Earlier this week, before the NFL Draft started, legendary Steelers scout, Bill Nunn, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was a historical moment as he became the first Black Contributor enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame history.
Nunn, along with eight others, were enshrined in a special ceremony, “Hall of Famer Forever” in Canton, OH.
“It’s still a little bit surreal for Bill to get recognized like this,” said Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert. “Tonight, we will finally come to the realization of how great an honor this is and how great an honor it was to know and work with a man like Bill Nunn. Until you really see it happen, it’s not a real feel, but you are picking that up now.
“Bill meant everything to the Steelers organization. It’s been documented, the players he was instrumental in bringing to the Steelers and the success they had. We as young scouts were fortunate to be around Bill and try and learn things they implemented when they put those teams together. There were a lot of lessons being taught to us.”
Nunn started his career with the Steelers as part-timer in 1967 in the personnel department. Two years later he became a full-time staff member and worked with the team until 2014. In May of that year, he passed away at the age of 89.
Bill Nunn was a sports writer at heart, eventually becoming the managing editor of The Pittsburgh Courier, one of the most influential Black publications in America at the time. He was well known for his connection to HBCU football, something the team greatly benefitted from during their decade of Super Bowl victories in the 70s. Starting in 1950, he personally selected the annual Black College America Football Team for the Courier. At that time, HBCU’s were rife with pro-football-ready talent, and Nunn was the conduit to these players.
The list of HBCU legends that he helped draft for the Steelers includes L.C. Greenwood (Arkansas AM&N), Mel Blount (Southern), Frank Lewis (Grambling State), Dwight White (Texas A&M-Commerce), Ernie Holmes (Texas Southern), Joe Gilliam (Tennessee State), John Stallworth (Alabama A&M), and Donnie Shell (South Carolina State). Blount, Stallworth, and Shell are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and now they’re joined by Nunn.
Nunn’s influence as an HBCU football expert was used by teams before he worked for the Steelers.
In 1952, Wellington Mara, the owner of the Giants, allegedly told the team to draft Roosevelt Brown from Morgan State because of Nunn’s All-America list. Brown became a dominant tackle for the team and, in 1975, become the second lineman ever to be elected to the Hall of Fame. In 1961, he told the Rams about a defensive player from Mississippi Vocational College named David Jones. They selected him and he terrorized quarterbacks for the next 14 seasons. He was credited as the man who coined the term “sack” before the league started recording the statistic. David Jones was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980, but everyone knows him as Deacon Jones.
For his decades of work in HBCU football, Nunn was enshrined as a member of the Inaugural Class of the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
“Bill’s contributions to the Steelers were extraordinary over the 46 years he was part of the organization,” said Steelers President Art Rooney II. “He was a special person who was a close friend and mentor before his passing in 2014. His lessons and stories are still evident in our everyday work.”
“Congratulations to a true legend, Bill Nunn, and to the entire Nunn family on his enshrinement tonight in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Special man and a special family.” tweeted Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin.
Now Bill Nunn made the Pro Football Hall of Fame a little more special.
