I am proud that I grew up in Beaver Falls and always have loved bragging about our fabulous sports heritage. That starts, of course, with our two famous football Joes: Joe Namath, who brought more fame to the NFL than any player, and Joe Walton, a legend in his own right as a player and a coach.
Today is a day to remember Walton, who passed away Sunday at 85.
We lost a great man.
At Pitt, Walton was a two-time All-American tight end. He was just as proud that he also was an Academic All-American.
In the NFL, Walton played eight seasons with Washington and the New York Giants. As my Beaver Falls pal Charles Wayne reminded me Monday, Walton had three touchdown catches in two different games with the Giants in 1962. Can you imagine how great it would be if Pat Freiermuth does that with the Steelers this season? Walton’s Giants teams were loaded with future Hall of Famers Y.A. Tittle, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Andy Robustelli and Roosevelt Brown and went to the NFL championship game in three consecutive seasons.
“It was the most magical time of my life,” Walton said in November 2013. “We were celebrities in New York. We were treated like show-biz people. We were rock stars.”
And Walton’s career as a coach?
Let his most prized player answer that question.
“Coach Joe Walton passed today,” Joe Theismann tweeted Sunday. “He was my coach, and my friend. He taught me how to play QB at the pro level. He touched so many lives whether it was in pro ball or at the college level. We all have a part of Joe with us. Rest in Peace Pops.”
A personal note:
The first story I was assigned to do after being hired by the Pittsburgh Press in October 1983 was a piece on Walton, then in his first season as head coach of the New York Jets. When I got to New York, my contact was a young guy named Roger Goodell, who basically chauffeured me around for three days. Goodell was an intern with the Jets that season.
One of us went on to be rather successful, wouldn’t you agree?
“I’ll always be grateful for everything you did for me,” Goodell wrote in a letter to Walton after being named NFL commissioner in August 2006.
That was one of Walton’s most treasured possessions.
Walton didn’t have much success with the Jets, going 53-57 from 1983-89 and winning just one playoff game. It was his only head coaching gig.
“I can’t complain,” Walton said. “I had my shot.”
Walton’s final NFL job went badly. He was the Steelers’ offensive coordinator under Chuck Noll in 1990 and 1991. The team went 9-7 and 7-9 and failed to make the playoffs in either season. A lot of fans were quick to point out there was no “O” in Joe, although Bubby Brister deserves much of the blame. He didn’t share Theismann’s respect for Walton and complained that his playbook was too complex. Brister sabotaged the team’s chances.
“I took the fall there,” Walton said. “It’s the same playbook I use here.”
This was during that interview in November 2013. I spent a few hours with Walton before he coached his final game at Robert Morris after a remarkable 20-year run. He built that program from scratch in the summer of 1993 — “No players, no locker room, no practice field, no equipment, nothing,” he said — and made it into a top Division I-AA program. The school won or shared six Northeast Conference championships under his watch.
That interview took place in Walton’s office in the appropriately named Joe Walton Stadium on Robert Morris’ thriving campus in Moon.
It’s not much of a reach to say that Walton did much of the heavy lifting to put the university on the map.
“I like to think I had a part in the transformation of this school,” he said. “We used to be a business school for commuters. Now look at us. This place is amazing. I’m so proud that maybe I had a little bit to do with it.”
Walton is gone now, but he always will be a Beaver Falls treasure. I’m proud to say I come from the same hometown.
Long live Joe Namath.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter @RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: August 17, 2021, 9:56 a.m.
Updated: August 17, 2021, 12:26 p.m.
