Numerous Pittsburgh Steelers players remain a part of the "family" long after their playing days are over. We revere them as heroes and welcome them back on the sidelines of games and at alumni events with open arms. One player who fell into that category was Tunch Ilkin, who came to Pittsburgh as a center, stayed as an offensive tackle, and remained a media member.
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Former Steelers teammates Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley continued to work together after their playing days were over.
Ilkin played for Pittsburgh for 13 seasons after being drafted by them in the sixth round in 1980. He wasn't a shoo-in as a starter, so he worked hard to earn his way into the lineup. After realizing he wouldn't win the starting center job over Mike Webster, he shifted his focus to offensive tackle. Ultimately, he went to two Pro Bowls and was named a Steelers Hall of Honor member.
In Ilkin's book In The Locker Room, he discusses his struggle to make the team. Initially, he was constantly worried he would get cut, and it made him sick to his stomach. It was so bad that the offense wouldn't want to huddle up with Ilkin because he would vomit. So Ilkin used that to his advantage in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns.
In his book, he recounted the story of Browns nose tackle, Ron Simmons, who liked to be on top of the ball. Since it was preseason, Ilkin got a rare chance to play center. His teammate and best friend Craig Wolfley told the Simmons story from his perspective too in Ilkin's book. He said Cliff Stoudt was in at quarterback and called a Toss 33 Trap play where Wolfley and Ilkin would double team the nose tackle Simmons. He said he heard Ilkin's stomach begin to gurgle and knew they were in trouble.
"We went down into our three-point stance, and at the snap of the ball, two things simultaneously happened: Tunch snapped the ball back into Stoudt's hands and violently vomited into the face of Simmons," retold Wolfley. "It came out like a fire hose. While he was vomiting and launching into Simmons, I was coming down on a double team to his hip. Simmons stood up and screamed with both hands, and we pushed him like 15 yards down the field."
Wolfley said it was the best double team he had ever seen. They slammed Simmons to the ground, and when they all got up, Simmons was furious, wiping vomit off his face. He said that no one else on the offense knew what happened except for Stoudt, who'd seen it all and was quite impressed. Stoudt wanted to know if Ilkin had a big enough lunch to run that play again.
As for Simmons, he backed a few yards off the ball during the next play, having no desire to get close to Ilkin again. But Head Coach Chuck Noll wasn't happy that the group wasn't huddling up tight.
"Even funnier is after that series, Chuck [Noll] started yelling at me as we came to the sideline because I had left a gap in the huddle. He said, 'Wolf, you've got to understand they're reading Stoudt's lips,' because Stoudt was right across Tunch in the huddle and you could see him talk if I wasn't in my normal spot," said Wolfley. "He said, 'Bunch it up.' I said, 'I would, but Tunch chucked on my foot, Coach.' Tunch came walking by, and Chuck said, 'What?' Almost on command, Tunch threw up, and it nearly landed on Chuck, who said, 'Oh, okay.'"
Ilkin made the team as a backup that year, and Wolfley made it as a starter. Ilkin would stay longer than most of those early teammates. He even outlasted Noll and played for Bill Cowher for a season before moving on to the Green Bay Packers for a year.
He returned to Pittsburgh, where he belonged, and began working as a commentator and analyst. He joined Myron Cope and Bill Hillgrove and worked the sidelines with his buddy Wolfley.
Emily Matthews / Post-Gazette
Steelers' Alex Highsmith (right) and Craig Wolfley (center) during a prayer for Tunch Ilkin (left), who was diagnosed with ALS.
In 2020, Ilkin announced that he had ALS, which led to him retiring about a year later. Sadly, he passed away only a few months later, and the city mourned the loss of one of its most loyal sons.
Steelers Are In The Market For A Center
Ilkin wasn't able to realize his dream of playing center for the Steelers, but was able to pivot to another position along the offensive line. It would have been hard for anyone to take the job from Webster. The Steelers have a long history of building powerful offensive lines around solid centers: Webster, Maurkice Pouncey, and Dermontti Dawson, to name a few. However, a good center is hard to find, and the Steelers are back on the market looking for the next great addition.
Most analysts speculate that the Steelers will use their first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to pursue Jackson Powers-Johnson out of the University of Oregon. Powers-Johnson is considered the best center in this draft and is billed as a "generational talent."
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Pittsburgh Steelers' dynamic duo - Ben Roethlisberger (7) and Maurkice Pouncey (53).
The Steelers have other needs, and there is always a possibility they will miss out on Powers-Johnson. If that is the case, there are a few other centers, such as Zach Frazier from West Virginia and Sedrick Van Pran from Georgia. There is even a chance that General Manager Omar Khan could engineer a trade for a center.
Do you have memories of Ilkin and Wolfley? Click to comment below!
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