Ernie Stautner

Early life

Stautner was born on April 20, 1925, in Prienzing near Cham, Bavaria in Germany. Stautner's family immigrated to Albany or nearby East Greenbush, New York, when he was three years old. He attended Columbia High School and the Vincentian Institute. He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II (1943–46). At age 17, he fought in the Battle of Okinawa.

College career

After the war, he enrolled at Boston College, where he was a four-year starter as an offensive and defensive tackle, and was selected All-New England and All-Catholic. He was a third-team Central Press All American in 1948. He also handled the team's kickoff and extra point duties. One of his teammates was future Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Donovan, who played defensive tackle next to Stautner. Donovan entered the Hall of Fame one year before Stautner. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1950.

In 1973, he was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Stautner was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round (22nd overall) of the 1950 NFL draft. He played his entire career with the Steelers, from 1950 to 1963. Despite being small even for his day at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and 235 pounds (106.6 kg), he distinguished himself as one of the best defensive linemen of his era. He became the cornerstone of the Steelers' bruising defense.

Stautner was named to nine Pro Bowls in his 14-year career and only missed six games. He also made All-NFL in 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959. He retired as the career leader in safeties with three and ranked third in fumble recoveries with 23. He moved to defensive end in the later years of his career and also saw spot service at offensive guard. In 1957, he won the NFL's Best Lineman Award.

In the book Passion for Sports, a compilation of sports figure interviews published by The Sporting News, former teammate Andy Russell shares an anecdote that highlights Stautner's toughness. Russell, then a rookie playing on a team that would eventually finish in fourth place in what would be Stautner's final season, sees the grizzled veteran return to the huddle holding one of his hands in the other. Russell looks down and sees that Stautner has a compound fracture of the thumb; one of his thumb bones is visibly sticking out of his skin. Russell is the only one who notices, and Stautner says only, "What's the play?" Then he plays the rest of the defensive series. When the defense returns to the sideline, Russell watches Stautner, thinking that surely he must seek medical attention now. Instead, Stautner says to someone, "Give me some tape." Then Stautner taped up his hand into a club, and he played the rest of the game.

Before a 1958 game against the Browns, the team doctor was supposed to give Stautner a shot of Novocain to numb an injured shoulder. Instead, the doctor injected him with a dangerously high 1,200 milligrams of Demerol.

The NFL did not recognize quarterback sacks as an official statistic at the time he retired (only becoming an official statistic in 1982), but in his last three years Stautner has been unofficially credited with 15.5 sacks, including eight in 1962 at the age of 37. Stautner finished his career with three career safeties (at one time tied for the lead in league history, and now second in league history as of 2024) and 23 recovered fumbles (tied for thirteenth in league history among defensive players as of 2024). The Steelers never made the playoffs during his career, and were only above .500 three times, though during his career there were only two NFL divisions and one playoff game a year (the NFL championship game). He only missed six games during his 14-year career, despite suffering multiple cracked ribs, nose fractures, broken fingers and two broken shoulders.

Legacy and honors

On September 13, 1969, Stautner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

On October 25, 1964, Stautner became the first player to have his number (70) formally retired by the Steelers. He was elected to the Steelers 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1982 and posthumously by the Pittsburgh Steeler fans to the Steelers 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in November 2007. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the Steelers' Hall of Honor in 2017.

Coaching career

From 1963 to 1964 he was a player-coach (defensive line coach) and then defensive line coach/assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1965 he was the defensive line coach for the Washington Redskins.

From 1966 to 1988, he was an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys, serving as the team's defensive line coach from 1966 to 1972, and then as the team's defensive coordinator from 1973 to 1988. Cowboys personnel director Gil Brandt considered Stautner the unsung hero of the Cowboys defense, and observed Stautner's role in developing young players with hard work and patience. He was instrumental in the development of defensive players such as Randy White, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, and Harvey Martin.

He also devised in large part and contributed to the emergence of the team's famed "Doomsday" defense (built around Hall of Fame tackle Bob Lilly), and "Doomsday II" defense that won the 1977 Super Bowl title. Under head coach Tom Landry, Stautner would call the defense alignments during games. As a player, Stautner had once broken Landry's nose when Landry was filling in at quarterback for the New York Giants. The Giants had told Stautner before he was drafted that he was too small to play tackle for them.

