(This is the 3rd installment of a 5 part series on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bill Nunn Jr. from the upcoming book “Portrait of Eternity; The Life and Journey of Bill Nunn Jr.,” by Aubrey Bruce.)
“In The Sweet Bye and Bye”
It hit me like a ton of bricks. This would be the final time that the body of Bill Nunn Jr. would rest where the sunlight could adorn his physical being, alive or deceased. This would be his last worship service as part of the congregation of Grace Presbyterian Church.
The sanctuary adorned “sugartop” almost like a 6 feet tall crystal angel sitting atop a 60 feet tall Christmas tree. In case that there may be a few of you who aren’t aware, the name ‘sugartop” is the nickname for the area located in Pittsburgh named Schenley Heights, where the church is located.
The neighborhood remains a bastion for most of the “old money” made over the past 100 years by the elite African-American families that reside there. It was an overcast day with the threat of rain looming when my friend and I, photographer Thomas Sabol (no not the NFL Sabols) arrived at the church. I had suggested to Tom that we get there no later than 9:30 a.m. because the service was scheduled to begin at 11a.m. and if we turn up any later than 90 minutes before the memorial began chances were that we would have to park and walk a significant distance to and from the church.
The first person that I encountered when I arrived at the almost empty church was Doug Whaley a part of the Bill Nunn Jr., Art Rooney II and the Steelers “genealogy” now the GM of the Buffalo Bills. Whaley worked in the Steelers personnel and scouting department for the Black and “Yellow” for over a decade in preparation for his current position. Also, one of the other disciples from the Bill Nunn “tree” was Kelvin Fischer who left the Steelers scouting department, joining up with Whaley in Buffalo. That is what makes the Steelers so unique. Their “thumb print” is all over the NFL.
The Rooney family generally does not hesitate to give their blessing to those that have served them well and are about to move on to bigger things; not necessarily better, but bigger as far as personal and professional aspirations are concerned. Anyway, another “sacred son” of Mr. Nunn who might possibly be his most famous charge was an early arrival at the church as well and that was former defensive tackle “mean” Joe Greene.
Greene has mellowed into a graceful and humble man considering his NFL Hall-of-Fame status and also taking into account the many offensive lineman assigned to compete against him have now been elected to the “hall-of-shame.”
See folks Bill Nunn Jr. may be absent physically but the seeds that he planted will go on and on. I don’t care what most folks say or believe, there is and has been a genuine friendship and partnership between the Rooney family and the Nunn family. At the memorial service Art Rooney II said sometimes through a voice choking with emotion that, “I first got to know Bill back in 1967 when he first started working for the team. Bill III and I were ball boys at training camp. Bill Jr. was our boss. I guess it’s fair to say that being our boss was not the easiest part of his job, I’ll leave it at that.
Change was in the air at that point. We all could feel it, change was happening in our country. The civil rights movement was growing. Less obvious at the time was that change was coming to the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Art Rooney II probably didn’t realize it at the time that his father, Dan Rooney and the Pittsburgh Steelers would not just react to change; they themselves would be “change.”
