A.  I didn’t really watch that much football. I guess we were outside playing most of the time. My mother and father were not really sport junkies. Everybody knew of Jim Brown, so I would say he was probably the first big football star that really comes to mind.

Q. Were you always a running back, or did you ever play other positions?

A. In high school I played defense. I played some linebacker and defensive, but running back is really where my talent showed.

 Q. How did winning Rookie of the Year help jumpstart your career?

 
A. I think that my rookie year turned out to be a phenomenal year, although it didn't start out that way. It was a little rough and there were a lot of challenges. By sticking to it and believing in myself it turned into a great year and I won Rookie of the Year. It really started before that, training your mind and body. You're training in high school, you're training in college. All of those things really set you up for success later on. Even though I never achieved the degree of success in high school and college as I did in the pros, they just laid the foundation. My rookie year was just a magic year. I guess that year I really started showing my talent. During my rookie year a lot of things happened, but I'm glad to say so many more great things happened in the next 11 years with the Steelers. 

 Q. How do you think a referee being able to look at replays during a game affects the game?

A. I'm in favor of instant replay. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes things are hidden or things get in the way. I guess the honesty rule doesn’t apply in certain situations. If no one can see it, no one would really know except that player. So I'm in favor of it because I really don’t want a bad call determining the outcome of the game. On the field play should determine it, but if you are able to get the correct call I think that we should respect that, which is why I believe in instant replay.

 Q. What was going through your mind as the football was deflected towards you during the Immaculate Reception?

 A. As they say, if you have to think it, it's too late. So, it was really all reaction. Thankfully, my reflexes and reactions were quick enough to make some things happen. When I got the ball, my mind was totally focused on getting into the end zone. We couldn’t afford a field goal because you could either make it or not make it. So, I thought, "you have to get into the end zone." When I got the ball that is what was clearly in my mind.

Q. What was the single best moment of your football career?

A. I tell people that the single best moment was the Immaculate Reception because it symbolizes so many things. To me the most important game was a playoff game against the Raiders on our way to our first Super Bowl in 1974. That was the biggest game I think that we ever played. I think that the best season was 1976 because even though we didn’t win the Super Bowl, that season was our greatest challenge. So those are the three special moments.

Q. What is it like to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

A. It was a pretty incredible feeling. It was just phenomenal. I looked at my time in the NFL and what I accomplished personally and what we accomplished as a team. It was way beyond my waters. What could be better than what we did? But when you put that jacket on, it sums up all those things and it brings all those things together into focus. I would say that's how it felt; it felt like all those things into one. That's how great the feeling was.

Q. How did you start getting into owning businesses?

A. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be in business. I just had a passion for business. I think I always had that entrepreneurial feeling in me. As soon I retired from football, I didn’t have any plans, and that was just when opportunity knocked. This one opportunity came with this food product, and I said "I gotta get involved with this." When I first started, it was just me. I loaded trucks, delivered, collected and I did all that stuff myself. Through the years, I built my business. What makes it nice is that I know my business from the ground up. I know how a person feels loading the trucks.  I know how a person feels selling products. And I know how it feels to have to make decisions. In a way, I am really living my dream. I tell people I am really lucky that for one part of my life I lived a dream which was unbelievable and then to have it happen again is quite remarkable. I am a very, very lucky and blessed guy to live my dream twice.

 

Q. What are some of the things you have enjoyed doing since you stopped playing football?

A. There are a lot of things that I do enjoy. I travel a lot and I love traveling. I love doing business. As far as being active and as far as my age and what I can do now, tennis is my first love off the football field. I play golf once in a while, but I am a much more avid tennis fan. I enjoy reading, mostly business stuff. I love to dine in fine restaurants and having company for dinner. Life has been good and I'm enjoying everyday as much as I can.

Q. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

A. It all depends what day it is. Today I had coconut. The other day I had ice cream with caramel in it. I also like hot fudge sundaes. I think at different times I feel like different flavors and I do different flavors at different times.