Remembering L.C. Greenwood - From Canton to Canton

"There’s a great spirit gone!" - Antony and Cleopatra, Act 1, scene 2

The great and proud Pittsburgh Steelers organization has lost yet another member of its family when Mr. L.C. Henderson Greenwood 'shuffled off this mortal coil' on Sunday, September 29, 2013. He was 67 years old. - http://tinyurl.com/muvo3dt

I'm not afraid to say that I shed a tear when I heard the news about the man known as "Hollywood Bags." L.C., the multiple All-Pro, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl player, just hit me in a different spot.

Maybe it was because L.C. was from Canton, Mississippi and that I'm from Greenville, MS. Maybe it's because his birthday was September 8th (1946) and my birthday (though I don't celebrate them) is on the 9th of September.

Or, to borrow a line from Mars Blackmon, 'maybe it's the shoes.'

L.C. was known for his golden shoes when he played. It was part of his flashy style. But, according to his website, it came about by accident.

"In 1973, L.C. Greenwood was diagnosed by his team doctor with a severe ankle injury. The doctor suggested that if he wanted to play in Sunday’s game, he would have to wear high top shoes. Tony Parisi was one of the Steelers trainers and he had a friend who owned a shoe store in the Strip District. At the shoe store Tony was given a couple of pairs of black Riddell high tops. Back in the locker room, Tony asked L.C. to try them on and they fit perfectly. L.C. said, “Tony, I can’t wear these shoes, they are too ugly!” So Tony offered to paint them white. L.C. did not like that idea because Joe Namath wore white high tops, so Tony offered to paint them gold. L.C. agreed. When the gold shoes appeared in his locker L.C. hesitantly put them on and wore them on game day, and the Steelers won. On the following Sunday, L.C. wore them once more, and the Steelers won again. However, the next game, L.C.’s ankle was on the mend so he wore his regular shoes…The Steelers lost. Suddenly, fan mail started to pour in for L.C. begging him to wear the gold shoes because when he did, the Steelers won. They had become a good luck charm. Always a fan pleaser, L.C. adorned the gold shoes for many of the games." - http://www.lcgreenwood68.com/l-c-s-gold-shoes/

Per ProFootballResearchera.org, the Steelers "were fined for a uniform violation every game L.C. played. While his teammates wore the standard black shoes that went with the uniform, Greenwood's were always a shiny gold. ... The Steelers never complained about the fines, L.C. was worth it."

And accident or not, it is a style that went along with his nickname.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo from "Steelers Years", L.C. "was called 'Hollywood Bags' because he claimed he kept his bags packed and ready so he could leave for Hollywood at a moment's notice."

It may sound funny, but, according to his official website, L.C. was a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Though, he didn't appear in anything of note outside of NFL Films or cameo parts where he portrayed himself.

On the field, however, L.C. was always a star. A nightmare for quarterbacks, he used his height and reflexes to bat down numerous balls throughout his career. In Super Bowl IX, he smashed down two of Fran Tarkenton's pass attempts.

Quite the athlete, he had great speed (4.7/40) and unusual quickness for a man who was 6'6" 245 pounds. He was remarkably consistent and effective - in his 13 seasons he recorded 73.5 sacks and 14 fumble recoveries.

Recording five sacks in his four Super Bowl victories, L.C. had his best performance when the Steelers won Super Bowl X by sacking Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach four times in the 21-17 victory.

That touches on a particular, and particularly sore, subject. Despite all his credentials - six-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-AFC, two-time All-Pro and four-time World champion - he isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"The saddest thing is," said Steelers Dan Rooney, "he never got into the Hall of Fame,"

L.C. was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in 2005 and 2006, but was not elected. In recent years, however, there has been some clamor to get him into the Hall of Fame through the seniors committee.

Unfortunately now, though, it will be a posthumous induction when it happens. With there being several NFL players in the Hall of Fame with comparable numbers, it shouldn't have taken as long as it has in the first place.

L.C. Henderson Greenwood was born in Canton, Mississippi.

L.C. "Hollywood Bags" Greenwood deserves to live on forever in Canton, Ohio.

