American journalist and football scout
American football player
William Goldwyn Nunn Jr.
(September 30, 1924 ? May 6, 2014) was an American sportswriter, newspaper editor and
football
scout
for the
Pittsburgh Steelers
in the
National Football League
(NFL) and is a 2021 member of the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
. Due to the fame of his son, actor
William G. Nunn III
, he was also known as Bill Nunn Sr.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Nunn was born and raised in the
Homewood
neighborhood of
Pittsburgh
,
Pennsylvania
. He is the son of William G. Nunn Sr., who was the
managing editor
of the
Pittsburgh Courier
. The Courier was among the most influential black publications in the nation.
[5]
[6]
The younger Nunn attended college at
West Virginia State
where he was a stand-out basketball player on a team which went
26?0
in his senior season.
[7]
His high school and college teammate,
Chuck Cooper
would become the first black player drafted by the
NBA
. Another college teammate,
Earl Lloyd
, was the first black person to play in an NBA game.
[1]
Nunn was recruited by the
Harlem Globetrotters
, but chose instead to return home to Pittsburgh to work at the Courier.
[7]
Journalism
[
edit
]
Nunn started as a sportswriter at the
Courier
, and eventually moved up to become the sports editor and then
managing editor
in the mid-1960s after his father's retirement.
[5]
Scouting career
[
edit
]
As a sportswriter for a black publication, Nunn developed deep knowledge of football programs at
historically black colleges and universities
. The Courier named a "Black College
All-America
" team starting in 1950.
[8]
The
NFL
's
Pittsburgh Steelers
noted Nunn's coverage of these players who were traditionally under-represented in the league and in
1967
Nunn accepted a part-time position on team's
scouting
staff. The sideline became a full-time position two years later when
Chuck Noll
became the team's coach.
[5]
Nunn is most noted for scouting players such as
Mel Blount
,
John Stallworth
,
Donnie Shell
and
Sam Davis
from
historically black colleges and universities
(HBCU) who played integral roles in the Steelers' four
Super Bowl
championships during the 1970s.
[9]
In the case of Stallworth, scouts from various NFL teams observed him run the
40-yard dash
on a wet
track
at
Alabama A&M University
and were disappointed by the results. Nunn was the only scout to stay an additional day and watched Stallworth run a better time on a dry track. Nunn also had obtained the only college game film of Stallworth that existed through his relationships with HBCU coaches, and it was alleged that he withheld it from other NFL teams.
[10]
Personal
[
edit
]
Nunn lived with his wife, Frances, in the Schenley Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
[11]
Their son
Bill
was an actor; he played Radio Raheem in
Do The Right Thing
. Because of his son's fame, the elder Nunn referred to himself as Bill Nunn Sr.
[5]
Their daughter, Lynell Wilson, is a former U.S. Attorney.
[5]
Nunn died on May 6, 2014, at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
, two weeks after suffering a
stroke
.
[12]
Burial was at
Homewood Cemetery
, Pittsburgh.
[13]
Posthumously in 2021, Bill Nunn was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as a contributor.
[14]
As a Steelers Scout, 13 of his players who were drafted were also enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
The Bill Nunn Award
[
edit
]
Per the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
"The Bill Nunn Memorial Award is presented annually by the Professional Football Writers of America in recognition of long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football. The award, which originated in 1969, was renamed in 2021 in tribute to Nunn, a longtime writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Courier.
In addition to his esteemed career in journalism, Nunn worked for roughly half a century in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ scouting department. In 2021, he became the first African American elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Contributor category."
[15]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Gorman, Kevin (February 26, 2010).
"Nunn a champion for change"
.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
. Archived from
the original
on March 5, 2010
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
"2010 Inductees"
. Black College Football Hall of Fame. Archived from
the original
on 2010-02-20
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
Labriola, Bob (February 19, 2010).
"Nunn to be enshrined on Saturday"
.
Steelers.com
. Archived from
the original
on March 25, 2010
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
"PPFHOF Inductees"
.
PPFHOF
. March 15, 2011
. Retrieved
May 14,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Finder, Chuck (July 24, 2006).
"Q&A: Bill Nunn Sr"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. pp. D-2
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
Varley, Teresa (February 27, 2007).
"Long-time scout Bill Nunn is a man who made a difference"
.
Steelers.com
. Archived from
the original
on February 10, 2009
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Bouchette, Ed (February 20, 2010).
"Steelers scout Nunn receives honor"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
.
Archived
from the original on February 23, 2014
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
Yardley, William (May 9, 2014).
"Bill Nunn, Scout Who Shaped Steelers' Super Bowl Teams, Dies at 89"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on May 12, 2014
. Retrieved
May 13,
2014
.
- ^
Varley, Teresa. "Nunn's impact was felt by many," Steelers.com, Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
Archived
December 22, 2022, at the
Wayback Machine
Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^
"Assembling the Class of 1974," Steelers.com, Sunday, April 20, 2014.
Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^
Vancheri, Barbara (July 27, 1992).
"Bill Nunn"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. p. 19
. Retrieved
March 12,
2010
.
- ^
Fittapaldo, Ray; Bouchette, Ed (May 7, 2014).
"Bill Nunn Jr., longtime Steelers scout, dies at 89"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
.
Archived
from the original on May 7, 2014
. Retrieved
May 7,
2014
.
- ^
"William G. Nunn Jr"
.
TheHomewoodCemetery.com
. Archived from
the original
on 17 November 2015
. Retrieved
13 November
2015
.
- ^
"Bill Nunn, key scout for Steelers, heads to Hall of Fame"
.
ca.sports.yahoo.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2021-09-25
. Retrieved
2021-07-30
.
- ^
"Bill Nunn Memorial Award Winners"
.
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Quarterbacks
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Running backs
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Wide receivers /
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Tight ends
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Offensive
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Pre-modern era
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Defensive
linemen
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Defensive backs
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Special teams
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Coaches
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Contributors
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Italics
denotes members who have been elected, but not yet inducted.
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