I began following sports seriously in 1959, the year that I attended my first Pirates game. What quickly followed under the tutelage of my Dad, two older brothers, and my grandfather was fandom for the Steelers, Duquesne basketball, and Pitt football. Given that era, the first real "star" Pitt football player of whom I was aware was Paul Martha, who died this past week at the age of 80.
Martha, a native of Wilkensburg who went to Shady Side Academy, was an All-American at Pitt who made the cover of Street and Smith's College Football Annual, and this was at a time when Street and Smith's had only one cover, not a half dozen or so regional covers, so this was a really, really big deal.
Paul Martha
1942-2023
Even more exciting, Martha became the first round draft selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1964.
Martha had a solid seven year NFL career with the Steelers and Broncos, but while playing for pay, he also attended Duquesne University law school and earned his law degree and began a highly successful second act. He eventually became corporate counsel for the DeBartolo Corporation whereupon he became their key executive in running Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, the Pittsburgh Penguins, San Francisco 49'ers, Pittsburgh Maulers, and Pittsburgh Spirit. Martha's fingerprints can be found, deservedly so, on two of the Penguins' Stanley Cups and a couple for the 49'ers Lombardi Trophies.
Martha dropped from public sight in recent years, and it was reported that he was afflicted with dementia in his declining years. His death notices indicated that he was happy in those years as a loving father and grandfather.
RIP Paul Martha.
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