Tunch Ilkin - In the Locker Room: Tales of the Pittsburgh Steelers from the Playing Field to the Broadcast Booth

To my father, Mehmet Ilkin, for having the courage to leave everything behind in Turkey and come to America. From this great man and very hard worker who was fearless, I learned so much about what it means to be a man.

Tunch Ilkin

In memory of my Uncle Tom and in honor of my Uncle Will. They would have loved sitting with Tunch, as I did, and listening to his stories.

Scott Brown

Contents

Introduction

A Thursday night game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans in 2017 reminded me why I love this game. It is because of the relationships.

That crisp November night at Heinz Field, I saw my ex-teammate and road roommate Mike Mularkey, who was head coach of the Titans. I saw my ex-teammate Keith Willis, who was an assistant defensive line coach for the Titans. I saw my ex-teammate Edmund Nelson, who is working for the NFL. I was with Craig Wolfley, my best friend and ex-teammate, as part of the Steelers radio broadcast.

I also saw two of my ex-coaches, Tony Dungy, who was down on the field for NBC, and Dave McGinnis, an analyst for the Titans radio broadcasts who was the defensive backs coach at Indiana State when I played there. Unlike the others, I ran into McGinnis, a former NFL head coach, in the press box. It was great seeing him and it was really similar to what had happened on the field when I saw the others.

I hadnt seen many of them for a very long time, but we picked up our relationship as if no time had elapsed. It was great talking to Keith and Edmund. We traded old war stories, reminisced about playing for Chuck Noll and how tough practices were. And we talked about battles. Keith and I battled every day in practicethree times a week in full padslike it was a game and we both brought out the best in each other. I can honestly say that games were easy after practicing against Keith. He made me the player I became because of the iron sharpening. Proverbs 27:17 says, As iron sharpens iron, so shall one man sharpen another. Keith was that iron sharpener for me as a football player. The friendship that we developed because of that is still so close that we were hugging each other and telling each other that we love one another and that we really need to get together.

That is the essence of a football team. Something magical happens when you spend that much time with 45 guyswhen you laugh together, when you cry together, when you win together, when you lose together, and when you bleed together. There is a bond that forms that is very hard if not impossible to separate. There is such a closeness that develops that you are friends forever. If you ask players who have retired what they miss most about the game, 99 out of 100 will tell you they miss the guys, they miss the relationships. Thats what we had on the Pittsburgh Steelers in my 13 seasons with the team.

There is a book by Stu Weber, a pastor based in Oregon, called Locking Arms , and its about male relationships. The ones who played in the NFL remember the Super Bowls and Pro Bowls, but they talk about the tough times, the battles. There is a depth to those relationships, a closeness that develops through the crucible of tough times and pressure.

Talking to Tony we were reminded how hard Chuck worked us and how so many coaches wouldnt have done that. I recalled a story by Dwain Painter, our wide receivers coach, who actually said to Chuck one day during the season: You know, Coach, were working them really hard. Dont you think we should go without pads one of these days, just to give them a break? Chuck gave Painter that steely stare that could make you lose bladder control and said, Do you ever watch the game of football? Paint said, Of course I do. Chuck said, You noticed they play with pads, dont they? That was the end of the conversation.

As I talked to Tony and Keith and Edmund and Wolf, we all laughed and told stories and it was just a great reunion, and thats what we called it: a reunion. Then I saw Mike, who became my roommate after Wolf left for Minnesota during free agency. I remember Mularkey was thinking about retiring and I talked him out of it. I said, If you retire, who am I going to hang out with? We always laugh because he had surgery after hurting his back that season and joke that it was because I made him come back. But we talked about old times as well, and I told him how much I admire him and the way he coaches. One thing Mike has always said is that Coach Noll had a tremendous influence on the way he coaches. Coach Noll had a tremendous influence on the way that Tony coached, too. Coach Noll has a tremendous influence on all of us in our lives so many years after we played for him. Each one of us recalled Chuck-isms, things that he used to say. Even when I see Steelers inside linebackers coach Jerry Olsavsky, another former teammate of mine, at practice we talk about what Chuck saidSame foot, same shoulder, rising blowand on and on.

I ran into Dave in the press box dining room. He had retired after a long coaching career and was on a beach in California when the Titans called him and asked him to be the color man on their radio network. He was broadcasting just like I was, and we embraced and just kept going back to one another after the game to talk about old times, to renew old friendships, to talk about guys we had coached with and played with and how they were doing. It was a lovefest, it really was.

It may sound weird, but when you are in that kind of relationship, you develop a genuine love for one another. Coach McGinnis was one of the first guys who really believed in me when I was playing at Indiana State University. My senior year Dave said, Tunch, my roommate at SMU was Guy MorrissGuy had been the center for the Philadelphia Eagles for many, many yearsAnd Tunch, youre better than Guy Morriss was at this stage of your career and youll do well in the National Football League. I remember thinking to myself, Wow, he believes in me. That kind of encouragement really spurred me on to be better than I thought I could be. Just seeing him that night, it was hard to say good-bye.

This book is ultimately about relationships. Its a book about locking arms. Its a book about teammates and the love they have for one another. And its a book about football. In todays day and age with all of the controversy surrounding head injuries, its almost like the NFL has become vilified. Let me tell you something: the NFL has been a great place to grow into manhood. I am thankful for every coach who I played for and every teammate Ive ever had for the impact that theyve had on my life.

I think were trying to make it seem like football is evil. Its a physical, nasty sport, but its had a huge impact on my life. I let my boys play and Id have no problem with my grandsons playing. If I could have played for the money they make today, I would have liked that, but I loved playing in our era. It was much more fun. It was much more gladiatorial. It was much more intense. I loved the fact that what you did on a football fieldif you did it on the street, youd be thrown in jail. To me the intensity, the one-on-one battles, every day your manhood was challenged. I loved that. I think it helped me grow as a man. I loved my teammates. I loved my coaches. I also think that because there was no free agency in our day, we were closer because we were all together.

We couldnt afford houses all over the country, so we hung out together. Anything we did, we did together. Every Monday a group of us did something together. We rode dirt bikes or three-wheelersChuck would have had a conniption if he knew we were out ridingor went target shooting. We genuinely liked being with one another.