Cowboys Capitalize On Steelers Miscues, Win 27-24 In OT

This one hurts.

Personally, there is no team that stirs emotions like those stirred by the Dallas Cowboys.

But, congratulations, to the Cowboys. They deserved the win Sunday. They outplayed the Steelers in every facet of the game, handing the Steelers their fourth three-point loss of the season, 27-24 in overtime. The first ever overtime game between the two teams in their 31 all-time meetings. - http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000112303/Steelers-vs-Cowboys-highlights

It was a loss that handed the Baltimore Ravens a playoff berth and damaged the Steelers' chances, though not ruined, for taking the division and for making the playoffs period.

Now the Steelers playoff season starts earlier than expected. For all intents and purposes, they open their playoff run with the Bengals at home on December 23, of all days, at 1:00 EST.

If the Steelers can't find it within them to celebrate with a win the birth of their franchise's taking over the NFL, what will?

Since the NFL-AFL Merger in 1970, the Steelers have an NFL best 403-256-3 record. They have an NFL best six Super Bowl wins. They are tied with these Dallas Cowboys for the most Super Bowl appearances (8). They are also tied with the Cowboys for the most playoff wins (33).

None of that matters now.

The Steelers could’ve moved to within a game of the first-place Ravens with a victory. Instead, they’re looking up at the Bengals and Colts as they fight for a wildcard spot. At 7-7, the Steelers are now two games behind Indianapolis and one behind AFC North rival Cincinnati. Not a good place to be with two games left.

That said, they still have a chance. In a 3-way division tie at 9-7, the Steelers would have a 3-1 head-to-head record among the Ravens and the Bengals with Baltimore at 2-2 and Cincinnati with a 1-3 record. In that case, the Steelers would win the tiebreak.

Not necessarily probable, but possible.

But that's of little concern tight mow. The only goal for the team right now is to win the next game. Then make playoffs. After that, if their talent can show itself and they can get relatively healthy, they still are a dangerous team. - http://tinyurl.com/cyhwzxj

IF.

For two weeks now, though, the Steelers have been outplayed. Once again, they also were bereft of a running game. Aside from a 22-yard gain by Isaac Redman, the Steelers gained just 47 yards on 16 carries.

Mainly, though, it was senseless miscues and numerous mental errors that sealed the Steelers' fate. It was a truly pathetic showing at times. Nonetheless, believe it or not, they still control their own destiny. Next week is a must win.

As far as Sunday this loss is concerned, it was the secondary and special teams that killed the Steelers.

The Steelers defense got virtually no pressure on Tony Romo. As a result, Romo was the first quarterback this season to throw for over 300 yards against the Steelers. What's worse is that the Steelers gave up approximately half of his 341 passing yards after the catch. That's not 'tackling the catch.'

Mike Tomlin said in his post-game press conference that he thought his young secondary competed, but that they they just did not make enough plays critical plays. - http://tinyurl.com/d45qvjy

The secondary doesn't get a pass. Mental errors and miscues did the Steelers in and Dallas took advantage as much as they could.

With the Steelers leading 24-17, Cowboys linebacker Victor Butler stripped Antonio Brown on a potential, game-breaking punt return midway through the fourth quarter with tight end John Phillips recovering the fumble at the Pittsburgh 44-yard line. DeMarco Murray tied the game with a touchdown run seven plays later.

If Brown doesn't fumble, the Steelers probably clinch the game. Brown knows that and was remorseful in his comments after the game.

"We definitely have to be better and that starts with myself," Brown said afterwards. "I can’t put the ball on the ground. It was just careless. You have to protect the ball in the open field. I’ve got to a better job of protecting the ball. It was definitely my fault.” - http://tinyurl.com/d6nkgh4

The special teams almost allowed a win in regulation when the Cowboys' Dwayne Harris returned a punt 39 yards with 47 seconds remaining. It gave the Cowboys a shot, but the Steelers forced a punt.

But what ultimately ended the night was the Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger interception on the second play of overtime. Big Ben threw a lazy pass too far inside, well behind Mike Wallace, and in a place where really only the Cowboys Brandon Carr could catch it.

