| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Position | Scout |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1924-09-30)September 30, 1924 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | May 6, 2014(2014-05-06) (aged 89) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Westinghouse (Pittsburgh) |
| College | West Virginia State College[1] |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
William Goldwyn Nunn Jr. (September 30, 1924 – May 6, 2014) was an American sportswriter, newspaper editor andfootballscout for thePittsburgh Steelers in theNational Football League (NFL) and is a 2021 member of thePro Football Hall of Fame. Due to the fame of his son, actorWilliam G. Nunn III, he was also known as Bill Nunn Sr.
Nunn was born and raised in theHomewood neighborhood ofPittsburgh,Pennsylvania. He is the son of William G. Nunn Sr., who was themanaging editor of thePittsburgh Courier. The Courier was among the most influential black publications in the nation.[5][6]
The younger Nunn attended college atWest Virginia State where he was a stand-out basketball player on a team which went26–0 in his senior season.[7] His high school and college teammate,Chuck Cooper would become the first black player drafted by theNBA. Another college teammate,Earl Lloyd, was the first black person to play in an NBA game.[1]
Nunn was recruited by theHarlem Globetrotters, but chose instead to return home to Pittsburgh to work at the Courier.[7]
Nunn started as a sportswriter at theCourier, and eventually moved up to become the sports editor and thenmanaging editor in the mid-1960s after his father's retirement.[5]
As a sportswriter for a black publication, Nunn developed deep knowledge of football programs athistorically black colleges and universities. The Courier named a "Black CollegeAll-America" team starting in 1950.[8] TheNFL'sPittsburgh Steelers noted Nunn's coverage of these players who were traditionally under-represented in the league and in1967 Nunn accepted a part-time position on team'sscouting staff. The sideline became a full-time position two years later whenChuck Noll became the team's coach.[5]
Nunn is most noted for scouting players such asMel Blount,John Stallworth,Donnie Shell andSam Davis fromhistorically black colleges and universities (HBCU) who played integral roles in the Steelers' fourSuper Bowl championships during the 1970s.[9] In the case of Stallworth, scouts from various NFL teams observed him run the40-yard dash on a wettrack atAlabama 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]
Nunn lived with his wife, Frances, in the Schenley Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh.[11] Their sonBill was an actor; he played Radio Raheem inDo 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 theUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center, two weeks after suffering astroke.[12] Burial was atHomewood 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.
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]