Saturday, August 31, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Steelers' James Washington believes big-play preseason isn't a tease this time
By Jeremy Fowler
https://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/31135/steelers-james-washington-believes-big-play-preseason-isnt-a-tease-this-time
August 26, 2019
James Washington catches a 41-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph on Sunday.(Matt Zaleski/AP)
PITTSBURGH -- James Washington is not all that impressed with his big-play August. He's been through this before, tearing up the 2018 preseason only to disappear for parts of his rookie year.
This time around, he even looks unimpressed with himself after each leaping catch. That's because he expects it to last.
"I'm just trying to show coaches something and put it on their minds that I've gotten better," the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver said.
That improvement is on the minds of many inside the Steelers' building. Motivated to rebound from last year's quiet 16-catch, 217-yard campaign, Washington has nine catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns through three preseason games. Sunday's untouched 41-yard score might have been his best, easily beating Tennessee Titans coverage up the middle as former Oklahoma State teammate Mason Rudolph found him in stride
Though Donte Moncrief appears to have solidified a starting outside receiver job opposite JuJu Smith-Schuster, Washington looks like an X factor the offense needs with his ability to make difficult catches.
Moncrief, Ryan Switzer and Eli Rogers were on the field with the first-team offense Sunday as the Steelers employed a quick passing game to ensure two things for QB Ben Roethlisberger: release the ball quickly, stay healthy.
The offense still needs an additional vertical threat, and Washington's playmaking elicited this reaction from staff members a few times during camp: 'That's a heckuva catch.'
On deep balls, Washington is getting open consistently enough that he often has to back-track to secure throws in practices and games.
Washington is quick to point out he's facing vanilla preseason defenses and isn't always going up against first-string defenders. But that hasn't quelled the excitement from Smith-Schuster, who sees a "huge difference" in Washington.
"... As you guys can see during preseason, he’s making plays left and right," Smith-Schuster said. "Like I said, there is no doubt in my mind he’s going to be doing that during the season. Super excited to watch him.”
Natural ability was never an issue for Washington. Last week, a contest broke out in the Steelers locker room to see which players could touch the roughly-12-foot ceiling off a vertical jump (no running start). Washington (5-11) and safety Terrell Edmunds (6-2) were the only players to do it.
But Washington was uncomfortable in the offense a year ago and lost his confidence. Roethlisberger and tight end Vance McDonald were among teammates to call him out, obviously seeing the potential.
Coming off two 60-plus-yard games in the final three weeks of 2018, Washington invested in the Year 2 jump. Losing 15 pounds in the offseason while working on the family farm in Stamford, Texas, should help Washington sustain a 16-game season.
Now, Washington wants to be more than a niche receiver.
"Just making plays and taking everything that comes my way," Washington said. "Doing what I can do to be successful for this team...I'm more effective with (the offense). The playbook, I know it better now. Things are fluid and that helps me react faster.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Thursday, August 22, 2019
This MLB manager believes in the magic of open discussion. His players love him for it.
By Matthew Gutierrez
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/08/20/this-mlb-manager-believes-magic-open-discussion-his-players-love-him-it/
August 20, 2019
(Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH — Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle urges his players: Tell your dad you love him. Give him a hug. Call someone else you love, offer your support, and ask them how you can help. He knows all of his colleagues and players are going through something, constantly trying to rebuild, tweak, stay upbeat and plod along.
Here is where Hurdle believes he can fulfill his responsibility as an MLB manager, instilling an atmosphere of trust, guidance and transparency: For several years, he has led one-on-one meetings with coaches and players he calls “ups and downs.” Hurdle shares one, two or three things going well in life — and a few things not going so well. The other person does the same, with responses ranging from a good month at the plate to the rigors of minor league life to the death of a family member.
“The main idea,” Hurdle said, “is it eliminates distractions and helps them play more free.”
Every week, the 62-year-old chats with Pittsburgh’s minor league coaches. Meetings with players occur less often, usually a few times per season. They are akin to a professor’s office hours, with a few twists. They can last 60 seconds or 60 minutes. They happen virtually anytime: after a bullpen session, pregame in Hurdle’s office, on the phone during a bus ride. Central to his approach is knocking down the walls between himself and the people he works with. In his office last month, he illustrated how he might do this: He got up off the chair behind his desk and sat on a couch instead.
