1972 Pittsburgh Steelers: 11-3-0
Previous Season Next SeasonHome record: 7-0-0 (200 points scored, 72 allowed) Road record: 4-3-0 (143 points scored, 103 allowed) Head Coach: Chuck Noll 343 points scored (5th of 26 teams), 175 points allowed (2nd) NFL Averages: 20.3 points/game (283.5 points/team) Team stats and rankings: ---------------- PASSING ---------------- ----------- RUSHING ---------- --- TOTAL --- Cmp Att Yards (Rank) Yd/Att TD Int Att Yards (Rank) Yd/Att TD Yards (Rank) Turnovers Offense: 156 324 1,711 (22) 4.81 12 12 497 2,520 ( 2) 5.1 22 4,231 (13) 26 Defense: 206 411 2,046 (10) 4.54 9 28 445 1,715 ( 6) 3.9 6 3,761 ( 7) 48
Team roster (starters in bold): # Player Pos GP Hgt Wgt Age Exp College 5 Terry Hanratty QB 7 6'1 210 24 4 Notre Dame 10 Roy Gerela K 14 5'10 185 24 4 New Mexico State 12 Terry Bradshaw QB 14 6'3 218 24 3 Louisiana Tech 17 Joe Gilliam QB 2 6'2 187 21 R Tennessee State 20 Rocky Bleier RB 14 5'11 205 26 3 Notre Dame 23 Mike Wagner DB 14 6'1 196 23 2 Western Illinois 25 Ron Shanklin WR 14 6'1 180 24 3 North Texas State 26 Preston Pearson RB 11 6'1 205 27 6 Illinois 27 Glen Edwards DB 12 6'0 185 25 2 Florida A&M 29 John Dockery DB 6 6'0 186 28 3 Harvard 31 Al Young WR 14 6'1 195 23 2 South Carolina State 32 Franco Harris RB 14 6'2 230 22 R Penn State 33 Frenchy Fuqua RB 13 5'11 200 26 4 Morgan State 34 Andy Russell LB 14 6'3 225 31 8 Missouri 35 Steve Davis RB 11 6'1 218 23 1 Delaware State 36 Carl Winfrey LB 1 6'0 230 23 2 Wisconsin 37 Chuck Beatty DB 8 6'2 205 26 4 North Texas State 38 Ed Bradley LB 12 6'2 240 22 R Wake Forest 39 Bobby Walden P 14 6'0 190 34 9 Georgia 43 Frank Lewis WR 13 6'1 196 25 2 Grambling 44 Lee Calland DB 7 6'0 190 31 10 Louisville 46 Warren Bankston RB 7 6'4 235 25 4 Tulane 47 Mel Blount DB 14 6'3 205 24 3 Southern 48 John Rowser DB 14 6'1 185 28 6 Michigan 49 Ralph Anderson DB 14 6'2 180 23 2 West Texas State 50 Jim Clack C 14 6'3 250 25 2 Wake Forest 53 Henry Davis LB 14 6'3 235 29 5 Grambling 55 Jon Kolb OT 14 6'2 262 25 4 Oklahoma State 56 Ray Mansfield C 14 6'3 255 31 10 Washington 57 Sam Davis OG 11 6'1 255 28 6 Allen 59 Jack Ham LB 14 6'3 220 23 2 Penn State 60 Ben McGee DT 14 6'2 260 33 9 Jackson State 61 Brian Stenger LB 14 6'4 230 25 4 Notre Dame 63 Ernie Holmes DT 14 6'3 260 24 1 Texas Southern 64 Steve Furness DE 2 6'4 255 21 R Rhode Island 66 Bruce Van Dyke OG 13 6'2 255 28 7 Missouri 67 Craig Hanneman DE 13 6'3 240 23 1 Oregon State 68 L.C. Greenwood DE 13 6'5 245 26 4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 71 Gordon Gravelle OT 14 6'5 250 23 R Brigham Young 72 Gerry Mullins OG 14 6'3 235 23 2 Southern California 75 Joe Greene DT 14 6'4 270 26 4 North Texas State 77 Mel Holmes OG 14 6'3 250 22 2 North Carolina A&T 78 Dwight White DE 14 6'4 250 23 2 East Texas State 83 Barry Pearson WR 0 5'11 185 22 R Northwestern 87 Larry Brown TE 9 6'4 225 23 2 Kansas 88 Dave Smith WR 6 6'2 205 25 3 Indiana (Pa.) 89 John McMakin TE 14 6'3 232 22 R Clemson 90 George Webster LB 6 6'4 223 26 6 Michigan State
Per Per Passing Att Cmp Pct Yards Att Cmp TD TD% Int Int% Sack Loss Rating Terry Bradshaw 308 147 47.7 1,887 6.13 12.8 12 3.9 12 3.9 29 237 64.1 Joe Gilliam 11 7 63.6 48 4.36 6.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 8 73.3 Terry Hanratty 4 2 50.0 23 5.75 11.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 2 67.7 Bobby Walden 1 0 0.0 0 0.00 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 39.6
