In a time that probably seems much longer ago, Joe Paterno was offered the head coaching job of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969. As Chris Chase at Shutdown Corner reminded us, the Rooney family is said to have offered Paterno $70,000 per season to join the Steelers. At the time he was making $20,000 a year at Penn State.
According to the “Pittsburgh Steelers: The Complete Illustrated History,” Paterno said he was close to accepting the position but after a nights sleep he decided to stay at the state college.
He said during the interview, “It was an awful lot of money, a fantastic offer. I’d never dreamed of making that much money. Then I started thinking about what I wanted to do. I had put some things out of whack. I haven’t done the job I set out to do at Penn State.”
The Rooney’s then hired Dolphins assistant Chuck Noll, who went on to win four Super Bowls during his 23-year history with the Steelers.
