Memory Lane
Jansante carved out nice career with Steelers
Two storied franchises, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, are set to square off in Super Bowl XLV. Through the years there have been many connections between the two teams, but one that has been largely forgotten is former receiver Val Jansante.
Jansante, a long-time native of Bentleyville, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, in the emergency department of the Monongahela Valley Hospital. He was born in Fayette County on Sept. 27, 1920, in LaBelle, the son of Germanio and Pauline Diacenzo Jansante.
Jansante only played one year of high school football, his senior year in 1939, under Alex Ufema at Bentleyville High School. He played running back and end, and racked up nine touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns were scored against Ellsworth High, and all were for more than 40 yards. Jansante also was a star basketball player for three years and was awarded the prestigious top athlete award of the area – the Mid-Mon Valley Award – due to his success in both sports.
In college, Jansante played for Aldo “Buff” Donelli at Duquesne University. In those days the Dukes were a Division I football power. He played for the Dukes during their 26-game winning streak. Duquesne was undefeated in 1941.
Jansante entered the Navy in 1942 during World War II, and was discharged in 1945. During his time in the service, Jansante, who was an ROTC member, a student at Harvard and then Villanova. While at Villanova, he caught the eye of legendary Philadelphia Eagles owner Bert Bell,
Jansante had an outstanding scrimmage against the Steagles, a wartime combination on the Steelers and the Eagles. During this scrimmage in Philadelphia, Jansante reportedly sacked the quarterback 11 times and had seven receptions. Bell placed Jansante on the NFL draft prospect list.
The Steelers drafted Jansante in the 10th round of the draft in 1944, but because of his service in World War II, did not join the team until 1946.
Jansante played a lot of football before joining Pittsburgh in 1946. He played for the Naval Base Fleet City team stationed out of Oakland, Calif. The Fleet City team played against professional teams that were still in existence during the war. Jansante’s first six pass receptions were for touchdowns in 1945, and the unbeaten Fleet City football team won the championship. A scatback by the name of Buddy Young was the star of that team.
“I went to my first training camp with the Steelers at Cambridge Springs, and nobody gave me much attention,” Jansante recalled years later to author Jim O’Brien. “I was ready to leave. I was at the train station ready to go home. Chuck Mehelich, another end, who was a friend of mine, talked me out of it. I had played with Mehelich at Duquesne and at Fleet City.
“Steelers coach Jock Sutherland was tough. You couldn’t mess with him. You weren’t allowed to drink water no matter how hot it was. He put oatmeal in the water in the bucket so you wouldn’t drink it. I would take ice and suck on it. We played in 97-degree temperatures once in St. Louis and I lost 17 pounds. I only weighed 180 at the time to begin with. You couldn’t drink water that day either.
“He had that single-wing and we never threw that many passes. I led the team in catches my rookie season with 10 catches. Johnny Blood led the Steelers with that many catches several years earlier (1937). That was the lowest total for the team’s top pass catcher in club history.
“When I played end for Sutherland, he never told me what to do. I was on my own. He never talked much to his players. I moved out away from tackle, so I could get free easier to go out for passes. He told me to get back where I belonged, back inside. Little by little, I moved out. In a way, I think I became the first split-end.”
Despite the fact that the Steelers ran the single-wing and did not throw the football that much, Sutherland did take notice of Jansante’s pass-catching ability.
“He’s a marvelous faker when he goes out for a pass,” Dr. Sutherland said of Jansante in the Pittsburgh Press. “It isn’t that he is so fast and outruns the man who’s watching him. But he can shake himself loose and get away from his man. Then, he stands there waiting for a pass, or takes it on the run.”
Sutherland died suddenly of a brain tumor while he was on vacation in the South. John Michelosen succeeded him and stuck with Sutherland’s single wing.
“Jim Finks was our best passer, but Michelosen used Joe Geri at tailback,” Jansante remembered. “Then he used a rookie named Chuck Ortmann. We’d tell Michelosen that Finks was our best passer. Geri had small hands; he was always bouncing the ball off my knees or ankles, or throwing behind me. We had another good passer in Johnny “Zero” Clement. I heard that Michelosen was told by Art Rooney that he had to abandon the single-wing formation if he wanted to keep his job. He refused and was let go.
“Then Michelosen goes to Pitt, and what does he do? He plays the T-formation. Try to figure that out. He could have kept his job with the Steelers if he would have changed his offensive scheme. I guess he was too stubborn. That was a Sutherland trait, too.”
Despite being limited by the single-wing, Jansante was a two-way starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers from the first day he stepped onto the field in 1946. He played six seasons with the Steelers in which he was named First Team and Second Team All-Pro. With 154 receptions in six seasons, Jansante held the reception record for a while and was among the top 10 pass catchers for a number of years for the Steelers.
Jansante had two games in which he caught 10 passes. The first was in 1949 in a game against Philadelphia. The quarterback attempted a total of 10 passes and Jansante caught all 10. The second game with 10 receptions was against Los Angeles in 1950.
Until 2006, Jansante was the only Steeler in the history of the club to lead the team five consecutive years in receiving. Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward broke his 50-plus year record. Jansante at one time was considered the best pass catcher in Steelers history and was often compared to Pro Football Hall of Fame player Don Hutson, of the Green Bay Packers.
Jansante recalled the pounding he took as a player in those days.
“That second day after a game is my day of horrors,” he said. “It isn’t so bad the day after a game, but it takes me a little while to recover. I start feeling good the third day and by next Sunday I’m really ready to get going.”
Michelosen’s single-wing offense was a source of discontent among the fan base. The fans criticized Michelosen for keeping veterans Jansante and Frank Sinkovitz in the lineup. When the Steelers were being clobbered by the Eagles, one group of fans waved an insulting banner. “Out with Michelosen, Jansante and Sinkovitz,” the banner demanded.
Two days later Jansante turned in his uniform.
“If I only knew what the trouble was I might have been able to make some adjustments, but there’s no use playing for fans that boo you at every turn,” he told the Pittsburgh Press.
Pittsburgh placed Jansante on waivers and was claimed by the Green Bay Packers. He played three games for the Packers and caught one pass for six yards.
“I went to Green Bay during my last season in 1951,” Jansante explained. “Tobin Rote was the quarterback there at the time, and he was a good one. But, it was too far away. So I hung it up after that season. I could make as much money teaching and I wouldn’t get beat up. I didn’t realize how important it was to be a pro football player at the time.”
Jansante was 31 years old when he retired.
After retiring from football, Jansante was a teacher and head football coach at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Mon Valley Catholic High School in Monongahela, and Bentworth High School in Bentleyville. He coached both boys and girls athletics in the WPIAL for more than 25 years. Jansante resided in Bentleyville until his death at the age of 88.
Jansante was invited for special ceremonies at the opening of Heinz Field, and he was an honorary captain during the 75th anniversary season while participating in the coin toss in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. Jansante also was on the ballot for consideration when the 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams were selected. He is in the Duquesne University Hall of Fame, the Washington-Greene County Sports Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” columns appear in the Tuesday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.