1987 Pittsburgh Steelers season
OwnerArt Rooney
General managerDick Haley
Head coachChuck Noll
Home fieldThree Rivers Stadium
Results
Record8–7
Division place3rd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersC Mike Webster
AP All-ProsNone
Team MVPMike Merriweather
Team ROYDelton Hall

The 1987 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 55th season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League. The team improved from a 6–10 record from 1986 and finishing 8–7 record and fail to reach the playoffs for a third straight season. Noll was renowned as a stoic character, but in complete contrast was his reaction to Jerry Glanville, the head coach of the Oilers. After the Steelers second meeting, Noll in the postgame handshake grabbed Glanville and told him he'd better watch out or he'd get jumped on. This was in reaction to Glanville's earlier comments on how the Oilers field was the 'house of pain' and his prediction that his players would intentionally hurt the Steelers.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1987 NFL draft
1987 Pittsburgh Steelers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 10 Rod Woodson * †  Cornerback Purdue
2 38 Delton Hall  Cornerback Clemson
3 66 Charles Lockett  Wide receiver Long Beach State
4 94 Thomas Everett *  Safety Baylor
5 122 Hardy Nickerson *  Linebacker California
6 141 Tim Johnson  Defensive tackle Penn State
6 150 Greg Lloyd *  Linebacker Fort Valley State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1987 Pittsburgh Steelers staff

Front office

  • Chairman of the board – Arthur J. Rooney
  • President – Daniel M. Rooney
  • Vice president – John R. McGinley
  • Vice president – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
  • Treasurer – Dennis P. Thimons
  • Business manager – Joe Gordon
  • Chief negotiator – James A. Boston
  • Office manager - stadium – Dan Ferens
  • Publicity director – Dan Edwards
  • Assistant publicity director – Pat Hanlon
  • Director of ticket sales – Geraldine Glenn
  • Computer director - accounting – Jim Ellenberger
  • Director of player personnel – Dick Haley
  • Director of pro scouting – Tom Modrak
  • Talent scout – East – Tom Donahoe
  • Talent scout – Midwest – Jesse Kaye
  • Talent scout – West Coast – Bob Schmitz

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Conditioning & training coach – Walt Evans
  • Dentist – Dr. George P. Boucek
  • Ophthalmologist – Dr. Phillip Buzzelli
  • Physician, orthopedic – Dr. Thomas W. Cowan
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. David S. Huber
  • Neurological surgery consultant – Dr. Joseph C. Maroon
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Richard Rydze
  • Physician, consultant – Dr. Abraham J.Twerski
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Anthony P. Yates
  • Trainer – Ralph Berlin
  • Trainer – Fran Feld
  • Equipment manager – Anthony Parisi
  • Field manager – Rodgers Freyvogel
  • Video & film director – Bob McCartney
  • Photographers – Mike Fabus, Bill Amatucci

[1]

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 Pittsburgh Steelers replacement roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

  • 96 Jackie Cline DE/NT
  • 91 Tommy Dawkins DE
  • 64 Alan Huff NT
  • 92 Michael Minter NT
  • 69 Dave Opfar NT
  • 95 Bret Shugarts DE
  • 98 Xavier Warren DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Roster

1987 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad [2] [3] [4] [5]
Rookies in italics
 100 active, 4 inactive

Preseason

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Game Site Kickoff (ET) TV Result Record
1 Fri. Aug. 14 at Washington Redskins RFK Stadium 8:00 p.m. WTAE L 23–17 0–1
2 Sat. Aug. 22 at Chicago Bears Soldier Field 7:00 p.m. WTAE L 50–14 0–2
3 Sat. Aug. 29 at New Orleans Saints Louisiana Superdome 8:00 p.m. WTAE L 31–28 0–3
4 Sat. Sep. 5 New York Giants Three Rivers Stadium 9:00 p.m. CBS L 26–20 0–4

