Flying With Woody

Woody Widenhofer was an assistant for the Pittsburg Steelers from 1973-1983 when they were having many of their trips to the Super Bowl.  He was also head coach for Vanderbilt University from 1997-2001. So, it was no surprise to end up on a plane with him when I was flying out of Nashville on a trip during the years he was there.  I didn’t immediately recognize him and wasn’t absolutely sure it was him until after I got off the plane. 

I was seated across the aisle from him during the flight.  I overheard someone who recognized him striking up a conversation about football, but I didn’t pay enough attention to know for sure if it was him.  While I knew the name of the Vanderbilt coach, I didn’t watch enough of their games or coverage to remember what he looked like.  So, I was thinking that both of these guys were just really into football and not anyone noteworthy.  Later when he wasn’t talking about football, I noticed a huge ring on one of his fingers. It appeared to be a championship ring.  At the time, I didn’t know about his association with the Steelers, so I didn’t realize that it was a Super Bowl ring. He was fiddling around with it a lot. I can imagine that a ring that big would be so big that you would end up playing with it, but it was almost like he wanted people like me to notice it.  And I did. 

It wasn’t until after I got off the plane that I was able to find a picture of him and confirm who he was.  That was also when I found out about his history with the Steelers.