Steelers show their class in visiting HOF ceremony
CANTON, Ohio – In case you don’t have a proper understanding of just how special the Steelers organization is, here comes more fodder. While Steelers coach Mike Tomlin brought his team from Latrobe to Canton to witness defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau’s enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Dallas Cowboys stayed in their hotel, preparing for Sunday night’s exhibition game against Cincinnati.
The Cowboys didn’t make the trip across town for Saturday’s induction ceremony, even though the Hall welcomed perhaps the greatest Cowboy of them all. Not only did Emmitt Smith run for more yards than anyone else in league history, he passed Walter Payton for the all-time rushing record with a Cowboys star on his helmet and under owner Jerry Jones’ watch. Smith finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals.
Jones presented Smith for induction, but apparently didn’t think enough of Smith or the Hall of Fame to bring his team along, even though they were housed in the same town.
The Cowboys log more miles in training camp than some teams log in a season, but Jones could bring them a few miles more to see Smith inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Kudos to Dan Rooney and the Steelers for making the three-hour bus trip on LeBeau’s behalf and shame on Jones for keeping his current Cowboys sequestered away from Smith’s special moment.
Origin of The Hogs
With all due respect to Joe Bugel, his memory may not be what it used to be, as least as it relates to how the Washington Redskins offensive line became known as The Hogs.
During his introduction of Russ Grimm as a Hall of Famer, Bugel said the following:
“We had some guys who had great curved up bellies and I said, ‘OK you hogs, let’s get down in that bullpen and get started. And that name caught on and gave that group a sense of identity.”
But one of The Hogs, George Starke, tells it a bit differently and gives Grimm more of the credit for perhaps the most famous nickname in NFL history.
“Not everyone knows that the name Hogs comes from a description of Russ,” said Starke. “He was lying on the ground at the end of a blocking drill and Bugel walks by. Russ had his stomach peeking out the bottom of his shirt. Joe said, ‘Man, Russ, get up. You look like a hog laying there on the ground.’ After that, we all decided to poke fun at Bugel. We all wore white shirts to practice and they all had Hogs written on them. Bugel said, ‘Why are you doing that?’ We said, ‘Because we are all in solidarity with Russ. If you call him a Hog, you have to call all of us Hogs.’
Grimm’s parents
Grimm’s thank you to his parents was touching. After mentioning how Charles and Jane Grimm got him to practices and made sure he had spikes, he got to the heart of why he called them his best fans, coaches and friends.
“I’d come home from those games and mom would be up on that chair giving me her post-game speech on what I did right, what I did wrong. And my dad would sit there telling me what I needed to do to get better.
“But they taught me family values, they taught me how to respect others, they taught me how to compete and how to be thankful for what I have.”
The last time I spoke with Grimm’s parents were when his younger brother Donn was a starting linebacker at Notre Dame. Russ was starting for the Redskins at the time and Charles explained to me then about how they would take the Winnebago out to South Bend on Saturdays and, if the schedule was favorable, drive it to Washington to catch a Redskins game on Sundays.
Those were the days, I’m sure they would say now.
Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarohi@heraldstandard.com.