In the fold
NEW CANAAN, Conn. — Terry Hanratty has his priorities in order.
So, two years ago, when his former employer, the Pittsburgh Steelers, called the Butler graduate and ex-quarterback to invite him to participate in the NFL Draft, he respectfully declined.
“My son was playing in Notre Dame's spring game that weekend. That's where I had to be,” Hanratty said.
Conor Hanratty is still an offensive guard with the Fighting Irish, but the draft was moved back to May this year.
So the Steelers called again.
“I was excited to come,” Hanratty, now 66, said. “Every NFL team selects one former player to announce its second-round pick and I was thrilled they thought of me.
“I knew it'd be a lot of fun. I was just hoping they'd select a name I could pronounce.”
The Steelers did better than that. Their second-round pick was Notre Dame defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt. Hanratty had no problem with that pronunciation.
Tuitt is one of Conor's best friends.
“As a junior two years ago, he was unblockable,” Hanratty said. “Last year, a sports hernia set him back. Now he's 100 percent healthy.
“He's a great kid and that was a great pick. Stephon will serve the Steelers well. When he and (ND defensive lineman Louis) Nix were still on the board and given the Steelers' needs on defense, I figured there was a good chance I'd be announcing one of them. That worked out well.”
So did the entire draft weekend for Hanratty. All of the alumni representatives were flown in Thursday, were treated to a luncheon with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and had hours to chat about old times.
“I played against a lot of the guys who were there — Bengals cornerback Ken Riley, Oilers nose guard Curly Culp, Atlanta's Claude Humphrey ... and I was a teammate of kicker Gene Mingo, who was there for the Denver Broncos,” Hanratty said.
“We shared a lot of laughs, not about any particular game or anything, just about our time in the league.”The Steelers' second-round draft selection and 30th overall pick in 1969, Hanratty's pro statistics were less than stellar: 24 touchdown passes, 35 interceptions, 2,510 yards and a 38 percent completion rate.But as a rookie with the Steelers, he was in games and calling his own plays.“That would be unheard of today,” he said. “All of the Steeler quarterbacks called their own plays back then.“The biggest change in the NFL from when I played until now is the quarterback position. If I ran downfield and slid into the turf, there'd be four helmets in my back. Sitting back in the shotgun, getting more time to look over the defense ... yeah, I would have loved a crack of that.“People used to criticize Franco Harris for running out of bounds to avoid being hit. Now everybody does it,” Hanratty added.Conor Hanratty has two more years at Notre Dame and is the starting left guard now. He stands 6-foot-4, 309 pounds, and played for two Connecticut state championship teams at New Canaan High School.As for a shot at the NFL down the road? That's anybody's guess.“There were always size restrictions in the youth leagues Conor played in as a kid and he was always too big to play in the backfield,” Hanratty said. “We just take football day by day. Football is not a career.“Playing pro ball is a temporary priviliege. You get five to seven years if you're lucky.”That's why Hanratty is unsure hiow the current lawsuits against the NFL, levied by former players, should be handled.“To me, it's all hindsight on both sides,” he said. “In terms of pain killers and concussions ... Nobody knew then what we know today.“A fund should be established for the guys who really, really need it. But I'd be asking those former players, if you knew then what you know now, would you still have played? I think I know the answer.“Concussions are tough. Everybody's mind is different. Everybody is affected differently by a concussion. How do you gauge that stuff?,” he added.Hanratty recalled suffering a concussion at Pitt Stadium after being bear-hugged and slammed to the turf by Green Bay linebacker Ray Nitschke.“That type of play is illegal today,” Hanratty said, laughing. “Anyway, I banged my head, was knocked out for a minute or two and was pretty woozy after that.“I had three touchdown passes in that game, was having a good day and after a few minutes, wanted to go back in. I told Chuck (Noll) I was OK. He told me I was done for the day ... no doctors or trainers, just him.“The man knew what he was talking about.”
