Why isn’t Bill Nunn already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
There has yet to be one African-American in the Pro Football Hall of Fame that was sent there as a “contributor”, but former Pittsburgh Steelers scout Bill Nunn could be the man to buck that trend given the renewed interest in getting the late executive into Canton.
NFL analyst Jim Trotter made sure to campaign for Nunn’s election to the Hall of Fame in 2021, citing the vital role he had in assembling the vaunted Steelers teams of the 1970s.
We received our first reduction ballot this week for 2021 Contributors candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here's one person I made sure to include on my ballot: Bill Nunn. pic.twitter.com/VRssGAI73j
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) July 9, 2020
Bill Nunn needs to be in Canton right now.
Nunn started out his career as a writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American weekly newspaper. His “Black College All-America” team was a Courier staple for nearly 20 years, and it was used by teams all over the league to scout the best HBCU players across. He eventually joined the Steelers full-time in 1970 as an assistant personnel director.
During that time, he helped draft three Hall of Famers from HBCUs, all of whom played integral roles within a franchise that won four titles in six years. Southern’s Mel Blount is considered by many to be the best cornerback of his era, Alabama A&M’s John Stallworth was Terry Bradshaw’s preferred receiver, and South Carolina State’s Donnie Shell would really lay some wood at his safety position.
Three-fourths of that famous Steeler defensive line came from HBCUs, as Texas A&M-Commerce’s Dwight White, Texas Southern’s Ernie Holmes, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s LC Greenwood can all be credited as finds straight from the mind of Nunn.
Right up until his death in 2014, Nunn served as a scout with Pittsburgh, and his passing brought an end to an amazing 44-year career with the Steelers. Trotter claims that the main reason that he isn’t in Canton is the fact that he was never named GM. Considering that the NFL didn’t have a black GM until Ozzie Newsome in 2002, it’s hard to judge Nunn using those criteria.
Nunn’s tactics made the Steelers the team of the 1970s while showing that HBCU players can be Hall of Famers and key contributors on some of the greatest teams of all time. Someone has to be the first African-American contributor to make it into Canton, and Nunn is more than worthy.