The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
HANS KOLLER FROM FREDONIA, PA: In a recent Asked and Answered you said the 1979 Steelers Super Bowl XIV team was the first and only team to win a Super Bowl with no players who had played for another team. Who were players in the first 3 Super Bowls who played for other teams and did they make any significant contributions to the team?
ANSWER: I'm not certain this is a complete list of all of the players on the first 3 Super Bowl teams of the 1970s who were not homegrown Steelers, but it's a list of a half-dozen of the more prominent ones.
• Frenchy Fuqua started his NFL career with the New York Giants before coming to the Steelers and winning 2 Super Bowls (IX and X). He's most remembered for his role in the Immaculate Reception.
• Roy Gerela's first team was the Houston Oilers. He was the placekicker in Super Bowls IX, X, and XIII.
• Jim Mandich was a tight end for Miami in the early 1970s when the Dolphins won 2 Super Bowls and then won another with the Steelers in Super Bowl XIII.
• Ray Mansfield, the starting center in Super Bowls IX and X, began his career in Philadelphia where he played some defensive line. Mansfield, Andy Russell, Sam Davis, Rocky Bleier and Bobby Walden were the 5 Steelers on the team before Chuck Noll was hired in 1969 and lasted long enough to make it to a Super Bowl.
• Preston Pearson was a HB who began his career with the Baltimore Colts before being traded to the Steelers, who then traded him to Dallas when Chuck Noll decided to go with Rocky Bleier and Franco Harris as his starting backfield. Pearson won Super Bowl IX with the Steelers, and he played against the Steelers in Super Bowls X and XIII as a member of the Cowboys.
• Bobby Walden was a punter with the Vikings before he came to the Steelers and stuck around long enough to win Super Bowls IX and X.
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STEPHEN DESANTO FROM NICEVILLE, FL: Last week ESPN NFL Analyst Adam Schefter reported a possible trade sending Dolphins' WR Jaylen Waddel to the Steelers. Has there been any more information given on the possible trade?
ANSWER: The NFL trading deadline expired at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and that rumored trade never happened. If you're asking me why it didn't happen, I would surmise one of the teams balked at the terms being proposed. That is, if it ever even got that far.
RON HALL FROM BRACKNEY, PA: In the Nov. 9 edition of Asked and Answered, in regard to the question about Chris Boswell's intentional out of bounds kickoff penalty and the better field position result, I take it that is not a decline-option penalty?
ANSWER: If a kicking team purposely kicks the ball out of bounds, and the receiving team declines the penalty then where would the ball be placed? If it had to be a re-kick, what happens if the kicking team intentionally kicks it out of bounds again? See where I'm going here? It has to be a penalty that cannot be declined.
TODD TITSWORTH FROM METROPOLIS, IL: With all the stupid questions asked of coaches on the field at halftime or at the end of games, I was wondering if it's mandatory that they speak to the media?
ANSWER: Those interviews are set up by the network broadcasting the game and are a part of the rights fees that network is paying. So in the case of the NFL, the network is paying the league as part of its multi-million dollar contract to broadcast the games, and that money is divided among the 32 teams equally. It's part of a coach's job.
LARS RASMUSSEN FROM COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: With Thanksgiving approaching I was wondering how often the Steelers have played on Thanksgiving Day, and what is their record? And is playing on Thanksgiving something the players hope for or hope to avoid?
ANSWER: The Steelers have played 8 times on Thanksgiving Day and are 2-6 in those games. They lost at Philadelphia in 1939; lost in Philadelphia in 1940; won in Chicago vs, the Cardinals in 1950; lost in Detroit in 1983; lost in Dallas in 1991; lost in overtime in Detroit in 1998; lost in Baltimore in 2013; and won in Indianapolis in 2016. Players generally don't like any Thursday games because of the short week and the stress it puts on their bodies, and since Thanksgiving is on a Thursday I imagine most players are not excited about that "honor."
GRANT SPELLERBERG FROM CUTLER BAY, FL: Now that we are halfway through the season I believe it is clear that trading away George Pickens was a huge mistake. DK Metcalf has not shown any ability to get open and make plays. So far this season I think he has maybe two explosive plays. Your thoughts?
ANSWER: I don't know how many explosive plays George Pickens has authored so far in 2025, but he has been fined at least 4 times by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct and paid around $52,000 for those transgressions. He was fined twice in Week 2 vs. the Giants; $17,389 for taunting in a game vs. Arizona; $11,593 for taunting in a game vs. Washington. In addition he has drawn in-game penalty flags for this kind of conduct. For a guy who will be hitting free agency in March, Pickens seems to be sabotaging himself in the quest of a big-money, long-term contract as an unrestricted free agent.
BOB WALKER FROM BRENTWOOD, TN: Did Coach Chuck Noll let his quarterbacks call the plays during the 1970s? Was that a common practice among all teams at that time?
ANSWER: I was a high school student for a hunk of the 1970s, so I cannot speak for the entire league. But Chuck Noll allowed his quarterbacks to call their own plays, and Dallas Coach Tom Landry did not.
JON DOSSEY FROM BILLINGS, MT: In the game vs. the Chargers, a defender ran into the path of DK Metcalfe and knocked him to the ground. The rules analyst tried to clarify the non-call of pass interference with what sounded a lot like the charge vs. block foul in basketball. Could you help to clarify why this was not interference or at least illegal contact?
ANSWER: Sorry, but I cannot. I thought it should have been a penalty and also came away from that "explanation" thinking it made no sense.
JAMES STANLEY FROM SARASOTA, FL: I was lucky enough to have my question about Will Howard answered by you in the Oct. 19, 2025, edition of Asked and Answered. First off thank you for your response, but I didn't save it immediately thinking I could always go back to see it any time. But the Oct. 19 Asked and Answered isn't available anymore. Can you please find a way to send it to me or put it back up?
ANSWER: You have your dates confused because there was no Asked and Answered on Oct. 19. Oct. 19 was a Sunday, and even though there typically is an installment of Asked and Answered on the day of a Steelers game, there was no game that day because the team had played on the previous Thursday night in Cincinnati. I suggest you re-check the Asked and Answered archive on Steelers.com.
BRUCE THOMAS FROM FURNACE RUN, PA. Are officials able to change their positions during a game or during the season, or is it a case of once a line judge always a line judge? And the recording of a man announcing, "third down" during games at Acrisure Stadium – is it the same person/recording for all NFL teams?
ANSWER: There are 7 on-field officials for every NFL game, and their roles within the crew do not change over the course of a game or over the course of a season. Each job within the crew has its distinct assignments and areas of the field to cover, and the idea is that keeping that consistent lends itself to better officiating. The man who announces, "third down" at Acrisure Stadium is public address announcer Larry Richert. I don't know who does it at other stadiums, but I know it isn't Larry.