Carr snatched up a diving interception and returned it 36 yards to set up the game-winning, 21-yard field goal.

Big Ben had some Houdini-like big plays in the game, including a remarkable touchdown-pass play to Heath Miller, the Steelers Digest Player of the Week, before the half that had enough pump fakes and spins to give defenders Vertigo. - http://www.nfl.com/videos/pittsburgh-steelers/0ap2000000112195/Big-Ben-goes-yard

Unfortunately, the interception was the mistake he couldn’t afford to make.

Big Ben complained after the game about not going to the no-huddle more often. Because he took the blame for the interception, I don't have a problem with his complaint. He's the team leader and should be able to have a say in what they call. - http://tinyurl.com/c9lmnrh

Would the no-huddle have won it for them. Hard to say...it didn't in overtime. But maybe it keeps the defense on its heels.

The Steelers had the ball with 6:48 and 1:47 left in regulation and with three timeouts, so I'm sure those are situations to which Big Ben was referring. After keeping Ben upright most of the game, the offensive line allowed both of those drives to be killed by sacks.

Then the aforementioned miscues and final turnover were the proverbial nails. Not in the season, though. There is still time to salvage it. And like Steelers linebacker Larry Foote said, they just have to keep fighting "until they say, ‘don’t play no more.'"

~

TIDBITS: STEELERS INJURIES: starting cornerback Keenan Lewis suffered a groin injury in the second half (how many of those this year???); backup cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke - separated shoulder early in the game; wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders - rib injury.

~

Steelers average starting field position was last week was their own 19-yard line. Sunday it was their own 24-yard line. The best starting field position was at the 49-yard line.

Racism Or Just Monkey Business? Radio Host's Comment Begs The Question.

(Disclaimer: This blog will go slightly off the beaten path. This is an incendiary topic that will, therefore, include incendiary language.)

"Look at that little monkey run!"

Many of you may remember ESPN anchor Chris Berman always saying "Look at that little Meggett run!" when referring to Dave Meggett of the New York Giants whenever he'd make a big play. That was a reference to the quote above. The author of that quote was Howard Cosell.

Howard Cosell was an American sports journalist and iconoclast who was widely known for his boisterous, cocksure personality. He rose to prominence covering boxer Muhammad Ali, starting when Ali still fought under his birth name, Cassius Clay. He also was a part of the original and iconic Monday Night Football crew.

His quoted exclamation is once again relevant because of a very egregious error by WDAE-AM Tampa radio host Dan Sileo on Tuesday morning.

During the broadcast, when speaking of three Black players who are free agents that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were looking to sign, Sileo said, "If they get those three monkeys, I'm good. I'm ready, man. I'm ready. I want those guys. Those guys are great players." - http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/content/wdae-am-host-dan-sileo-calls-african-american-free-agent-football-players-monkeys-air

It was those sentences, really that single word, "monkeys", that essentially cost Sileo his job. He left the WDAE sports talk show, assuredly at the behest of his managers. Sponsors would certainly have applied pressure for some such departure. And, in these politically correct days, understandably so.

We live in a day and country where such comments by white, or caucasian, men and women simply can't make such mistakes. If in actuality it can be considered a mistake. I say that because, when taking the entire statement into consideration, he was being complimentary of those players. He said that he wanted them on the team he follows. If some other word had been substituted for monkey then the unemployment rate wouldn't have increased.

--- Aside: I said "white...men and women" because it's an unfortunate reality that there is a double-standard in this country with regard to Black and white issues and what can and cannot be said. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan, among others, have said all kinds of racist and pyroclastic things in the past with virtual impunity. Yet, Jimmy the Greek makes a statement in 1988 regarding the Black athlete being bred to be that way during the times of slavery and he's summarily fired, never to be heard from again. *Sorry, but his statement was basically true. You don't believe so? Like a great man once said, African-Americans make up approximately 12% of the U.S., but about 90% of the NBA. The NFL? It stands for Niggaz Fuckin' Large.* Simple reality ---

It is just one word that makes his statement inflammatory. Is it for good reason? Was his statement a form of closet racism? Or is this an example of allowing political correctness to make people overly sensitive and overly cautious?