Receiving Rec Yards Avg TD Ron Shanklin 38 669 17.6 3 Frank Lewis 27 391 14.5 5 John McMakin 21 277 13.2 1 Franco Harris 21 180 8.6 1 Frenchy Fuqua 18 152 8.4 0 Preston Pearson 11 79 7.2 0 Dave Smith 10 98 9.8 0 Al Young 6 86 14.3 0 Larry Brown 1 13 13.0 1 Steve Davis 1 5 5.0 0 Warren Bankston 1 5 5.0 0 Gerry Mullins 1 3 3.0 1 | Rushing Att Yards Avg TD Franco Harris 188 1,055 5.6 10 Frenchy Fuqua 150 665 4.4 4 Terry Bradshaw 58 346 6.0 7 Preston Pearson 67 264 3.9 0 Steve Davis 20 85 4.2 1 Frank Lewis 3 68 22.7 0 Warren Bankston 7 20 2.9 0 Rocky Bleier 1 17 17.0 0 John McMakin 1 0 0.0 0 Joe Gilliam 2 0 0.0 0 |
Kickoff Returns Att Yards Avg TD Preston Pearson 13 292 22.5 0 Franco Harris 8 183 22.9 0 Steve Davis 7 207 29.6 0 Rocky Bleier 2 40 20.0 0 Warren Bankston 1 20 20.0 0 Glen Edwards 1 18 18.0 0 John McMakin 1 0 0.0 0 | Punt Returns Att Yards Avg FC TD Glen Edwards 22 202 9.2 19 0 Frank Lewis 5 56 11.2 1 0 Rocky Bleier 2 1 0.5 0 0 Preston Pearson 1 3 3.0 0 0 |
1972 Draft: NFL Rnd Ovr Pos Player Games College 1 13 RB Franco Harris 173 Penn State 2 38 OT Gordon Gravelle 96 Brigham Young 3 63 TE John McMakin 60 Clemson 4 80 DB Lorenzo Brinkley Missouri [pick acquired from NYG] 4 88 LB Ed Bradley 93 Wake Forest 5 113 DE Steve Furness 106 Rhode Island 6 143 DB Dennis Meyer 11 Arkansas State 7 159 DE Joe Colquitt Kansas State [pick acquired from NYG] 7 168 DB Robert Kelly Jackson State 8 193 RB Stahle Vincent Rice 9 217 DB Don Kelley Clemson 10 243 DT Bob Brown Tampa 11 273 QB Joe Gilliam 20 Tennessee State 12 298 OT Ron Curl Michigan State 13 323 OT Ernie Mesmer Villanova 14 348 RB Tommy Durrance Florida 15 368 OG John Hulecki Massachusetts [pick acquired from HOU] 15 373 OG Charles Harrington Wichita State 16 403 WR Nate Hawkins 11 Nevada-Las Vegas 17 428 LB Ron Linehan Idaho
Traded draft picks: none
Transactions:
| 03-13-1972 | traded Ocie Austin and John Lanier to Redskins for a conditional pick in the 1973 draft (not exercised) |
| 04-18-1972 | claimed Dickie Post on waivers from Oilers |
| 06-28-1972 | traded a #6 pick in the 1973 draft to Patriots for Ron Gardin |
| 08-1972 | traded Bobby Maples to Broncos for Denver's #6 pick in the 1973 draft |
| 08-01-1972 | traded Clarence Washington to Bears for a 1973 draft pick |
| 08-02-1972 | traded Dennis Ferris to Giants for cash |
| 08-03-1972 | traded Dennis Onkontz to Broncos for a 1973 draft pick |
| 08-04-1972 | Dolphins claimed Ron Gardin on waivers |
| 08-07-1972 | traded cash to Patriots for Ernie Holmes |
| 09-06-1972 | traded Lloyd Voss to Broncos for New Orleans' #5 pick in the 1973 draft |
| 09-07-1972 | Bills claimed Lorenzo Brinkley on waivers |
| 09-13-1972 | Packers claimed Jon Staggers on waivers |
| 09-20-1972 | traded Rick Sharp to Broncos for Denver's #8 pick in the 1973 draft |
Playoff Results: Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result 12/23/72 vs Oakland Raiders W 13-7 12/31/72 vs Miami Dolphins L 17-21
1972 Regular Season Game Log: Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result Record 09/17/72 vs Oakland Raiders W 34-28 1-0-0 09/24/72 at Cincinnati Bengals L 10-15 1-1-0 10/01/72 at St. Louis Cardinals W 25-19 2-1-0 10/08/72 at Dallas Cowboys L 13-17 2-2-0 10/15/72 vs Houston Oilers W 24-7 3-2-0 10/22/72 vs New England Patriots W 33-3 4-2-0 10/29/72 at Buffalo Bills W 38-21 5-2-0 11/05/72 vs Cincinnati Bengals W 40-17 6-2-0 11/12/72 vs Kansas City Chiefs W 16-7 7-2-0 11/19/72 at Cleveland Browns L 24-26 7-3-0 11/26/72 vs Minnesota Vikings W 23-10 8-3-0 12/03/72 vs Cleveland Browns W 30-0 9-3-0 12/10/72 at Houston Oilers W 9-3 10-3-0 12/17/72 at San Diego Chargers W 24-2 11-3-0