How the Steelers underhandedly drafted John Stallworth in 1974

Everyone knows the Steelers had one of the best drafts of any NFL team in 1974, drafting four eventual NFL Hall of Fame Players.

There is a back story within the 1974 draft and what many people do not know is that within the scouting process, the Steelers hoodwinked the NFL in drafting their 4th-round selection John Stallworth, thanks to the help of Bill Nunn. John Stallworth in an interview on NFL Channel radio tonight on SiriusXM explained how Bill Nunn tricked the NFL into allowing them to draft one of the most prolific wide receivers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Bill Nunn started as a sports writer going back to the 1950s. He did have one claim to fame within the time frame: selecting the Black College All-American football team for the Pittsburgh Courier. The Courier was a weekly African American publication in Pittsburgh. In his position with the Courier, Nunn had a wealth of scouting information on many of the players at the smaller Black colleges, which most other writers and NFL teams had largely ignored.

His work did not go unnoticed. It caught the eye of someone very influential in Pittsburgh, and that happened to be Dan Rooney. In 1968 Dan Rooney offered Bill Nunn a job as a college scout with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The rest, they say, is history.

How the Steelers and Bill Nunn Hoodwikned the NFL in 1974

With his inside knowledge of the Black colleges, the Steelers drafted L.C. Greenwood from Arkansas AM&N, Mel Blount from Southern, and Dwight White from Texas A&M, to name a few, but the complete list is way more extensive.

Nonetheless, we get to 1974 and what happened with John Stallworth is perhaps one of the best, if not underhanded tricks ever orchestrated by an NFL scout. As Stallworth explained in his interview, some NFL teams besides the Steelers scouted him. At his pro day, he ran his 40 time. However, it was in the rain. It was nothing spectacular, and most scouts went their merry way, except for Bill Nunn. Nunn stayed in town an extra day, thinking Stallworth was capable of a faster 40 time. The second 40-time trial had a veil of secrecy. Nunn was the only attendee with no other NFL scouts present.

No one knows the result of the second 40-yard dash; however, it must have been fairly impressive. Chuck Noll wanted to draft Stallworth before the 4th round yet was advised to wait. So he waited until the 4th round.

As explained by Stallworth, the story from there had Nunn being even more devious. After the 2nd running, he acquired nearly all available game film on Stallworth. Once he got the game film, he managed to hold that back from every other NFL scout. As a result, no NFL team had a sufficient scouting report on John Stallworth; thus, everyone passed on him. Then finally, in the 4th round, Chuck Noll finally pulled the trigger and had two future NFL Hall of Fame wide receivers.

Of course, when it came to John Stallworth, Nunn might have pulled the wool over the eyes of the rest of the NFL. However, he also managed to convince an undrafted free agent after the conclusion of the 1974 draft. Perhaps you are familiar with this player, Donnie Shell?

Nunn could find talent where the rest of the NFL could not, allowing the Steelers to become one of the NFL’s first true juggernauts dominating the NFL in the 70s like no other team in NFL history. If it meant subterfuge, so be it; no one from Pittsburgh will ever complain.