The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best 100 players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 82: John Stallworth

Chuck Noll wanted to select John Stallworth in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft.

Art Rooney Jr., the team’s chief scout and second-eldest son of Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr., convinced Noll that Stallworth would be available in the fourth round. But Rooney added this warning to director of player personnel Dick Haley: “If he’s not there, we’re going to hear some screaming,” Rooney related in his book, “Ruanaidh.”

A bit of luck and some skullduggery — scout Bill Nunn conveniently forgot to return Stallworth’s best game tape to his school, Alabama A&M — allowed the Steelers to draft Stallworth in the fourth round, the 82nd player overall.

And that’s the number Stallworth wore — better than any other Pittsburgh athlete — through a 14-year career that ended with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Noll was fearful Stallworth’s appearance in the Senior Bowl would alert other teams, but the Steelers got lucky when coaches there moved him from wide receiver to cornerback, raising questions about his potential as a pass catcher.

Waiting proved historically beneficial to the Steelers, who drafted Lynn Swann in the first round and Jack Lambert in the second. Mix in Stallworth and Mike Webster in the fifth round, and that’s four Hall of Famers in one draft, considered the greatest of all time.

At one time, Stallworth was the Steelers’ career receptions leader (537) before he was passed by Hines Ward, Heath Miller and Antonio Brown. He is third in reception yardage (8,723) and touchdowns (63), behind Ward and Brown.

That doesn’t count his statistics in four Super Bowls — 11 catches for 268 yards (24.4 average) and three touchdowns. He holds two Super Bowl records: average per catch in a career and average per catch in a game (40.3 in Super Bowl XIV).

Stallworth remains as important to the franchise as any ex-Steeler. He became a minority owner in 2009.

Also under consideration for the best to wear No. 82 were:

• Martin Straka, who played 10 of his 15 NHL seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and tallied 165 goals and 277 assists. He scored 35 goals during the 1998-99 season.

• Pitt wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, who is No. 8 all-time at the school in receiving yards (2,337, from 2008-10). He totaled 1,111 in 2009 and was a first-round draft choice of the Kansas City Chiefs in ’11.

Check out the entire ‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.

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