1951 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) |
| 4th place • American Conference • 4-7-1 .364 |
| Head Coach: Johnny Michelosen |
| Chuck Cherundolo | Assistant Coach |
| Bob Davis | Assistant Coach |
| Walt Kiesling | Assistant Coach |
| Mike Nixon | Backfield |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/18/1951 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 9-24 | L | Hershey, PA | Hershey Stadium | 18256 | |
| Wed | 8/22/1951 | H | New York Yanks | 21-17 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 17974 | |
| Fri | 9/7/1951 | N | San Francisco 49ers | 7-24 | L | Syracuse, NY | Archbold Stadium | 18000 | |
| Sun | 9/16/1951 | N | Green Bay Packers | 35-6 | W | Buffalo, NY | War Memorial Stadium | 13458 | |
| Sun | 9/23/1951 | H | Chicago Bears | 23-21 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 21113 | |
| Mon | 10/1/1951 | H | New York Giants | 13-13 | T | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 27984 | |
| Sun | 10/7/1951 | A | Green Bay Packers | 33-35 | L | West Allis, WI | Wisconsin State Fair Park | 8324 | |
| Sun | 10/14/1951 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 24-28 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 27124 | |
| Sun | 10/21/1951 | A | Cleveland Browns | 0-17 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 32409 | |
| Sun | 10/28/1951 | A | Chicago Cardinals | 28-14 | W | Chicago, IL | Comiskey Park | 14773 | |
| Sun | 11/4/1951 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 13-34 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 19649 | |
| Sun | 11/11/1951 | H | Green Bay Packers | 28-7 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 20080 | |
| Sun | 11/18/1951 | H | Washington Redskins | 7-22 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 15060 | |
| Sun | 11/25/1951 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 17-13 | W | Philadelphia, PA | Shibe Park | 15537 | |
| Sun | 12/2/1951 | A | New York Giants | 0-14 | L | New York, NY | Polo Grounds | 18186 | |
| Sun | 12/9/1951 | H | Cleveland Browns | 0-28 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 24229 | |
| Sun | 12/16/1951 | A | Washington Redskins | 20-10 | W | Washington, DC | Griffith Stadium | 18096 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Lou Allen | 73 | LOT | 6-3 | 220 | 27 | Duke | 12 | 12 |
| Jack Butler | 80 | RDH | 6-0 | 195 | 24 | St. Bonaventure | 12 | 10 |
| Lynn Chandnois | 14 | ROH | 6-2 | 198 | 28 | Michigan State | 12 | 9 |
| Dale Dodrill | 60 | MG | 6-1 | 211 | 25 | Colorado State | 8 | 6 |
| Jim Finks | 7 | S-RDH-TB | 5-11 | 175 | 24 | Tulsa | 12 | 12 |
| Joe Gasparella | 23 | BB | 6-4 | 222 | 24 | Notre Dame | 4 | 4 |
| Joe Geri | 35 | TB-P-K | 5-10 | 185 | 28 | Georgia | 12 | 12 |
| Howard Hartley | 11 | LDH | 5-11 | 185 | 27 | Duke | 12 | 12 |
| George Hays | 75 | LDE-LDT | 6-2 | 211 | 27 | St. Bonaventure | 12 | 12 |
| Dick Hendley | 25 | BB | 5-11 | 200 | 25 | Clemson | 9 | 0 |
| Darrell Hogan | 63 | MLB | 5-10 | 210 | 25 | Baylor; Trinity (Texas) | 12 | 12 |
| Joe Hollingsworth | 37 | FB-LLB | 6-0 | 198 | 26 | Georgia; Eastern Kentucky | 10 | 1 |
| George Hughes | 65 | ROG | 6-1 | 225 | 26 | William & Mary | 12 | 12 |
| Val Jansante | 54 | LOE | 6-1 | 190 | 31 | Duquesne; Villanova | 6 | 6 |
| Tom Jelley | 86 | ROE | 6-5 | 225 | 25 | Miami (Florida) | 5 | 0 |
| Paul Lea | 72 | LOT | 6-2 | 240 | 22 | Tulane | 9 | 0 |
| Ray Mathews | 44 | WB | 6-0 | 185 | 22 | Clemson | 12 | 3 |
| Bill McPeak | 84 | RDE-ROE | 6-1 | 208 | 25 | Notre Dame; Pittsburgh | 12 | 12 |
| Charley Mehelich | 55 | LDE | 6-1 | 199 | 29 | Duquesne | 5 | 5 |
| Hank Minarik | 82 | LOE-ROE | 6-2 | 200 | 24 | Michigan State | 11 | 6 |
| Tony Momsen | 55 | C | 6-1 | 215 | 23 | Michigan | 12 | 0 |
| Elbie Nickel | 81 | ROE | 6-1 | 196 | 29 | Cincinnati | 12 | 12 |
| Jerry Nuzum | 22 | FB | 6-1 | 199 | 28 | Cameron JC; New Mexico State | 11 | 9 |
| Chuck Ortmann | 49 | S-TB | 6-1 | 190 | 22 | Michigan | 12 | 2 |
| Fran Rogel | 27 | FB | 5-11 | 203 | 24 | California (Pennsylvania); Penn State | 12 | 2 |
| Carl Samuelson | 78 | LDT-RDT | 6-4 | 250 | 28 | Nebraska | 12 | 7 |
| John Schweder | 68 | MG | 6-1 | 224 | 24 | Pennsylvania | 12 | 6 |
| Jerry Shipkey | 33 | LLB-FB | 6-1 | 213 | 26 | Southern California; UCLA | 11 | 11 |
| Frank Sinkovitz | 57 | RLB | 6-1 | 218 | 28 | Duke | 12 | 12 |
| Truett Smith | 30 | BB | 6-2 | 208 | 27 | Mississippi State; Wyoming | 12 | 8 |
| Ernie Stautner | 70 | RDT | 6-1 | 230 | 26 | Boston College | 12 | 12 |
| Dick Tomlinson | 62 | LOG | 6-1 | 205 | 23 | Kansas | 12 | 12 |