Hurdle believes in the magic of open discussion, where anything goes, and unplugged conversations during which he rarely dictates direction. It’s a thoughtful approach to feedback that provides players an indication of the type of teammate and person they are, and the type of player and person they can become.
“Some guys say: ‘The first time I was here, it was like a trip to the dentist. That was horrible. That was hard,’ ” Hurdle said. “I say: ‘Look, this is going to be uncomfortable. We have to work through this together. It’s not malicious. If you get to a point where you truly love somebody, you’re going to tell them the truth.’ ”
Hurdle, who is signed through 2021, implemented this strategy after he became the Pirates’ manager in 2011. Pittsburgh made three postseason appearances from 2013-2015, but the Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since, and they’ve sunk to last in the National League Central this year. It’s tempting to pretend the ups-and-downs meetings breed wins, but they don’t. They also may not always lead to clubhouse harmony: Last week, The Athletic revealed altercations involving coaches and two Pirates relievers,Keone Kela and Kyle Crick.
Rather, they offer one thing players tend to love: honesty. There’s a refreshing quality about Hurdle’s willingness to guide them. Last year, he helped Pirates switch-hitting all-star Josh Bellgain clarity at the plate by holding a heartfelt one-on-one, sketching a plan for the end of the season. Hurdle gave Bell a few days off to ponder the conversation, which was the launchpad for hisrevival at the plate.
“If you want to know something, we know his door is open,” Bell said. “Go and ask him.”
Pirates assistant general manager Kyle Stark discovered he has a “tendency to keep pushing, and I would push too fast at someone. I needed to slow down,” he recalled. (Hurdle said he learned the same about himself.) Former Pirates pitcher Jared Hughes said the conversations with Hurdle led him to develop a better pregame routine and start keeping a handwritten journal. Before each series in the minors, Hughes said he was required to fill out a worksheet — “like homework,” he said — that forced him to jot down his strengths and weaknesses for the week.
Michael Ryan, manager of the Pirates’ Class AA affiliate Altoona Curve, chats with Hurdle by phone every Friday. Hurdle begins by inquiring about his wife and kids. Often, Hurdle asks: “What can I do for you today? What have you done for someone else today?”
His own memories and experiences are what Hurdle clings to most. As a kid, when he told his father that he loved him, the elder Hurdle had the same reply: “Me, too.” His father loved him, but Hurdle came to understand that men weren’t encouraged to show affection. Now, the elder Hurdle says, “I love you, son.”
Hurdle has married three times and divorced twice. He’s raising a 16-year-old child with special needs. He went from heralded prospect that didn’t pan out to a player who scratched and survived to hit .259 over 10 seasons. He has made three World Series appearances — two as a coach, one as a player — and he’s candid about his alcohol abuse. This year, he’s celebrating 20 years of sobriety.
“I share my emotions. I didn’t for a long time,” Hurdle said. “It’s one of the things that probably fueled my alcoholism. I internalized a lot. It has to come out somewhere. Now I share feelings with others, what I’m struggling with. Or what I call rocks in my shoe. I believe in a daily cleansing and reboot.”
Hurdle is part therapist, drawing on his own life so he can contemplate the source of his players’ courage, where they draw inspiration and where they’re most vulnerable. Common dilemmas for players: homesickness, dealing with time away from loved ones, boredom.
“Where’d you get your good judgment?” they’ve asked.
“Through bad judgment,” he says.
Players laugh and cringe when he tells them, “You’re going to be ex-players longer than players.” He encourages them to start a charitable foundation or volunteer. Take in an ups-and-downs meeting and you’ll also see that Hurdle wants to know which players have so-called “coins,” or hobbies, and which players have parents no longer alive.
It’s more than transparency. Hurdle is a seeker, reader and learner. One July afternoon, he grabbed a stack of notebooks on his desk. In “Pirate journals” he logs his days, compiling his emotions, storing his conversations. From this desk, he has drafted his six-days-per-week spiritual and motivational email newsletters with 10,000 combined subscribers, including some of his players and coaches. “Make a difference today. Love Clint,” he signs at the bottom.
Hurdle’s daily straightforwardness can be quite jarring at first. Sometimes, players want to hear one thing. Sometimes, they need to hear something else.
So, in trying to reassure them, he concludes each chat the same way.