In order to answer this, let's focus back on Howard Cosell, what he said, and what repercussions he may have endured?

As was mentioned earlier, Howard Cosell famously covered Muhammad Ali most of his career. The two were friends despite their very different personalities. Cosell was one of the first sportscasters to refer to the champ as Muhammad Ali after he changed his name and supported him when he refused to be inducted into the military.

Cosell also was an outspoken supporter of Olympic sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith after the raising of their fists in a "Black Power" salute during their 1968 medal ceremony. Many sports broadcasters avoided social, racial, or other controversial issues, and didn't butt heads with, often even pandered to, the sports figures they covered. Cosell did not.

This is relevant because it helps to shed light on what was said by Cosell on that famous broadcast.

It was 1973 and Howard Cosell was doing the halftime highlights voice-over game recap. Herb Mulkey of the Washington Redskins returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the St. Louis Cardinals on that previous Sunday, and Cosell exclaimed, "Look at that little monkey run!" This wasn't the first time, though.

In 1972 Howard Cosell said, "That little monkey - you know, the theorem was that he was too small for pro football" referring to Kansas City Chiefs running back Mike Adamle after a short run in the fourth quarter of the July 29, 1972 Hall of Fame Game. Mike Adamle was a white man.

Again, in 1982, Cosell called Atlanta Braves second baseman Glenn Hubbard, another white player, a "little monkey" while praising his fielding skills, saying "That little monkey can really pick it."

Lastly, in 1983 Howard Cosell said, "Joe Gibbs wanted that kid, and that little monkey gets loose doesn't he" when referring to Washington Redskins wide receiver Alvin Garrett on Monday Night Football on September 5th in a game against the Dallas Cowboys. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVScwog05Xw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, then-president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, denounced Cosell's comment as racist and demanded a public apology. Cosell refused. In his refusal, Cosell cited his past support for Black athletes, many mentioned in this post, and stating that "little monkey" was an affectionate term he had used in the past for diminutive white athletes, also mentioned herein, as well as for his own grandchildren from the time they were able to walk and playfully scramble around.

I cited all of these as reference to his character. Despite the reverend's claims, if he were a racist, would he, as he himself pointed out, use the same allegedly derogatory term toward the white players that he'd used toward the Black players?

If he were racist would the aforementioned Ali so lovingly say this of Cosell, "Howard Cosell was a good man and he lived a good life. I have been interviewed by many people, but I enjoyed interviews with Howard the best. We always put on a good show. I hope to meet him one day in the hereafter. I can hear Howard now saying, 'Muhammad, you're not the man you used to be'. I pray that he is in God's hands. I will miss him."
-- Former heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali 

Given all of the previous evidence and the character witness provided, in no way can it be said that Cosell was racist. The reverend was out of line and spoke out of turn in this case.

That was then and this is now...

The social climate is simply different now. People are much more umbrageous nowadays and anything close to a racist statement causes an immediate reaction. It can be a precarious situation to handle because of the resultant clamor as well.

I suggested earlier that using another word might lessen and/or change the meaning of what was said. That it could easily have been a slip of the tongue. While that normally is true, in cases such as this, what is said most likely was in the mind previously anyway. Else, how could it have been brought to mind in the first place? A sort of Freudian slip, if you will.

Is that meant to suggest that Sileo is a closet racist? Not necessarily. But, we all often say things in our home or amongst our closest associates that we wouldn't ever say elsewhere. Some slightly above benign or innocuous, and some down right intemperate. But, if these are said regularly, they can slip out at the wrong times. And I quote, "Out of the heart's abundance the mouth speaks."

I won't condemn Sileo for what he said specifically, as I don't particularly have a problem with that word. But I do take issue with the lack of his having common-enough sense to realize what he said. I take offense with his not even realizing what was said until being alerted to it later. And I take offense to having been left with a feeling that somewhere within him lies the capacity to use such a term that probably a majority of Black people in America would construe as, or possibly equate to, "nigger."