Tuesday, March 11, 2025

To Absent Friends - Craig Wolfley

Craig Wolfley
1958-2025


Craig Wolfley, who played on the Steelers offensive line for ten seasons through the 1980's and '90's, and who has been a member of the team's radio broadcasting team since 2022, died yesterday at the age of 66.  He was also a prominent member of the Steelers Alumni Organization and was active in local community charitable organizations, most notably the Salvation Army.

As a broadcaster, Wolfley was not my particular cup of tea with his penchant for making up words like "gription" (?) and "trickertion".  In fact, "Trickeration" became a sort of trademark for him and the word has actually become almost acceptable usage, at least around Pittsburgh, in describing certain aspects of a football game.  He also liked to say that an apparently injured player appeared "to have a hitch in his giddy-up", a phrase that made my teeth grind.

But what the hell, Wolf was a maybe-not-great-but-still-pretty-damned-good-Steeler from the Chuck Noll Era, and by all accounts a really good guy.  He also became an authentic local character within the Pittsburgh sports scene, and there's nothing wrong with that.

RIP Craig Wolfley



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