1961 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) |
| 5th place Eastern Conference 6-8-0 .429 |
| Head Coach: Buddy Parker |
| Jack Butler | Assistant Coach |
| Chuck Cherundolo | Assistant Coach |
| Walt Kiesling | Assistant Coach |
| Art Lewis | Assistant Coach |
| Thurman McGraw | Assistant Coach |
| Mike Nixon | Assistant Coach |
| Dick Plasman | Assistant Coach |
| Ken Stilley | Assistant Coach |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/12/1961 | N | Baltimore Colts | 24-20 | W | Roanoke, VA | Victory Stadium | 15000 | |
| Wed | 8/16/1961 | H | Detroit Lions | 14-17 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Pitt Stadium | 13723 | |
| Sat | 8/26/1961 | N | St. Louis Cardinals | 24-14 | W | Jacksonville, FL | Gator Bowl | 13090 | |
| Sat | 9/2/1961 | A | Cleveland Browns | 6-38 | L | Akron, OH | Rubber Bowl | 27782 | |
| Fri | 9/8/1961 | A | Chicago Bears | 21-24 | L | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 45273 | |
| Sun | 9/17/1961 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 24-27 | L | Dallas, TX | Cotton Bowl | 23500 | |
| Sun | 9/24/1961 | H | New York Giants | 14-17 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Pitt Stadium | 35587 | |
| Sun | 10/1/1961 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 14-24 | L | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 40707 | |
| Sun | 10/8/1961 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 16-21 | L | Philadelphia, PA | Franklin Field | 60671 | |
| Sun | 10/15/1961 | H | Washington Redskins | 20-0 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 15072 | |
| Sun | 10/22/1961 | H | Cleveland Browns | 28-30 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 29266 | |
| Sun | 10/29/1961 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 20-10 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 21686 | |
| Sun | 11/5/1961 | A | Cleveland Browns | 17-13 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 62723 | |
| Sun | 11/12/1961 | H | Dallas Cowboys | 37-7 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 17519 | |
| Sun | 11/19/1961 | A | New York Giants | 21-42 | L | New York, NY | Yankee Stadium | 62592 | |
| Sun | 11/26/1961 | H | St. Louis Cardinals | 30-27 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 17090 | |
| Sun | 12/3/1961 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 24-35 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 21653 | |
| Sun | 12/10/1961 | A | Washington Redskins | 30-14 | W | Washington, DC | D.C. Stadium | 21134 | |
| Sun | 12/17/1961 | A | St. Louis Cardinals | 0-20 | L | St. Louis, MO | Busch Stadium | 16298 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 57 | Ed Beatty | C | 6-3 | 229 | 29 | Mississippi | 6 | 0 |
| 71 | Charlie Bradshaw | LOT | 6-6 | 255 | 25 | Baylor | 12 | 12 |
| 10 | Rudy Bukich | QB | 6-1 | 202 | 31 | Iowa; Southern California | 11 | 9 |
| 86 | Len Burnett | LS | 6-2 | 190 | 22 | Oregon | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | Bill Butler | LS-RCB | 5-10 | 189 | 24 | Tennessee-Chattanooga | 10 | 10 |
| 40 | Preston Carpenter | TE | 6-2 | 197 | 27 | Arkansas | 13 | 12 |
| 28 | Skip Clement | TE | 6-3 | 205 | 22 | North Carolina | 14 | 2 |
| 46 | Bobby Coronado | SE | 6-2 | 195 | 25 | Solano CC; Pacific | 5 | 2 |
| 44 | Willie Daniel | RS-LCB | 5-11 | 187 | 24 | Mississippi State | 14 | 13 |
| 74 | George Demko | OT | 6-3 | 240 | 26 | Appalachian State | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | Dean Derby | LS-RCB | 6-0 | 187 | 26 | Washington | 5 | 5 |
| 84 | Buddy Dial | SE-FL | 6-1 | 194 | 24 | Rice | 14 | 13 |
| 89 | Bobby Joe Green | P | 5-11 | 175 | 25 | Northeastern Oklahoma A&M JC; Florida | 14 | 0 |
