I've always been amazed that the Chicago Bears pulled Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers from the same draft. It helped that they had the third and fourth picks of that 1965 NFL Draft. They had the sixth as well but Steve DeLong never had the same impact as his mates. Butkus and Sayers are Hall of Famers and are in the argument of the greatest of all time at their respective positions. Unfortunately, neither player ever made it to the post season. The Pittsburgh Steelers were nearly always in the post season in the '70s. That doesn't bring much surprise these days but it was a real shock then. The Steelers were pathetic for nearly all of their first forty years. That all changed when Chuck Noll was hired as head coach in 1969. Drafting future Hall of Famers became routine and the Steelers created a football dynasty. That winning tradition has continued to this day. The last forty years have made the first forty years a forgotten memory. It all started with the drafting of a defensive tackle named Joe Greene.
Chuck Noll had to change everything in Pittsburgh. His changes started with defense and his first draft choice was future Hall of Famer Joe Greene. This was the perfect person and player around which to build one of the NFL's great defenses. Defensive end L.C. Greenwood was added in the later roounds of the same draft. In 1970, the Steelers added two more future Hall of Famers . One became the offensive leader, quarterback Terry Bradshaw. The other was game changing cornerback Mel Blount. In 1971, only one Hall of Famer was added but he played like two, linebacker Jack Ham. Nearly half of the Steelers dominating defense was added in '71. In addition to Ham the rest of the "Steel Curtain" defensive line in tackle Ernie Holmes and end Dwight White joined the Steelers as well as safeties Mike Wagner and Glen Edwards. In '72, it was back to the offense with future Hall of Fame runningback Franco Harris. In '73, Blount's cornerback partner J.T. Thomas arrived. The 1974 Steelers draft may have been one of the best in league history. Four Hall of Famers were selected that year. Receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, linebacker Jack Lambert and center Mike Webster. From 1969-74, the Steelers drafted nine Hall of Famers and nearly the entire fantastic defense that simply dominated the decade. The only defensive player not drafted during that period was drafted in 1963, linebacker Andy Russell. That six year window, starting with the hiring of Noll and drafting of Greene, may have brought in the greatest concentration of football talent ever seen in the league. It's especially amazing that it all came from the draft. That drafting resulted in four Super Bowl championships.
Whenever I think of how a team should be built I think of those Steelers teams. We live in a different era now. Free agency has changed a lot of things but it hasn't changed the best way to win championships. Drafting well will always be the key to that goal. Few free agents have really changed a team's fortunes. Reggie White, Deion Sanders and Drew Brees are on that short list. The biggest impact of most free agents has been in the dent in the salary cap. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafting from 1969-74 will always be the model to me.
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