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 MOVIE: Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story Originally broadcast on ABC on Dec 7, 1980, this 95 minute made for TV film was shot in Pittsburgh and at Steelers training camp in Latrobe, giving it a real hometown feel. Adapted from Rocky Bleier's 1975 autobiography Fighting Back (written with Terry O’Neill and published by Stein and Day), it also weaves in authentic Steelers history on screen. Many members of the 1980 roster appear as themselves, including Joe Greene, Dwight White, John Banaszak, Gerry Mullins, Sidney Thornton, Steve Furness, Jim Smith, Dwayne Woodruff, Bennie Cunningham, Cliff Stoudt, Gary Dunn, Ron Johnson, Rick Mosier, Larry Brown, Dennis Winston, Steve Courson, and Matt Bahr, with additional cameos by Bubba Smith and sportscasting icon Howard Cosell. Starring Robert Urich as Bleier and Art Carney as Steelers owner Art Rooney, the film traces Bleier's path from making the Steelers in 1968 to being drafted into the U.S. Army and serving in Vietnam. After being wounded by a bullet to the thigh and a grenade to the lower leg, Bleier is told he may never walk again, let alone play football. Backed by his wife Aleta, Rooney, and coach Chuck Noll, he grinds through a long, painful rehabilitation, returns to training camp, and fights his way back onto the roster. The result is one of the most unlikely comebacks in Steelers history, and a reminder that the story is ultimately about resilience and the indomitable spirit of a true hero. |
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