“I love you,” he says.
Read more from The Post:
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
ESPN names Sidney Crosby NHL all-decade MVP
By Joshua Axelrod
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2019/08/20/ESPN-Sidney-Crosby-MVP-NHL-decade-Malkin-Kunitz-Kessel-Letang-Fleury/stories/201908200155
August 20, 2019
(Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)
Here’s some fuel for the next time you’re arguing with a Capitals fan over whether Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin is better.
ESPN on Tuesday gave Crosby the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP of the last decade. It was one of several accolades the three-time Stanley Cup champion received from the worldwide leader as part of its all-decade awards.
Crosby beat out runner-ups Ovechkin and Blackhawks wing Patrick Kane to take home all-decade top honors. As ESPN’s Emily Kaplan pointed out, Crosby has accumulated the most points (922) of any player since 2009-10 and is averaging the second-most points per game — 1.26, only trailing Oilers center Connor McDavid’s much smaller sample size of 1.30 — of anyone this decade.
She also brought up the fact Ovechkin has 100 more goals than any other player over the last decade, but Crosby’s overall numbers and championship resume earned him the all-decade MVP win.
Click on the article below to read the rest of the article:
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Steelers' Rocky Bleier continues to live his American dream
By Jeremy Fowler
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27399315/steelers-rocky-bleier-continues-live-american-dream
August 18, 2019
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Rocky Bleier isn't sure how his valiant story -- from Purple Heart honoree in the Vietnam War to four-time Super Bowl winner with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- would have played out had it happened this decade.
More media coverage, he figures. More opinions about the merits of war, thanks to social media.
And maybe even a Hollywood mega-star eager to portray him. "I probably could have gotten Dwayne Johnson to play me in a real movie," Bleier joked.
But Bleier wouldn't change a thing about a script he's still writing.
On a lazy Sunday in August 2019, Bleier is looking energized. The 73-year-old is wearing a tan Hawaiian shirt and black sunglasses, sipping wheat ale in a downtown Pittsburgh restaurant and generously chatting up random fans who approach him. Save a few knee surgeries and wiry gray hair, Bleier moves and acts like a 50-year-old, telling stories with the pace of a dive play up the middle for a quick 10 yards.
Those who know him wouldn't expect any less tenacity from a modest athlete who ascended from special-teams contributor to Franco Harris' lead blocker to owner of a 1,000-yard season with Pittsburgh.
"There's no one like him," said Hall of Famer Joe Greene, Bleier's teammate on the Steelers' famed 1970s teams. "He's special. He always captures your attention."
Just a year ago, though, it was a different story for Bleier. He visited Vietnam with ESPN to honor the 50-year anniversary of his tour there, returning to the spot where he absorbed an enemy rifle shot to the left thigh and grenade injury to his right leg and foot in a 1969 platoon ambush. He didn't eat much on the day of his return, so low blood sugar coupled with the raw emotion from the site dropped his blood pressure and he briefly passed out. After being attended to by ESPN producers, Bleier, as always, was quickly back on his feet.
There was a sense of closure in Vietnam that Bleier found, even though he didn't know he needed. Mostly, because he was too busy living his best life to ever wallow in it.
Also, the war was never something that Bleier kept from others, as we hear with so many other veterans. He decided decades ago he would openly discuss his experiences as therapy, and he turned that openness into a successful nationwide speaking engagement business. He's supported veterans by spreading the word about non-profit programs such as Veterans Guardian Angels Inc., designed to aid post-traumatic transitioning.
When he's not at a speaking engagement or running his Pittsburgh-based construction company, he might be starring in his one-man play, "Rocky Bleier's The Play," which he calls an intimate portrait of his multifaceted life as Super Bowl champion, wounded warrior, family man and community activist. The next show is in his hometown of Appleton, Wisc., in September. Sure, Bleier hustles for a financial cushion, but there's also that feeling of gratitude that continues to push him.
"Opportunities exist in life," Bleier said. "They come across your path. You have to at least explore them."
That approach has guided Bleier in a life that always seems to work out. As a 5-foot-10 16th-round pick, Bleier was hardly a lock to be a factor in Pittsburgh's offense. His odds worsened after being wounded in Vietnam, which required diligent rehab to both legs. In fact, he now admits today's game would probably phase him out, with increasingly little need for a blocking back without 4.4 speed. Yet Bleier's toughness and production earned a Steelers Hall of Honor nod, and despite countless collisions in the open field, he says he never suffered a concussion during his 11-year career.