| 27 | Dick Haley | LS | 5-10 | 193 | 24 | Pittsburgh | 8 | 4 |
| 37 | Mike Henry | LB | 6-2 | 220 | 25 | Southern California | 10 | 6 |
| 42 | Dick Hoak | HB | 5-11 | 191 | 22 | Penn State | 14 | 3 |
| 77 | Dan James | LOT | 6-4 | 262 | 24 | Ohio State | 14 | 14 |
| 35 | John Henry Johnson | FB | 6-2 | 210 | 32 | St. Mary's (California); Arizona State | 14 | 12 |
| 64 | John Kapele | LDE | 6-0 | 240 | 24 | Brigham Young | 14 | 0 |
| 26 | Brady Keys | RCB-FL | 6-0 | 189 | 24 | East Los Angeles JC; Colorado State | 12 | 8 |
| 72 | Dick Klein | LOT | 6-4 | 255 | 27 | Georgia; Iowa | 2 | 0 |
| 75 | Joe Krupa | LDT | 6-2 | 232 | 28 | Purdue | 14 | 14 |
| 22 | Bobby Layne | QB-K | 6-1 | 201 | 35 | Texas | 8 | 5 |
| 76 | Gene Lipscomb | RDT | 6-6 | 284 | 30 | none | 14 | 14 |
| 23 | Red Mack | FL | 5-10 | 185 | 24 | Notre Dame | 11 | 4 |
| 88 | Steve Meilinger | SE | 6-2 | 227 | 31 | Kentucky | 4 | 2 |
| 79 | Lou Michaels | LDE-K | 6-2 | 243 | 26 | Kentucky | 14 | 14 |
| 65 | John Nisby | ROG-ROT | 6-1 | 235 | 25 | Stockton JC; Pacific | 13 | 13 |
| 18 | Terry Nofsinger | QB | 6-4 | 209 | 23 | Utah | 5 | 0 |
| 51 | Buzz Nutter | C | 6-4 | 230 | 30 | Virginia Tech | 14 | 14 |
| 66 | Myron Pottios | MLB | 6-2 | 236 | 22 | Notre Dame | 14 | 14 |
| 50 | John Reger | RLB | 6-0 | 225 | 30 | Pittsburgh | 14 | 14 |
| 24 | Johnny Sample | LCB-RS | 6-1 | 203 | 25 | Maryland-Eastern Shore | 14 | 14 |
| 62 | Mike Sandusky | LOG-ROG | 6-0 | 231 | 26 | Maryland | 13 | 10 |
| 34 | Charley Scales | FB | 5-11 | 214 | 23 | Indiana | 14 | 2 |
| 67 | Bob Schmitz | LB-ROG | 6-1 | 235 | 23 | Wisconsin; Montana State | 14 | 0 |
| 88 | Bob Schnelker | SE | 6-3 | 214 | 33 | Bowling Green State | 8 | 7 |
| 36 | Wilbert Scott | LB | 6-0 | 215 | 22 | Indiana | 4 | 1 |
| 47 | Jackie Simpson | LS | 5-10 | 183 | 27 | Florida | 8 | 0 |
| 20 | Jack Stanton | DB | 6-1 | 180 | 23 | North Carolina State | 2 | 0 |
| 70 | Ernie Stautner | RDE | 6-1 | 230 | 36 | Boston College | 14 | 14 |
| 68 | Ron Stehouwer | LOG-ROG | 6-2 | 232 | 24 | Colorado State | 14 | 6 |
| 82 | George Tarasovic | LLB | 6-4 | 245 | 31 | Boston College; Northeast Louisana JC; Louisiana State | 12 | 7 |
| 30 | Tom Tracy | HB | 5-9 | 205 | 27 | Tennessee | 14 | 11 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 2 | 19 | Myron Pottios | LB | Notre Dame |
| 5 | 59 | Fred Mautino | E | Syracuse |
| 7 | 90 | Dick Hoak | B | Penn State |
| 8 | 103 | George Balthazar | T | Tennessee State |
| 10 | 131 | Red Mack | B | Notre Dame |
| 11 | 146 | Skip Clement | B | North Carolina |
| 12 | 159 | Frank Jackunas | T | Detroit Mercy |
| 14 | 187 | Bob Schmitz | G | Montana State |
| 15 | 202 | Ray McCowan | B | West Texas A&M |
| 16 | 215 | Wilbert Scott | B | Indiana |
| 17 | 230 | Terry Nofsinger | QB | Utah |
| 18 | 243 | John Simko | E | Augustana (South Dakota) |
| 19 | 258 | Bernie Wyatt | B | Iowa |
| 20 | 271 | Mike Jones | QB | San Jose State |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 72 | 67 | 76 | 80 | |
| Opponents Totals | 65 | 66 | 60 | 96 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 239 | 102 | 123 | 14 | / % | / % | 52 | 486 | |
| Opponents Totals | 218 | 71 | 132 | 15 | / % | / % | 57 | 533 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Dial | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | ||
| Lou Michaels | 0 | 27 | 29 | 93.1 | 15 | 26 | 57.7 | 0 | 72 |
| John Henry Johnson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | ||
| Preston Carpenter | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Tom Tracy | 3 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 20 |
