NFL flashback: Monessen’s pipeline, sad Steelers

Greg “Twister” Crawford, who played three sports for Donora High School, is proud of his town’s sports heritage but says that Monessen is also highly deserving of praise for the amount of great players they have turned out.
He noted that at one time there were four players all at Monessen High School who would play in the NFL, and not just briefly. Sam Havrilak spent six seasons with the Baltimore Colts and played on a Super Bowl-winning team. Doug Crusan won two Super Bowls and lasted seven seasons with Miami. Eric Crabtree played with Denver and Cincinnati from 1966-1971. Meanwhile, Bill Malinchak endured the longest of the four Greyhounds, playing for Detroit and Washington for 10 seasons.
Making it to the highest level of football is an arduous task — lasting for more than, say, five years is remarkable. One small town producing four such men over a short period of time is an almost impossible feat.
“Why,” wondered Crawford, “doesn’t anybody write a book about Monessen — nobody had what they had.” He likened Monessen High to the school featured in Friday Night Lights. “It’s an interesting story that a little mill town was so productive.”
Crawford pointed out Crusan was on the only team in the history of pro football to become undefeated champs, the Dolphins of 1972. “Imagine, no team ever did what Crusan and his teammates did. It’s staggering.
“I think the greatest player from the Monessen football team with Crusan and Malinchak was the one who didn’t make it to the pros, and that was Benny Jones. He went to the University of Cincinnati, but got hurt and never made it, but he was the heart and soul of that team. There was nobody better than Benny Jones.
“When people talk about Donora’s Bernie Galiffa and Malcom Lomax and Kenny Griffey, they always say it was something in the water. And I always say that the same water we drank was the same that they drank in Monessen.”
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Young fans, of course, can’t remember when the Steelers were pathetic, but when a team played them, the next day they knew they had been in an alley fight, as they counted up the bruises and broken bones.
Crusan confirmed that even during their worst seasons, “Pittsburgh’s defense pounded teams to death — they physically beat you. When I was growing up, they had defensive tackle Big Daddy Lipscomb and later Bill Saul at linebacker.”
For the record, from 1950 through 1969 Pittsburgh, now a proud franchise, finished above .500 just four times, and they won four or fewer games in six of those season, including going 2-11-1 and 1-13 in 1968 and 1969.
Monongahela’s Fred Cox played for Minnesota during that time frame and was well aware that it almost seemed as if the Steelers organization courted mediocrity (or worse). When asked if it was shocking to think that the Steelers had the opportunity to have the great John Unitas as their quarterback but basically chose to ignore him, not even employing him during their exhibition schedule, Cox flatly said no. He said few people today “realize how bad the Steelers were. Being released by Pittsburgh was the best thing that ever happened to Unitas.
“Even when I came into the league [in 1963], if you got sent to Pittsburgh, man, that was like being sent to the salt mines. Later they became so great, but at that time, that’s the way it was.”
It’s true that the Steelers did have some talent. For instance, Andy Russell was a big name way back when, a seven-time Pro Bowl player at the linebacker position. At various times in that era other Steeler defenders earned Pro Bowl status such as John Reger, Frank Varrichione and Ernie Stautner, a player Charleroi High School’s Myron Pottios called “a tough, physical guy that just pounded on people.” Stautner would fortify the Pittsburgh defense for his entire career, 1950-1963, earning Hall of Fame status along the way.
All in all, things were tough for a handful of perennial NFL losers like Pittsburgh. Cox recalled that in addition to the Steelers, the Chicago Bears went through a period in which they beat opponents up, but, as Cox noted, “The only problem was they never won.”
Crusan said that one thing that hasn’t changed through the years is how vital a rugged defense is to a team. When the Bears and Steelers stressed balanced, brutal defenses, things changed. “Go through their history, defense is still big. The Steelers’ Super Bowl runs with the defensive unit they had, gosh!”
Indeed, as all Steeler fans know, especially those old enough to remember the phrase, “One for the thumb,” this franchise has racked up eight Super Bowl appearances, once took home Super Bowl rings four times over a six-year span, and has won six Super Bowls in all.