| Bill Walsh | 56 | C | 6-2 | 230 | 24 | Notre Dame | 12 | 12 |
| Frank Wydo | 79 | ROT | 6-4 | 225 | 27 | Duquesne; Cornell | 12 | 12 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 9 | Butch Avinger | B | Alabama |
| 2 | 20 | Chuck Ortmann | B | Michigan |
| 3 | 31 | George Sulima | E | Boston University |
| 4 | 45 | Barry French | T | Purdue |
| 5 | 56 | Floyd Sampson | B | McMurry |
| 6 | 67 | Dale Dodrill | G | Colorado State |
| 7 | 81 | Ray Mathews | B | Clemson |
| 8 | 92 | Hank Minarik | E | Michigan State |
| 9 | 103 | John Schweder | G | Pennsylvania |
| 10 | 118 | Paul Salata | E | Southern California |
| 11 | 129 | Joe McCutcheon | C | Washington & Lee |
| 12 | 140 | Jim Brandt | B | St. Thomas (Minnesota) |
| 13 | 154 | Bill Szabo | T | Bucknell |
| 14 | 165 | Mike Mizerany | G | Alabama |
| 15 | 176 | Clay Webb | B | Kentucky |
| 16 | 190 | Lambert Oberg | C | Trinity (Connecticut) |
| 17 | 201 | Ted Gehlmann | T | William & Mary |
| 18 | 212 | Pat Field | B | Georgia |
| 19 | 226 | Bill Pavlikowski | B | Boston University |
| 20 | 237 | Tom Donnalley | T | Holy Cross |
| 21 | 248 | Ernie Cheatham | T | Loyola Marymount |
| 22 | 262 | Dick Hendley | B | Clemson |
| 23 | 273 | Joe Minor | E | John Carroll |
| 24 | 284 | Art Alois | C | San Francisco |
| 25 | 298 | Tom Calvin | B | Alabama |
| 26 | 309 | Bill Pearman | G | Tennessee |
| 27 | 320 | Bob Radcliffe | B | Wisconsin |
| 28 | 334 | Howie Hansen | B | UCLA |
| 29 | 345 | Fred Smith | E | Tulsa |
| 30 | 356 | John Gruble | E | Tennessee |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 30 | 75 | 16 | 62 | 183 |
| Opponents Totals | 34 | 85 | 61 | 55 | 235 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 172 | 76 | 79 | 17 | / % | / % | 51 | 428 | |
| Opponents Totals | 188 | 97 | 74 | 17 | / % | / % | 84 | 725 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Geri | 4 | 22 | 23 | 95.7 | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 0 | 67 |
| Lynn Chandnois | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Elbie Nickel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Fran Rogel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Jack Butler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jim Finks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Val Jansante | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Ray Mathews | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Hank Minarik | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jerry Nuzum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jerry Shipkey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Charley Mehelich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Team Totals | 23 | 22 | 23 | 95.7 | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 1 | 183 |
| Opponents Totals | 31 | 28 | 31 | 90.3 | 7 | 12 | 58.3 | 1 | 235 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Geri | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 0 | 40 | 1/4 | 4/6 | 1/3 | 1/1 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 0 | 40 | 1/4 | 4/6 | 1/3 | 1/1 | 0/0 |
| Opponents Totals | 7 | 12 | 58.3 | 2/ | 2/ | 3/ | 0/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fran Rogel | 109 | 385 | 3.5 | 51 | 3 |
| Lynn Chandnois | 108 | 332 | 3.1 | 34 | 2 |
| Chuck Ortmann | 59 | 327 | 5.5 | 32 | 0 |
| Joe Geri | 90 | 252 | 2.8 | 17 | 3 |
| Jerry Nuzum | 27 | 56 | 2.1 | 9 | 1 |
| Ray Mathews | 21 | 37 | 1.8 | 15 | 0 |
| Jim Finks | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 22 | 0 |
| Joe Hollingsworth | 7 | 11 | 1.6 | 6 | 0 |
| Truett Smith | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 425 | 1428 | 3.4 | 51 | 9 |
| Opponents Totals | 499 | 1859 | 3.7 | 13 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Ortmann | 139 | 56 | 40.3 | 70 | 671 | 4.8 | 12.0 | 37t | 3 | 2.2 | 13 | 9.4 | 199 | 472 | 24.0 | |
| Joe Geri | 90 | 29 | 32.2 | 54 | 506 | 5.6 | 17.4 | 77t | 2 | 2.2 | 7 | 7.8 | 24 | 482 | 27.4 | |
| Lynn Chandnois | 43 | 16 | 37.2 | 23 | 256 | 6.0 | 16.0 | 49t | 2 | 4.7 | 4 | 9.3 | 47 | 209 | 34.6 | |
| Ray Mathews | 31 | 15 | 48.4 | 16 | 208 | 6.7 | 13.9 | 39 | 2 | 6.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 30 | 178 | 91.9 | |
| Jim Finks | 24 | 14 | 58.3 | 9 | 201 | 8.4 | 14.4 | 40t | 1 | 4.2 | 1 | 4.2 | 9 | 192 | 82.1 | |
| Fran Rogel | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | ||
| Joe Gasparella | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 50.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 330 | 130 | 39.4 | 174 | 1842 | 5.6 | 14.2 | 77t | 10 | 3.0 | 26 | 7.9 | 318 | 1524 | 35.4 | |