| Bob Schnelker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Rudy Bukich | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Red Mack | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Johnny Sample | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Bill Butler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Bobby Layne | 0 | 5 | 5 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Bobby Joe Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 36 | 34 | 36 | 94.4 | 15 | 28 | 53.6 | 0 | 295 |
| Opponents Totals | 37 | 35 | 37 | 94.6 | 10 | 26 | 38.5 | 0 | 287 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Michaels | 15 | 26 | 57.7 | 0 | 47 | 7/8 | 3/4 | 3/4 | 2/10 | 0/0 |
| Bobby Joe Green | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | |
| Tom Tracy | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | |
| Team Totals | 15 | 28 | 53.6 | 1 | 47 | 7/8 | 3/4 | 3/4 | 2/12 | 0/0 |
| Opponents Totals | 10 | 26 | 38.5 | 4/ | 4/ | 2/ | 0/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Henry Johnson | 213 | 787 | 3.7 | 44 | 6 |
| Tom Tracy | 147 | 402 | 2.7 | 26 | 2 |
| Dick Hoak | 85 | 302 | 3.6 | 22 | 0 |
| Charlie Scales | 50 | 184 | 3.7 | 27 | 0 |
| Bobby Joe Green | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 33 | 0 |
| Brady Keys | 6 | 14 | 2.3 | 11 | 0 |
| Bobby Layne | 8 | 11 | 1.4 | 9 | 0 |
| Preston Carpenter | 7 | 9 | 1.3 | 13 | 0 |
| Steve Meilinger | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Buddy Dial | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Terry Nofsinger | 6 | 6 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Rudy Bukich | 14 | 4 | 0.3 | 12 | 2 |
| Bobby Coronado | 1 | -7 | -7.0 | -7 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 543 | 1761 | 3.2 | 44 | 10 |
| Opponents Totals | 396 | 1463 | 3.7 | 11 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudy Bukich | 156 | 89 | 89 | 51 | 1253 | 8.0 | 14.1 | 88t | 11 | 7.1 | 16 | 10.3 | 193 | 1060 | 67.0 | |
| Bobby Layne | 149 | 75 | 75 | 58 | 1205 | 8.1 | 16.1 | 53 | 11 | 7.4 | 16 | 10.7 | 89 | 1116 | 62.8 | |
| Terry Nofsinger | 11 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 78 | 7.1 | 11.1 | 23 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 70 | 84.7 | |
| Tom Tracy | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 73 | 6.1 | 18.3 | 38 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 55.2 |
| Dick Hoak | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 4.3 | 13.0 | 13t | 1 | 33.3 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 47.9 |
| Bobby Joe Green | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| John Henry Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 50.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 334 | 176 | 176 | 124 | 2622 | 7.9 | 14.9 | 88t | 23 | 6.9 | 34 | 10.2 | 290 | 2332 | 62.1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 420 | 201 | 201 | 194 | 2780 | 6.6 | 13.8 | 22 | 5.2 | 25 | 6.0 | 334 | 2446 | 62.2 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Dial | 53 | 1047 | 19.8 | 88t | 12 |
| Preston Carpenter | 33 | 460 | 13.9 | 40t | 4 |
| John Henry Johnson | 24 | 262 | 10.9 | 51 | 1 |
| Bob Schnelker | 18 | 331 | 18.4 | 59 | 3 |
| Tom Tracy | 14 | 133 | 9.5 | 38 | 1 |
| Red Mack | 8 | 128 | 16.0 | 39 | 2 |
| Steve Meilinger | 8 | 103 | 12.9 | 17 | 0 |
| Charlie Scales | 7 | 43 | 6.1 | 16 | 0 |
| Skip Clement | 5 | 65 | 13.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Bobby Coronado | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 14 | 0 |
| Dick Hoak | 3 | 18 | 6.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 176 | 2622 | 14.9 | 88t | 23 |
| Opponents Totals | 201 | 2780 | 13.8 | 22 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Sample | 8 | 141 | 17.6 | 42 | 1 |
| Bill Butler | 3 | 103 | 34.3 | 71t | 1 |
