st Pick selection Terry Bradshaw, and the second being 3rd Round, 53rd Pick Mel Blount. Bradshaw would later become a Hall of Fame Inductee in 1989, and Blount became an inductee in 1989 as well. Also, both players were part of the 70s Steeler Dynasty. In his 14-year professional career, Bradshaw got off on a bumpy start from 1970–1975. Bradshaw threw a career-high 24 interceptions and only 6 touchdown passes. In wasn't until 1976 when Bradshaw's career had begun to peak. Blount's career was an overall consistent one. In 1975, he intercepted 11 passes for 121 yards.
In 1966, the NFL agreed on a merger with the rival AFL. In 1970, the merger became final, as a result of the merger, the AFC featuring all the AFL teams and the NFC featuring all the "old" NFL teams. Two teams from the NFL were asked to join the AFL in the AFC, the Baltimore Colts, and the Cleveland Browns. Upon hearing this, Art Rooney asked Rozelle if he could join to keep the Steelers-Browns rivalry alive. So, the Steelers would begin playing in the AFC and would leave the Eagles rivalry and many others they had playing the NFC teams. Also, the Steelers moved into the then state-of-the-art, Three Rivers Stadium and left Pitt Stadium. The new Three Rivers was one of the many "cookie-cutter" stadiums across the league and became an icon to Pittsburgh.
The opening of Three Rivers ended their relatively brief stay at Pitt Stadium, where they had only been playing on a full-time basis for six years. Before that, the Steelers played most of their home games at Forbes Field, with occasional games being played at Pitt Stadium to take advantage of the larger capacity. The Steelers later returned the favor to the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 when the Pitt Panthers football team moved into Three Rivers for one season as an interim home before Heinz Field was ready in 2001. Pitt would also play their Backyard Brawl games against West Virginia in years Pitt hosted the game during the existence of Three Rivers.
WTAE-TV sportscaster Myron Cope joined the Steelers radio network as color commentator for the 1970 season. Cope remained a fixture of the Steelers radio network through the 2004 season and became beloved by fans due to his enthusiasm and catchphrases behind the announcing booth. In 1975, Cope invented the Terrible Towel, originally conceived as a gimmick in the Steelers playoff game against Baltimore and now a staple among Steelers fans.
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule
Game summaries
Week 1
Scoring Drives:- Houston – LeVias 22 pass from Johnson HOU 7–0
- Houston – LeVias 10 pass from Johnson HOU 14–0
- Houston – Safety, Bradshaw forced out of end zone by Pritchard HOU 16–0
- Houston – FG Gerela 8 HOU 19–0
- Pittsburgh – Shanklin 15 pass from Hanratty HOU 19–7
Week 2
Scoring Drives:- Denver – Crenshaw 1 run DEN 7–0
- Pittsburgh – Hoak 4 run T 7–7
- Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 9 PIT 10–7
- Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 13 PIT 13–7
- Denver – Safety, Washington tackled Bradshaw in end zone PIT 13–9
- Denver – Van Heusen 38 pass from Tensi DEN 16–13
Week 3
Scoring Drives:- Cleveland – Safety, Bradshaw tackled in end zone by Snidow CLE 2–0
- Pittsburgh – Bradshaw 22 run PIT 7–2
- Cleveland – Morrison 53 pass from Phipps CLE 8–7
- Cleveland – Barnes 38 pass interception return CLE 15–7
Week 4
Scoring Drives:- Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 28 PIT 3–0
- Buffalo – FG Guthrie 52 T 3–3
- Pittsburgh – Smith 6 pass from Hanratty PIT 10–3
- Buffalo – Simpson 4 run T 10–10
- Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 49 PIT 13–10
- Pittsburgh – Pearson 2 run PIT 20–10
- Pittsburgh – FG Mingo 43 PIT 23–10
Week 5
Scoring Drives:- Houston – Gerela 34 yard field goal – HOU 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Shanklin 67 yard pass from Bradshaw – PIT 7–3
Week 6
Scoring Drives:- Oakland – Chester 37 pass from Lamonica OAK 7–0
- Pittsburgh – Pearson 2 run T 7–7
- Oakland – Wells 44 pass from Blanda OAK 14–7
- Oakland – FG Blanda 27 OAK 17–7
- Oakland – Chester 19 pass from Blanda OAK 24–7
- Pittsburgh – Hughes 12 pass from Bradshaw OAK 24–14
- Oakland – Chester 43 pass from Blanda OAK 31–14
Week 7
Scoring Drives:- Cincinnati – Crabtree 2 pass from Carter CIN 7–0
- Pittsburgh – Hughes 27 pass from Hoak T 7–7
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 43 CIN 10–7
- Pittsburgh – Hughes 72 pass from Hanratty PIT 14–10
- Pittsburgh – Bankston 2 run PIT 21–10
- First Monday night football game played at Three Rivers Stadium.