| Opponents Totals | 266 | 136 | 51.1 | 100 | 1687 | 6.3 | 12.4 | 12 | 4.5 | 30 | 11.3 | 201 | 1486 | 46.6 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hank Minarik | 35 | 459 | 13.1 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Elbie Nickel | 28 | 447 | 16.0 | 77t | 3 | 0 | |||
| Lynn Chandnois | 28 | 440 | 15.7 | 55 | 4 | ||||
| Val Jansante | 15 | 194 | 12.9 | 46t | 1 | 0 | |||
| Fran Rogel | 10 | 59 | 5.9 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Truett Smith | 4 | 71 | 17.8 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chuck Ortmann | 4 | 62 | 15.5 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Joe Geri | 3 | 59 | 19.7 | 49t | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Jerry Nuzum | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Tom Jelley | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 130 | 1842 | 14.2 | 77t | 10 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 136 | 1687 | 12.4 | 12 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Hartley | 10 | 69 | 6.9 | 23 | 0 |
| Jerry Shipkey | 6 | 113 | 18.8 | 58 | 1 |
| Jack Butler | 5 | 142 | 28.4 | 52t | 1 |
| Jim Finks | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 25t | 1 |
| Frank Sinkovitz | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Chuck Ortmann | 1 | 62 | 62.0 | 62 | 0 |
| John Schweder | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 |
| Darrell Hogan | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Ray Mathews | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 30 | 461 | 15.4 | 62 | 3 |
| Opponents Totals | 26 | 446 | 17.2 | 3 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Geri | 73 | 2787 | 38.2 | 72 | 0 | |||||
| Chuck Ortmann | 7 | 302 | 43.1 | 72 | 1 | |||||
| Team Totals | 80 | 3089 | 38.6 | 72 | 1 | 411 | 33.5 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 77 | 3133 | 40.7 | 464 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Mathews | 15 | 231 | 15.4 | 68t | 1 | |
| Howard Hartley | 18 | 156 | 8.7 | 35 | 0 | |
| Lynn Chandnois | 12 | 55 | 4.6 | 20 | 0 | |
| Jim Finks | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Jack Butler | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 47 | 464 | 9.9 | 68t | 1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 40 | 411 | 10.3 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn Chandnois | 12 | 390 | 32.5 | 55 | 0 | |
| Ray Mathews | 13 | 327 | 25.2 | 40 | 0 | |
| Bill McPeak | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 8 | 0 | |
| Joe Geri | 2 | 108 | 54.0 | 86 | 0 | |
| Fran Rogel | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | |
| Howard Hartley | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Frank Wydo | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 34 | 858 | 25.2 | 86 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 32 | 597 | 18.7 | 0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Allen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lynn Chandnois | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dale Dodrill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Jim Finks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Joe Geri | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | |
| Howard Hartley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| George Hays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 0 |
| Joe Hollingsworth | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| George Hughes | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Jelley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Mathews | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Charley Mehelich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Nuzum | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chuck Ortmann | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fran Rogel | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Carl Samuelson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Schweder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Shipkey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Sinkovitz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Stautner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Wydo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 31 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 20 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 30 | 16 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 1 |
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| Last Updated: October 12, 2025 |