Joe Walton died yesterday at the age of 85. He lived a rich and full life, and by any measure he is one of the more distinguished football personages to ever come out of Western Pennsylvania.
A high school football star out of Beaver Falls, he was a two time All-American at Pitt, played eight years in the NFL with the Giants and the Washington Football Team, had a long coaching career that included seven years as a head coach with the Jets, and ended, seemingly, after a two year stint as the Steelers Offensive Coordinator under Chuck Noll. His tenure with the Steelers was a controversial one, and was highlighted by frequent clashes with his quarterback, one Walter "Bubby" Brister. It didn't end well for Walton.
After that, and seemingly out of nowhere, Robert Morris College came calling and asked if Walton would be willing to become head coach of the Colonials brand new starting-from-scratch Division I-AA football program. Walton said yes and the rest was history. As a football program, Robert Morris College, later to become Robert Morris University, was relevant from the start. Walton coached the Colonials for 20 seasons, had a 114-92-1 record, including one undefeated season, and his teams won outright or shared six conference championships in his tenure. So it was with some measure of pride that this RMU alum saw that the lead in the obituary for this football lifer focused on his impact at Robert Morris. Such impact was expressed much better in this 2013 Ron Cook column that was written when Walton retired from RMU in 2013.
Oh, and, yes, I do have one personal Joe Walton story to share. Many years ago, I played in a golf outing sponsored by the Colonial Athletic Club. In the post round festivities at Blackhawk Golf Course - right near Beaver Falls! - Joe Walton and all of the other various RMU coaches were there. It was announced that one of the gift baskets to be raffled off was a "Steelers Basket" that was donated by the NFL team. I was standing near Walton at the time, and I said that I think the centerpiece for the basket was an autographed photo of Bubby Brister. The Coach looked at me and offered a wry chuckle at my comment.
Oh, and one other Fun Fact about Joe Walton. His father, Frank "Tiger" Walton, a Beaver Falls legend himself, also played in the NFL, and when Joe made his debut with the Washington, he became the first son of a former NFL player to play in the league. How's that for a good trivia question?
RIP Coach Joe Walton
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