Steelers' Legendary Scout Bill Nunn Lives On Through Dan Colbert As The 2023 NFL Draft Approaches

With the 2023 NFL Draft right around the corner, the Pittsburgh Steelers look to make a huge splash. Pittsburgh currently holds four picks within the first 80 of this year's draft and Director of College Scouting Dan Colbert, son of former general manager, Kevin Colbert, is ready to make this year special.

Top college recruits for the Steelers

This year is the first draft under general manager, Omar Khan, as well as Dan Colbert who was promoted with Khan. Both have a big task at hand in bringing in some of the top college recruits for the Steelers. With Kevin Colbert being busy as the GM, it left him little time to help his son to be prepared for a bigger role. Dan Colbert recently spoke on The Standard: Pittsburgh Steelers and talked about who made an impact most on his career:

"He [Kevin Colbert] didn't really have the time to sit down and go over every little thing I was doing. The one person who influenced me the most was Bill Nunn."

Bill Nunn started his career working as a journalist for his father with the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the most influential black publications at the time. Through this, he developed a knowledge of historically black college football players. Nunn would then be brought in as a part-time position on the team as a scout and would mainly focus on bringing in these underappreciated players. 

Later when Chuck Noll would be brought onto the scene, Nunn would be given a full-time job with the Steelers. Nunn is responsible for bringing in players such as Mel Blount, John Stallworth, Donnie Shell, and many others from historically black colleges, who played pivotal roles in the '70's when the Steelers' Super Bowl dynasty began. As a very influential peace to Steelers history, Dan Colbert describes his relationship with Nunn:

"I got to drive him home every day. He challenged me to think a little more critically when watching film." As well as "He would ask me some hard questions and he would demand answers." Colbert then states, "When you get put on the spot like that, I think it's a really good way to learn."

In 2021, alongside being a part of the Black College Football Hall of Fame and the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor, Bill Nunn was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He would become the first African American to be elected in the Contributor category. Steelers legend Mel Blount had this to say about Nunn when he found out about the election:

"You cannot write the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers without Bill Nunn. When you look at the Steelers of the 1970's, none of that would have happened without Bill Nunn."

With this year's draft around two months away, Pittsburgh hopes to have a Bill Nunn-like draft this year and Dan Colbert can hopefully follow in his mentor's footsteps and bring in someone like Mel Blount and John Stallworth. Only time will tell however the leadership and knowing that Colbert has experience working with the likes of Nunn makes the confidence going into this year's draft much higher.

So, what do you think Steeler Nation? Do you have confidence that the Steelers can draft something like Bill Nunn would have done in the '70's? Does Colbert's relationship with Nunn make you more confident in this year's draft? Let me know in the comments below!

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