Week 8
Scoring Drives:- New York Jets – FG Turner 17 NYJ 3–0
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run PIT 7–3
- Pittsburgh – Bankston 12 run PIT 14–3
- New York Jets – Mercein 15 pass from Woodall PIT 14–10
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 6 pass from Hanratty PIT 21–10
- New York Jets – Nock 1 run PIT 21–17
Week 9
Scoring Drives:- Kansas City – FG Stenerud 32 KC 3–0
- Kansas City – Cannon 20 pass from Dawson KC 10–0
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 2 run KC 10–7
- Kansas City – Cannon 8 pass from Dawson KC 17–7
- Kansas City – Taylor 42 pass from Dawson KC 24–7
- Pittsburgh – Staggers 7 pass from Bradshaw KC 24–14
- Kansas City – Holmes 2 run KC 31–14
Week 10
Scoring Drives:- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 17 CIN 3–0
- Cincinnati – FG Muhlmann 13 CIN 6–0
- Cincinnati – Carter 5 run CIN 13–0
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run CIN 13–7
- Cincinnati – Robinson 15 run CIN 20–7
- Cincinnati – Trumpy 53 pass from Carter CIN 27–7
- Cincinnati – Crabtree 10 pass from Carter CIN 34–7
Week 11
Scoring Drives:- Pittsburgh – Shanklin 8 pass from Hanratty PIT 7–0
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 16 PIT 7–3
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 38 PIT 7–6
- Pittsburgh – Beatty 30 interception return PIT 14–6
- Cleveland – FG Cockroft 46 PIT 14–9
- Pittsburgh -Shanklin 81 pass from Bradshaw PIT 21–9
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 57 pass from Bradshaw PIT 28–9
Week 12
Scoring Drives:- Green Bay – Krause 100 kickoff return GB 6–0
- Pittsburgh – FG Watson 15 GB 6–3
- Pittsburgh – Smith 87 pass from Bradshaw PIT 9–6
- Green Bay – McGeorge 13 pass from Starr GB 13–9
- Pittsburgh – FG Watson 45 GB 13–12
- Green Bay – Hilton 65 pass from Starr GB 20–12
Week 13
- Atlanta – Malone 5 pass from Johnson ATL 7–0
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 10 run ATL 7–6
- Pittsburgh – FG Watson 21 PIT 9–7
- Atlanta – FG Vinyard 35 ATL 10–9
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 1 run PIT 16–10
- Atlanta – FG Vinyard 17 PIT 16–13
- Atlanta – Mitchell 12 run ATL 20–16
- Atlanta – Flatley 18 pass from Johnson ATL 27–16
Week 14 (Sunday December 20, 1970): [Philadelphia Eagles]
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 72 run PIT 7–0
- Philadelphia – Hawkins 21 pass from Snead PIT 7–6
- Philadelphia – Dirks recovered blocked kick in end zone PHI 13–7
- Pittsburgh – Fuqua 85 run PIT 14–13
- Philadelphia – Ballman 19 pass from Snead PHI 20–14
- Pittsburgh – FG Watson 21 PHI 20–17
- Pittsburgh – FG Watson 17 T 20–20
- Philadelphia – FG Moseley 18 PHI 23–20
- Philadelphia – Watkins 1 run PHI 30–20
Standings