Rocky Bleier

I think it's no secret that I am a HUGE Steelers fan. That being said I admit I'm not quite as well versed in Steelers history as I probably should be. Pathetically enough when we went to Pittsburgh for Father's Day and my Dad bought us tickets to hear Rocky Blier speak my first question was "who is he?". Well after learning his story I now feel like a moron that I didn't know who he was. Have you had the experience where you read a book, watch a movie or hear someone talk about their life and you think "why doesn't every person know this story???"...Well that was me listening to Rocky Bleier. Even if he hadn't been a professional football player his story would be incredible. He went to Notre Dame on a football scholarship and was drafted by the Steelers out of college. He played for almost 1 full year before being drafted again, but this time by the Army for Vietnam. He went over and served where he received a bullet through his thigh and had a grenade explode and tear off a good chunk of his leg. The injuries were obviously very severe. His doctor told him that while he'd make a full recovery and live a normal life there would be no way he could ever go back to playing football. This was the point (it's hard for me to believe) when the Steelers were a perennial bottom feeder in the league. While he was in the hospital Mr. Rooney sent him a postcard saying "Our team sucks, we need you back!" Rocky talked about how that was one of those motivational moments that came at the right time for him.  He received a purple heart for his injuries and they sent him on his way. Very luckily for him the Steelers agreed to give him a chance. It took a few years of rehab but eventually he made it back onto the team. At one point though when things were looking pretty bleak he actually took a job selling Insurance in Chicago. One of his teammates called him and said "Look you have to come back and if the coaches cut you, fine, but at least you won't have cut yourself". Luckily Rockey listened to that advice because as history will tell he became what we would now call a tailback for Franco Harris. They became one of the first duos to each rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season. Rocky ended up with 4 super bowl rings and a storied career. It's a story that almost ended prematurely at many different points. While his life was played out on a bigger screen than most of ours are it was still a learning experience for me. As a musician I have certainly had moments of sincere doubt about the path I'm on and it was inspirational to hear how someone else persevered through and came out successfully on the other side.

He did write a book about all this (again, how did I *not* know this!) and I highly recommend checking it out if you can get your hands on a copy. Here is a link to his site where he sells autographed copies:
http://www.rockybleier.com/store/product/listing

After his talk Rocky kindly took time to autograph memoriabila and take pictures. He brought all 4 of his Super Bowl rings and let us try them on!!! We were also blessed because they did an auction of Rocky Bleier posters and while we didn't initially win one of my Dad's friends did and he didn't want it so he gave it to us! Kris and I are excited to get that framed and hang it in our new place.

As Kris said...now something is crossed off his bucket list that he didn't even know was on it!