The Cowboys were in five Super Bowls during Stautner's tenure with the team (Super Bowls V, VI, X, XII, and XIII), winning two. From 1966 to 1975, Stautner's defenses led the entire league or their conference in rushing defense six times.

Stautner stayed on with the Cowboys in 1989 as a scout. He coached the Dallas Texans, an Arena Football League team in their first season of play in 1990, guiding the franchise to an appearance in the ArenaBowl IV and earning the league's Coach-of-the-Year award.

Stautner was the defensive line coach for the Denver Broncos from 1991 to 1993. While with the Broncos, he coached under both Dan Reeves and Wade Phillips. From 1995 to 1997, he returned to Germany to become head coach of the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. He would guide the team to two consecutive World Bowls in 1995 and 1996, winning in 1995.

During his NFL coaching career, Stautner's teams had a record of 272-149-5.

Head coaching record

Personal life and death

According to Cinema Treasures, Stautner is a former owner of the Sara-Placid Drive-In Theater in North Elba, New York.

Stautner, Matt Snell, Mickey Spillane, and drummer Buddy Rich each appeared in their own Miller Lite Beer commercial as the product was launched in 1973. This was the first set of ads that spawned the wildly successful Less Filling, Tastes Great campaign.

Stautner died at a Carbondale, Colorado nursing home at age 80 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He is buried in Texas.

References

References

1. Report, Daily Staff. (2006-02-16). "Stautner, NFL hall of famer, dies".
2. "Do you know the only Hall of Famer born in Germany?".
3. "Ernie Stautner {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame".
4. (December 8, 1948). "Central Press All-American". The Patriot News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania).
5. (October 17, 1999). "Even in college, Donovan didn't go by the book". The Baltimore Sun.
6. (February 17, 2006). "Ernie Stautner, 80, Who Starred as Undersized N.F.L. Tackle, Is Dead". New York Times.
7. "Ernie Stautner (1973) - Varsity Club Hall of Fame".
8. "Ernie Stautner bio". Pittsburgh Steelers.
9. "Biography from Pittsburgh Steelers website". Pittsburgh Steelers.
10. Sporting News. (March 19, 2002). "The Passion for Sports : Athletes Tell Their Stories of Why They Love Their Games". Sporting News.
11. Swartz, Bryn. "Heart of a Champion: The 40 Toughest Players in NFL History".
12. Dvorchak, Robert. (September 23, 2007). "1950s Steelers weren't pretty or very successful, but they were unquestionably tough".
13. Wilson, Phillip B.. "Before sacks were official NFL stat, there was Deacon Jones".
14. "NFL Safeties Career Leaders".
15. "NFL Fumbles Recovered Career Leaders (since 1945)".
16. "Pittsburgh Steelers Team Records, Leaders, and League Ranks".
17. "1963 NFL Standings & Team Stats".
18. "Ernie Stautner {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame".
19. "Ernie Stautner {{!}} Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers.com".
20. (October 25, 2007). "Steelers Dream Team".
21. (August 29, 2017). "Inaugural Hall of Honor class announced". Pittsburgh Steelers.
22. "Ernie Stautner {{!}} Pro Football History.com".
23. "Ernie Stautner Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College".
24. "1988 Dallas Cowboys Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees".
25. Curry, Matt. (February 15, 2006). "Ernie Stautner, Hall of Famer for Steelers, dies at 80". MyPlainview.
26. "Bob Lilly {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame".
27. "Mr. Cowboy {{!}} Pro Football Hall of Fame".
28. Bouyea, Brien. (2010-08-06). "Stautner thrived in old-school NFL".
29. "Super Bowl Winners by Year - ESPN".
30. McIntyre, Bill. (January 11, 1976). "Cowboy Stautner Was a 'Steal' for Steelers". The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana).
31. "1989 Dallas Cowboys Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees".
32. "Ernie Stautner - AFL Coaches {{!}} ArenaFan.com".
33. "Denver Broncos defensive line coach history {{!}} Pro Football History.com".
34. "1991 Denver Broncos Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees".
35. "1993 Denver Broncos Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees".
36. (June 16, 2010). "Ernie Stautner ownership at Sara-Placid". Cinema Treasures.
37. (February 15, 2006). "Ernie Stautner, Hall of Famer for Steelers, dies at 80". MyPlainview.