dave sutor

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – If Rocky Bleier had been a Purple Heart recipient who never played professional football, he still would have been admired in the Johnstown region for the sacrifices he made for his country.

And if Bleier had only been a four-time Super Bowl champion with the gritty, blue-collar 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, without ever serving a day in the military, he still would have been a beloved local sports figure.

But he did both.

And when you put those shiny rings together with that distinguished medal, you get a man who Jean Desrochers, 1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial’s general manager, referred to as “a true American badass.”

On Friday, Bleier told stories from his life in the Army and the National Football League during a banquet hosted by the Johnstown Tomahawks hockey team to raise money for the arena’s Veterans Committee.

Bleier started the event by recalling his days in the military and paying tribute to folks who support local veterans.

“Obviously, veterans’ issues are very important to me, having been a veteran myself, especially during that period of time where, we’re old enough, going through the Vietnam era and then the return of those service people … that unfortunately were tied to the conflict, rather than to the service to his country, and were looked down upon and not given recognition,” Bleier told a packed house at the Holiday Inn Johnstown-Downtown.

“Because (of) the fact that I had the opportunity to come back into a high-profile industry, at least I could be somewhat of a spokesperson for the veterans’ issues thereafter.”

Bleier joined the Steelers in 1968, playing one season before being drafted into the Army and sent off to the Vietnam War. He was injured by gunfire and grenade shrapnel, causing leg damage so severe that he was told his football career was over.

He received a message soon thereafter from the Steelers’ owner.

“I got a postcard in the mail, simple postcard, and it had two lines on it,” Bleier said. “It said this: ‘Rock, team’s not doing well. We need you. – Art Rooney.’ Somebody needed me. Now, he didn’t really need me. But somebody took the time to care, and it’s the impact that we have on people and one another that really makes a difference.”

Bleier returned to the NFL, playing from 1971 to 1980. He regaled the audience with stories from his playing days, including the Immaculate Reception, which he said “was the start of a belief system that we could be in the big game and we had the personnel to be able to do that. That became very, very important for us.”

And he recalled greeting Rooney in the locker room after the Steelers won their first world championship in Super Bowl IX.

“I was the first one to get to hug him and thank him for getting us there,” Bleier said.

Bleier looked back on his college days, too, when he played alongside Johnstown’s Pete Duranko at Notre Dame, winning the 1966 national championship.

“Those stories that you have heard about Pete are all true,” Bleier said. “He was a character. He was funny. He had a great, great, great sense of humor all the way.”

Bleier provided some thoughts about the Steelers’ future following the retirement of longtime franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, leaving Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins as the only quarterbacks on the current roster.

“(Getting a free agent) may happen, but it’s got to be the right deal and the right person to fit within the organization here with the Steelers,” Bleier said. “They won’t draft a quarterback No. 1, No. 2. They might pick up a quarterback (in the) fourth, fifth round, depending on who’s around. But, if not, they’ll stay with who they’ve got and build an offense around it, build a running game, build an offensive line. They have to do that. That becomes really the most important thing, rather than the quarterback.”

Bleier also spent time signing autographs and talking with fans. He received several gifts, including items from Tony Penna Jr., owner of Main Street Hobby.

“We bought a collection and we got some of his personal effects, which was a baby picture and a (religious) record,” Penna said. “We got some really cool stuff. … I just figured some of this stuff was a little too intimate not to give back to him.”

Money from the event will go to the Veterans Committee to help in its mission to pay tribute to local veterans at the War Memorial.

“We’re certainly appreciative,” Veterans Committee Chairman Marty Kuhar said. “We’re excited, just like anybody, to have Rocky Bleier come in and to have him be part of the idea of raising money for us. We’ll use it between our landscaping for the veterans’ monument down there at the park, or the museum, all the things that we do. We’re certainly excited. We can always use the money.”

Bleier dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Tomahawks game against the Jamestown Rebels as 2,095 fans watched. He signed autographs for a long line of fans well into the third period of the North American Hockey League contest.