Recently, Bleier started a series of Facebook videos to increase his social media platform, and last fall he ripped the Steelers organization for losing too many close games. "I'm done. I mean, they've ripped my heart out," Bleier said. "With the talent they have, how can they lose three out of their last four games, and in the manner they did?"
But he wasn't done. He tells the story of appearing at Heinz Field for pregame autographs when team president Art Rooney II approached him. "He said, 'I think we need to get you your own podcast,'" Bleier said with a smile.
Ben Roethlisberger said then that Bleier was "obviously entitled" to his opinion. Coach Mike Tomlin said he respected and appreciated Bleier's criticisms despite the ex-Steeler taking aim at him.
Bleier never had a passion bigger than football. He didn't want to run the family's bar business back in Appleton. He wasn't going to be a doctor or lawyer. He always loved the way a locker room united, and he's been trying to draw people together ever since.
"I use what I do best -- talk to people," Bleier said.
Greene sees the duality in Bleier, who was once so purple from head to toe after a game that teammates swore he wouldn't practice. When he did without complaint, "that set the tone for our football team," Greene said.
There's Bleier's deep desire to contribute, and his desire to laugh about how he did it. Bleier might take 30 minutes recalling a play that took 9-10 seconds, and his story might include a generous 36-inch leap on a reception (the vertical was more like 2 inches, Greene says, but that's not the point).
"Rocky had the ability to smile and laugh at himself, but he had the greatest admiration for other people," Greene said. "He can always see the better part of any given situation. And he can hold your attention."
Talking with veterans about their transitions appeals to Bleier, who wants them to know resources are available. Bleier considers his return to Vietnam important for the raw perspective of post-war trauma, but he has no desire to go back now. He mostly asks himself what the point of the war really was.
Nowadays, Bleier would rather adapt to his current surroundings, just like he says he would if he tried to make it onto a team in today's game, channeling his "Boulder Bleier" nickname from teammates for his penchant for weightlifting.
"I wouldn't be me," Bleier said. "I'd be 6-3, 225 pounds with more speed."
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Friday, August 16, 2019
Rocky Bleier: A true American hero
By Bryan Deardo
July 3, 2019
Rocky Bleier is more than just a Pittsburgh Steelers' legend. He's a military hero who nearly sacrificed his pro football career to help ensure the freedoms that Americans continue to enjoy today.
After helping Notre Dame win a national championship, Bleier was drafted by the Steelers in 1968. But in December of that year, after just 10 games in Pittsburgh, Bleier was drafted into the United States Army, and then volunteered to fight in the Vietnam War. In a matter of months, Rocky went from a NFL running back to a Specialist 4 in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.
On a mission in Vietnam on August 20, 1969, Rocky was searching for wounded comrades in a jungle when his platoon was ambushed. Bleier was hit during the ambush, suffering a bullet wound in his left leg and shrapnel from a grenade in his left leg.
Bleier was pulled to safety by a comrade, and later earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service and bravery.
"Fox hole prayers, you hear those a lot; those times where our backs are up against the wall," Bleier said. "From every conflict, there’s always been that one moment in time where you take a look at yourself, and you ask for the grace of God to be able to get you out of this situation."
Bleier survived that near fateful situation and returned to Pittsburgh a year after suffering his leg injuries in Vietnam. Aided by a cane and still in pain, Rocky began a grueling rehabilitation process that lasted two years. Despite not seeing any action for two more seasons and even being waived twice, Bleier continued to fight and improve, and by 1971, he resumed his NFL career.
"I never wanted to get to a place in my life where I’d look back and say ‘What if’. And I wanted to erase all of those ‘what ifs’, and especially in my case, coming back to play professional football," Bleier said.
By 1974, Bleier had earned a permanent place in the Steelers' starting backfield alongside Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris. Rocky played a pivotal role in Pittsburgh's first Super Bowl run, catching a touchdown pass in the Steelers' first playoff win over Buffalo, and then rushing for 98 yards a week later in Oakland. Along with helping Franco rumble for 158 yards, Rocky totaled 76 all-purpose yards in Super Bowl IX that included a key 17-yard run that set up the game-sealing touchdown in Pittsburgh's 16-6 triumph over Minnesota.
