Ernie Stautner
No. 63, 70 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Cham, Bavaria, Germany | April 20, 1925||||||
Died: | February 16, 2006 Carbondale, Colorado, U.S. | (aged 80)||||||
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Vincentian Institute (Albany, New York) | ||||||
College: | Boston College | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1950 / Round: 2 / Pick: 22 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
As a player: | |||||||
As a coach: | |||||||
| |||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
| |||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||
Coaching stats at PFR | |||||||
Ernest Alfred Stautner (April 20, 1925 – February 16, 2006) was a German-American professional
Early years
Born in Prienzing near Cham, Bavaria in Germany, Stautner's family immigrated to 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).
After the war, he enrolled at
In 1973, he was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame.
Professional career
Stautner was selected by the
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.[4]
In the book Passion for Sports 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.
The
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 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.[5]
On September 13, 1969, Stautner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Coaching career
From 1963 to 1964 he was a player-coach with the
From 1966 to 1988, he was an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys, and served as the team's defensive coordinator from 1973 to 1988. He was instrumental in the development of defensive players such as Randy White and Ed "Too Tall" Jones. He also contributed to the emergence of the team's famed "Doomsday" and "Doomsday II" defenses.
Stautner stayed on with the Cowboys from 1988 to 1989 as a
Stautner was the defensive line coach for the
Head coaching record
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AFL ) (1990)
| |||||||||
1990 | Dallas Texans | 7–3 | 2nd | L ArenaBowl IV | |||||
Frankfurt Galaxy (WLAF) (1995–1997) | |||||||||
1995 | Frankfurt Galaxy | 6–4 | 2nd | W World Bowl '95
| |||||
1996 | Frankfurt Galaxy | 6–4 | 2nd | L World Bowl '96
| |||||
1997 | Frankfurt Galaxy | 4–6 | 5th | ||||||
Frankfurt Galaxy: | 17–15 | ||||||||
Total: | 17–15 |
Personal life
According to Cinema Treasures, Stautner is a former owner of the Sara-Placid Drive-In Theater in North Elba, New York.[6]
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.[7]
References
- ^ "Even in college, Donovan didn't go by the book". The Baltimore Sun. October 17, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Ernie Stautner, 80, Who Starred as Undersized N.F.L. Tackle, Is Dead". New York Times. February 17, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Ernie Stautner bio". Pittsburgh Steelers. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Biography from Pittsburgh Steelers website". Pittsburgh Steelers. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Inaugural Hall of Honor class announced". Pittsburgh Steelers. August 29, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Ernie Stautner ownership at Sara-Placid". Cinema Treasures. June 16, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
- ^ "Ernie Stautner, Hall of Famer for Steelers, dies at 80". MyPlainview. February 15, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2019.