[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 6 (Thursday, January 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SALUTE TO STEELERS' ALL PRO RUNNING BACK AND LEGENDARY COACH DICK HOAK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the great 
contribution Coach Dick Hoak has made to professional athletics, the 
game of football, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the people of western 
Pennsylvania.
  Coach Dick Hoak recently announced his retirement from the Steelers' 
organization on January 1 of this year. As he ends an impressive 
career, Dick Hoak can look back on his 45 years of history as part of 
the Steelers' organization. This is an unprecedented run and a shining 
example of consistency in a business best known for its instability 
rather than longevity with one team.
  The first 10 of Dick Hoak's 45-year tenure with the Steelers were not 
spent on the sidelines but, instead, on the playing field. Dick Hoak 
was drafted by the Steelers in 1961, after an impressive high school 
career in football, basketball, and baseball that included a WPIAL 
football championship, and a single-game scoring record of 39 points 
and playing 4 years for Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions, where 
he led the team to a Liberty Bowl victory and was named the MVP.
  Throughout his playing career with the Steelers, Dick Hoak time and 
time again showed he was a talented athlete and a dedicated teammate. 
He led his team in rushing three times and today is the fifth ranked 
rusher in Steeler history, with 3,965 yards rushing. Dick Hoak also 
accumulated an impressive 146 receptions, 33 touchdowns, and a Pro Bowl 
appearance.
  For many players, the culmination of such an impressive record would 
have been enough on which to end a career. However, Dick Hoak, his 
commitment to Pittsburgh and the Steelers would not end there. Only one 
year after retiring from the National Football League, Dick Hoak turned 
down an assistant coaching job at the University of Pittsburgh and 
rejoined the Steelers' organization, this time as an assistant coach 
under Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Noll. During this time, Coach Hoak 
coached the running backs, including the great Franco Harris, through 
four Super Bowl victories, a championship legacy he would later 
recapture under Coach Bill Cowher.
  Under Dick Hoak's leadership as an assistant coach, the Steelers 
dominated the league in rushing yardage. Over the 15 seasons Dick Hoak 
coached for Bill Cowher alone, the Steelers rushed for over 30,000 
yards and led the league in rushing three of those 15 seasons. His 
excellent coaching also added in no small part to the Steelers' Super 
Bowl win last year. The Super Bowl win not only capped Dick Hoak's 
career; it made Hoak one of three people in the Steelers' organization, 
and possibly the only coach in NFL history, to have six Super Bowl 
appearances and five Super Bowl rings with one NFL team.
  Throughout his accomplished career in football, Dick Hoak never let 
Pennsylvania out of his thoughts. Of course, over his long career, 
Coach Hoak was offered positions away from his home State. However, his 
commitment to create a stable environment for his family, and his 
undying loyalty to his team and the owners of the Steelers, the Rooney 
family, kept him in Pennsylvania. He never left to accept an offensive 
coordinator's job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; he never left the 
Rooney family to coach the USFL's Pittsburgh Maulers. Coach Hoak put 
his family first and remained devoted, loyal, and committed to his team 
in western Pennsylvania.
  Coach Hoak was born in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, and continues to live 
in nearby Greensburg in a house he has owned since his early days in 
coaching. His commitment to the Pittsburgh Steelers gave his family 
stability and western Pennsylvania a steady hand at the helm of a 
winning offense. Now that his storied career with the Steelers is 
behind him, Dick Hoak can look forward to another winning team: his 
family. I know his wife, Lynn, his children Kelly, Katie and Rich, and 
his seven grandchildren, including my nephews Michael, Jonathan, and 
Daniel Shuster, are happy to have more time with their Pap-Pap.
  Dick Hoak represents the best attributes of sportsmanship, hard work, 
and commitment. Those are the values that translate from the football 
field to everyday life, and he embodied them with class. Not only that, 
Dick Hoak represents the American Dream. He is an American success 
story who shows if you work hard enough and remain dedicated to your 
goals, you can succeed beyond what you thought possible, into 
excellence and legend.
  I am happy to say congratulations on a great career, and thank you 
for being there when we needed you, Coach Hoak.

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