Harris and Bleier, the most successful running back-fullback combo in NFL history, became the second pair of teammates in NFL history to each rush for over 1,000 yards in a season in 1976. But it was a catch, not a run, that Bleier made in Super Bowl XIII that still lives on in Steelers' lore.
With the score tied late in the first half against Dallas, Bradshaw rolled right and found Bleier in the back of the end zone. Bleier's leaping catch over Dallas' D.D. Lewis not only graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, it was an inspirational play and one that gave the Steelers the lead for good in an eventual 35-31 victory.
By the end of his career, Rocky Bleier was regarded as one of the cornerstones of Pittsurgh's Super Bowl championship teams. More importantly, Bleier was revered and respected for his service to this country, and is still an example of what the military sacrifices on a daily basis to ensure our freedom to do things like play a football game.
"Like thousands of other young men during that conflict, there was no choice," Bleier said. "There was an obligation and a responsibility. As I reflect back, it was a turning part in my life. It was an important part in my life. I’m very proud to be a Vietnam veteran and I’m proud to have served in my military."
Rocky Bleier confronts his past in ESPN's 'The Return'
By Joshua Axelrod
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2019/08/13/Rocky-Bleier-ESPN-The-Return-Steelers-Vietnam-Rinaldi-Bradshaw-Harris/stories/201908130104
August 13, 2019
Rocky Bleier still isn’t used to being the center of attention, despite all he has accomplished in his documentary-worthy life.
“I think that the majority of people don’t know [my story], unless you’re an old Steelers fan,” he said. “I now am introduced to people outside of this area or even younger people in this area, and their parents or friends will say he played for the Steelers. I get that blank look, so then I have to put it in perspective.
“I go, ‘Listen, have you heard of Terry Bradshaw? Have you ever heard of Franco Harris? I’m the other guy.’ ”
Bleier’s story is about to be thrust into the national spotlight again due to “The Return,” a 30-minute documentary chronicling Bleier’s life from his days winning Super Bowls with the Steelers to him going back to the spot where he was injured as a soldier in Vietnam 50 years ago.
The full Tom Rinaldi-hosted documentary will debut on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20, with a shorter version airing as part of “SC Featured,” a weekly series on “SportsCenter” Aug. 17-18.
“It’s a very powerful story,” producer Jon Fish said. “It’s an important story. Rocky was wonderful sharing himself with us and being so open. … “[I]t was really great and it’s one of those stories you’re proud to be a part of.”
Bleier’s career as a running back included a college football national championship with Notre Dame in 1966 and four Super Bowl rings with the Steelers . His most famous play as a Steeler was a touchdown he caught in Super Bowl XIII that gave the Steelers a lead over the Dallas Cowboys they never relinquished.
The lesser known part of Bleier’s story involves his time in Vietnam. He was drafted into military service in 1968 and came home a year later after suffering a severe injury to his legs while on patrol in Vietnam’s Hiep Duc district. Bleier was shot through the thigh and suffered a grenade blast to his foot.
He was told he could never play football again, but Bleier worked his way back into health and form enough to help Franco Harris anchor the backfield during the Steelers’ dynastic run. In “The Return,” Bleier goes back to the place where he was hurt 50 years ago and tries to make sense of his experiences since and the Vietnam War itself.
Click on the link below to read the rest of the article:
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Rocky Bleier’s return to Vietnam gives new perspective
By Kevin Gorman
https://triblive.com/sports/kevin-gorman-rocky-bleiers-return-to-vietnam-gives-new-perspective/
August 12, 2019
When Rocky Bleier surveyed the open rice paddy at Hiep Duc in the Que Son Valley last August, the Pittsburgh Steelers great tried to visualize the differences of nearly five decades.
“Jesus Christ,” Bleier said, stopping in his tracks. “You think about those guys that got killed.”
Bleier sniffled, then started sobbing, his hands trembling.
“For what?”
Forty-nine years to the day he was wounded by gunshot and grenade shrapnel, Bleier’s return to Vietnam brought an emotional breakdown he never anticipated.
Bleier’s raw vulnerability — and the unexpected, dramatic moment that followed — was captured by a camera crew and makes for a powerful scene in the SC Featured documentary, “The Return.”
