Why a Steelers return to Saint Vincent College in 2022 is important

Some things go well together. Bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, and of course, Steelers football and St. Vincent College

If you have not heard the news, the Steelers announced that they are finally returning to St. Vincent College for training camp after a two-year absence. It may not seem like a huge deal for many Steelers fans, especially those living outside of Pennsylvania; it’s just training camp. To a degree, it’s true. However, it matters for the fans who live in Pittsburgh and the Alumni of St. Vincent College.

The Steelers had their first training camp at St. Vincent College in 1966. Oddly enough, it sparked a change in the team. After starting in 1966, they hired Chuck Noll three years later, then began drafting players who generally ended their careers in Canton, Ohio. In that time frame, they went from the loveable losers of the NFL to one of the winningest franchises. Now it’s become more of a tradition than anything else.

While the tradition makes it special, fan’s like it for other reasons. Unlike a few other teams, perhaps, St. Vincent College has a small campus compared to other colleges. When the Steelers began there in 1966, St. Vincent’s did not even have a football team as the school discontinued it as a varsity sport. Thus the school did not even have a football facility for the Steelers, just the large empty field where the school used to play its games. As a varsity sport, football did not return to St. Vincent’s until 2007.

The lack of a football facility and a small campus allowed an intimate interaction between fans and players. Fans watched the Steelers practice close up; they could consistently score autographs or meet their favorite players and get memorable photos. It also led to special memories for the players as well.

In a discussion with him, Frenchy Fuqua nicknamed St. Vincent College night of the living dead after the horror movie of the same name. Why? If you have never been there, directly behind the upperclassmen dorms is a vast cemetery with graves going back to the 1800s, literally 200 feet from the dorm entrances. Not everyone does well being that close to a graveyard that late at night.

For St. Vincent alumni going to the same school that the Steelers have training camp is a matter of pride, if anything else. It’s something you can lay claim to other college alumni can not. Thus, as a student at St. Vincent between 1987and 1991, taking courses during the summer meant going on campus to professors to go over course work.

Of course, the Steelers were also in the middle of training camp at that time. One afternoon having arrived on campus close to noon, the morning practice had ended. The players had all headed to lunch or rested until they held the afternoon practice, which most fans attended. All of the players headed from the dorms to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. Needing to traverse the section of campus between the Dorms and cafeteria well, the first person you run into is Myron Cope. Then you have a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Chuck Noll happened to be heading to lunch.

Whereas some coaches might have ignored you, in this instance, Coach Noll took the time to engage, even if it was a short-lived conversation. Having said something like, “hope we get a Superbowl this year, Coach,” He smiled in the way Chuck usually smiled, responding, “sounds like a good plan to me.”

After meeting the professor in the cafeteria, who also happened to be there? Spying from afar across the cafeteria was Joe Gibbs. Washington had come up to have an unofficial scrimmage with the Steelers, and he was getting something to was as well. After going over course work and then having some extra time, the next stop was outside the gymnasium. The reason why is that all of the players would pass as they headed back to the upperclassman dorms. Along came Bubby Brister, then defensive line coach Joe Greene, and Rod Woodson, to name a few.

Not everyone has memories like this; however, this is what makes St. Vincent College special for the players and fans, and alumni. With the craziness we all experienced in the last three years, the Steelers are finally getting back to the basics and a sense of normalcy.