| Willie Daniel | 3 | 76 | 25.3 | 41 | 0 |
| Jackie Simpson | 2 | 46 | 23.0 | 27 | 0 |
| Myron Pottios | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 22 | 0 |
| Brady Keys | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 12 | 0 |
| Lou Michaels | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 |
| John Reger | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| George Tarasovic | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Mike Henry | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Dick Haley | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 25 | 498 | 19.9 | 71t | 2 |
| Opponents Totals | 34 | 510 | 15.0 | 2 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Joe Green | 73 | 3431 | 47.0 | 71 | 0 | 251 | ||||
| Team Totals | 73 | 3431 | 47.0 | 71 | 0 | 251 | 43.6 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 86 | 3766 | 43.8 | 447 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Sample | 26 | 283 | 10.9 | 55t | 1 | |
| Brady Keys | 9 | 135 | 15.0 | 66 | 0 | |
| Preston Carpenter | 3 | 18 | 6.0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Bill Butler | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 9 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 40 | 447 | 11.2 | 66 | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 251 | 7.8 | 1 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Sample | 23 | 532 | 23.1 | 59 | 0 | |
| Dick Haley | 13 | 278 | 21.4 | 50 | 0 | |
| Bill Butler | 6 | 117 | 19.5 | 25 | 0 | |
| Charlie Scales | 3 | 41 | 13.7 | 15 | 0 | |
| Brady Keys | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 21 | 0 | |
| John Henry Johnson | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Bob Schmitz | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 49 | 1020 | 20.8 | 59 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 50 | 1156 | 23.1 | 0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Bradshaw | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rudy Bukich | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bill Butler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Preston Carpenter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Willie Daniel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Buddy Dial | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Henry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Hoak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Henry Johnson | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Kapele | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brady Keys | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Joe Krupa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Layne | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 | |
| Red Mack | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Nisby | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Myron Pottios | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| John Reger | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Johnny Sample | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Scales | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bob Schnelker | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackie Simpson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Ernie Stautner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Stehouwer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| George Tarasovic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Tracy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 34 | 22 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 14 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 36 | 20 | 16 | 22 | 38 | 0 |
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