“All of a sudden, I had this overwhelming sense of emotion that I really couldn’t put a finger on of why or what took place,” Bleier told the Tribune-Review on Friday. “What I felt was this complete sense of waste — not loss, but waste. Why? Fifty-nine thousand died in Vietnam, for what? That was my justification or reason why it was overpowering. And I still feel that now.”
Regarded as one of the “grittiest players” on the Super Steelers of the 1970s, Bleier had been adamant beforehand that he carried no emotional scars — only to be moved to tears.
“You knew his demeanor going into that. He was like, ‘I don’t know if there’s anything there but we’ll see,’ ” said Jon Fish, who directed and produced “The Return.”
“As a filmmaker, we were just willing to roll the cameras and see what happens. … When it happened, it was really powerful. It was just really powerful, and we just let it happen.”
“The Return” is scheduled to air a shortened version on SportsCenter this weekend and the full 30-minute documentary on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. Aug. 20. That coincides with the 50th anniversary of the mission by 33 men from Charlie Company 4th Battalion (Light), 31st Infantry 196th Light Infantry Brigade to recover the bodies of nine soldiers killed in an ambush. Four more soldiers died, and 25 others, including Bleier, were wounded when they emerged from a wooded trail to face enemy fire in that open field in Hiep Duc.
Bleier was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart after he was shot in the left thigh, lost part of his right foot and took shrapnel in both legs. The documentary, reported by ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, is a moving tribute to Bleier interrupting his NFL career to serve in the Vietnam War and his courageous comeback.
“No one told me no,” Bleier said, simply.
Not that he would have listened anyway.
“How can you not admire Rocky Bleier?” Terry Bradshaw said. “He had a dream, and he wasn’t going to quit on it. That’s the kind of people you want to play with.”
The storytelling is splendid, from scenes of the Steelers winning four Super Bowls to Bleier’s touchdown catch against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The interviews, from Art Rooney and Joe Greene to Bradshaw and especially Franco Harris, are incredible. Fish found it amazing that almost everyone he interviewed connected to Pittsburgh is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
While Bleier’s story was a worthy subject on its own, what makes it powerful is the depth it delves into finding fellow soldiers from the Vietnam War, including one who fought for the Viet Cong. Where Bleier initially downplayed the idea, one that was a decade in the making, it gave him a new perspective.
“For people that knew the story, this is a new layer to it. For people that didn’t know the story, they’re blown away. That’s the wonderful thing about the story,” Fish said.
“Rocky Bleier now is the same Rocky Bleier who came back after being wounded to make the Pittsburgh Steelers. The essence of him then is the same as now: We’re going to come back, and we’re going to finish this story. You see the power and inner strength that he has, that started the story way back when. Years later, he’s the same person.”
Except that Bleier isn’t. He admits the visit to Vietnam — something he never felt a desire to do – changed him for the better. That was especially true when, a month after returning, he was inducted into the Steelers’ Hall of Honor. It made him realize how blessed he was to survive and succeed.
“That’s what we all want, to be recognized for your contribution along the way,” Bleier said. “It doesn’t mean you need to be in the Hall of Fame or an All-Pro, just that somebody recognizes that you put time and effort in and you played on a team that allowed you to be in position to win four Super Bowls.
“It’s not you. It’s that conglomeration of you and the owners, coaches and players you got to be part of. Hopefully, you can look back and say, ‘I made a difference in the lives of my kids, community, church, marriage’ or whatever it may be. That becomes essential, that you did something worthwhile.”
What is most essential to Bleier is those who watch “The Return” can make sense of the senseless by starting a conversation that will help them find their own closure toward the Vietnam War, which has touched all of our lives, whether that’s through a family member or a friend.
“Unlike the majority of Vietnam veterans at that time, who came back to a hostile environment here in the States and weren’t appreciated for their service — and they had nobody to talk to or talk about and had to suppress their feelings — I came back and became a story,” Bleier said. “That was somewhat of a catharsis for me, that I had to talk about those feelings and everything that had taken place. And I’ve been telling that story for 50 years.”
“The Return” tells Bleier’s story in a new way, with a moment of weakness actually showing his strength.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email atkgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Sports | Steelers | Kevin Gorman Columns | The Buzz | Top Stories
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