Ernie Stautner

Ernie Stautner

Pro Football Hall of Fame induction
No. 63, 70
Position:	Defensive tackle
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1925-04-20)April 20, 1925
Place of birth:	Prinzing near Cham, Bavaria, Germany
Date of death:	February 16, 2006(2006-02-16) (aged 80)
Place of death:	Carbondale, Colorado
Career information
College:	Boston College
NFL Draft:	1950 / Round: 2 / Pick: 22
Career history
As player:
Pittsburgh Steelers (1950–1963)
As coach:
Pittsburgh Steelers (1963–1964) [DL] Washington Redskins (1965) [DL] Dallas Cowboys (1966–1988) [DC/DL] Dallas Texans (1990) Denver Broncos (1991–1994) [DL] Frankfurt Galaxy (1995–1997) [HC]
Career highlights and awards
9× Pro Bowl (1952, 1953, 1955–1961) 10× All-Pro (1952–1961) 2× Super Bowl champion (VI, XII) 1957 Pro Bowl MVP Pittsburgh Steelers #70 retired NFL 1950s All-Decade Team NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team World Bowl champion (III) Arena Football League Coach of the Year (1990)
Career NFL statistics
Games: 173 Fumbles recovered: 23 Safeties: 3 Interceptions: 2 Player stats at NFL.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Ernest Alfred Stautner (April 20, 1925 – February 16, 2006) was a German-born American football player and coach who starred as a defensive tackle with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Born in Prienzing near Cham, Bavaria in Germany, Stautner's family immigrated to East Greenbush, New York when he was three years old. He served in the United States Marine Corps before attending Boston College, where he was a four-year starter as an offensive and defensive tackle. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1950.

After being selected in the second round of the 1950 NFL Draft, Stautner played his entire career with the Steelers from 1950 to 1963. Despite being small even for his day at 6-1 and 235 pounds, he distinguished himself as one of the best defensive linemen of his era as he became the cornerstone of the Steelers bruising defense. Stautner was selected to nine Pro Bowls in his fourteen-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 3 and ranked third in fumble recoveries with 23. He also saw spot service at offensive guard.

In the book Passion for Sports by The Sporting News, former teammate Andy Russell shares an anecdote that highlights Stautner's elite 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.