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Game Site Kickoff (ET) TV Result Record
1 Sun. Sep. 13 San Francisco 49ers Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. CBS W 30–17 1–0
2 Sun. Sep. 20 at Cleveland Browns Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC L 34–10 1–1
3 Sun. Sep. 27 New York Jets Three Rivers Stadium 4:00 p.m. NBC Cancelled 1–1
4 Sun. Oct. 4 at Atlanta Falcons Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 28–12 2–1
5 Sun. Oct. 11 at Los Angeles Rams Anaheim Stadium 4:00 p.m. NBC L 31–21 2–2
6 Sun. Oct. 18 Indianapolis Colts Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 21–7 3–2
7 Sun. Oct. 25 Cincinnati Bengals Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 23–20 4–2
8 Sun. Nov. 1 at Miami Dolphins Joe Robbie Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC L 35–24 4–3
9 Sun. Nov. 8 at Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 17–16 5–3
10 Sun. Nov. 15 Houston Oilers Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC L 23–3 5–4
11 Sun. Nov. 22 at Cincinnati Bengals Riverfront Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 30–16 6–4
12 Sun. Nov. 29 New Orleans Saints Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. CBS L 20–16 6–5
13 Sun. Dec. 6 Seattle Seahawks Three Rivers Stadium 1:00 p.m. NBC W 13–9 7–5
14 Sun. Dec. 13 at San Diego Chargers Jack Murphy Stadium 4:00 p.m. NBC W 20–16 8–5
15 Sun. Dec. 20 at Houston Oilers Astrodome 1:00 p.m. NBC L 24–16 8–6
16 Sat. Dec. 26 Cleveland Browns Three Rivers Stadium 12:30 p.m. NBC L 19–13 8–7

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday September 13, 1987): vs. San Francisco 49ers

1 2 3 4 Total
49ers 0 3 7 7 17
Steelers 7 10 3 10 30

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Week 2 (Sunday September 20, 1987): at Cleveland Browns

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 3 7 0 10
Browns 0 10 7 17 34

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Week 3 (Sunday September 27, 1987): vs. New York Jets

Cancelled due to player's strike.

Week 4 (Sunday October 4, 1987): at Atlanta Falcons

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 14 0 14 28
Falcons 3 0 2 7 12

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

This game was played with replacement players.

Week 5 (Sunday October 11, 1987): at Los Angeles Rams

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 7 7 0 7 21
Rams 7 14 7 3 31

at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

This game was played with replacement players.

Week 6 (Sunday October 18, 1987): vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week Six: Indianapolis Colts (2–2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (2–2)
Period 1 2 34Total
Colts 0 7 007
Steelers 7 0 01421

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This game was played with replacement players.

Team Category Player Statistics
Colts Passing Blair Kiel 17/30, 195 Yds, TD, 3 INT
Rushing Gordon Brown 9 Rush, 32 Yds
Receiving Mark Bellini 5 Rec, 69 Yds
Steelers Passing Steve Bono 11/23, 138 Yds, 2 TD, INT
Rushing Earnest Jackson 24 Rush, 134 Yds
Receiving John Stallworth 5 Rec, 54 Yds, TD


Week 7 (Sunday October 25, 1987): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 7 7 6 0 20
Steelers 3 0 7 13 23

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Week 8 (Sunday November 1, 1987): at Miami Dolphins

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 14 7 3 0 24
Dolphins 0 7 14 14 35

at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida

Week 9 (Sunday November 8, 1987): at Kansas City Chiefs

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 7 7 3 17
Chiefs 7 3 0 6 16

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Week 10 (Sunday November 15, 1987): vs. Houston Oilers

1 2 3 4 Total
Oilers 0 3 14 6 23
Steelers 3 0 0 0 3

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Week 11 (Sunday November 22, 1987): at Cincinnati Bengals

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 3 10 7 10 30
Bengals 3 3 3 7 16

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Week 12 (Sunday November 29, 1987): vs. New Orleans Saints

1 2 3 4 Total
Saints 3 0 7 10 20
Steelers 0 14 0 2 16

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Week 13 (Sunday December 6, 1987): vs. Seattle Seahawks

1 2 3 4 Total
Seahawks 3 6 0 0 9
Steelers 3 3 0 7 13

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Week 14 (Sunday December 13, 1987): at San Diego Chargers

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 0 7 10 3 20
Chargers 9 0 7 0 16

at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California

Week 15 (Sunday December 20, 1987): at Houston Oilers

1 2 3 4 Total
Steelers 3 3 7 3 16
Oilers 0 10 7 7 24

at Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Week 16 (Saturday December 26, 1987): vs. Cleveland Browns

1 2 3 4 Total
Browns 3 6 3 7 19
Steelers 0 3 0 10 13

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns(2) 10 5 0 .667 5–1 8–3 390 239 W3
Houston Oilers(4) 9 6 0 .600 5–1 7–4 345 349 W2
Pittsburgh Steelers 8 7 0 .533 2–4 6–5 285 299 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 4 11 0 .267 0–6 3–9 285 370 L3

References

  1. ^ 1987 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  2. ^ 1987 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  3. ^ 1988 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  4. ^ "1987 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  5. ^ "1987 Pittsburgh Steelers". Football @ JT-SW.com. Retrieved December 23, 2014.

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers seasons
Pittsburgh Steelers
1987 NFL season
Categories