Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

The Steelers (Pirates) had a tailback who had a really great season in 1934. His name was Warren Heller and he starred at Pitt in his college days. He went from that fantastic season (the team was actually terrible, but statistically by a measure Dan Daly came up with, it was the 3rd best tailback season post 1932) to playing only two more seasons and those in a reserve role.

Anyway, he even had one final good game in a post-season all-star game against collegians that doesn't mention an injury. Yet for some reason, Pittsburgh kicked off the '35 season with this backfield:

Cy Casper/TCU – Quarterback
Johnny Gildea/St. Bonaventure – Halfback
Heinie Weisenbaugh/Pittsburgh – Halfback
Swede Ellstrom/Oklahoma – Fullback

Any idea what happened to Heller? Must have been an offseason injury, right? Thanks for any help.

Thanks Rupert. It looks like your article is from '37 which is consistent with him moving on to a career in coaching after retirement, but what I'm puzzled by is the post '34 statistical dropoff. Check out PFR: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... llWa20.htm. He went from being the team's leader on the field as the tailback in '34 (500+ yards rushing and 500+ yards passing) to a reserve who didn't miss any games (as typically happens when a player is injured) in '35 and '36. Wondering if it may have been a shoulder injury as his tailback days seem to have ended after '34 and in '36 when his rushing attempts went back up, he wasn't doing any passing. Or it could be, Joe Bach wasn't all that impressed with the 2-10 '34 season and associated it with Heller. This is his bio on Pitt's website:

Warren Heller became a consensus All-American for Pitt in 1932 after leading the Panthers in both rushing and passing for the third consecutive season. He was able to kick, pass, run the ball, block and play defensive back. Heller finished his career with 1,949 rushing yards. He rushed for 200 yards in the Panthers' 19-12 win against Penn State in 1930. He went on to play three seasons in the NFL at halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I found another article about Heller from the 11/23/37 Pittsburgh Press page 33 "Ranger-Warren Pro Tilt Tops Sandlot Card" which mentions that Heller also started his own semi-pro team in 1937 out of Warren PA called Warren Heller's Pros and they lost only twice on the season to that point, to the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Rams.

Thanks Rupert. This could be a tough one - if he did get hurt between '34 and '35, the newspapers may not have even documented it.

TanksAndSpartans wrote:

Any idea what happened to Heller? Must have been an offseason injury, right? Thanks for any help.

I'm guessing it was due to a coaching change - Luby Di Meolo was replaced by Joe Bach - and thus a switch from the single-wing to the Notre Dame system/formation?

Thanks Tod. I didn't catch the coaching change. That's definitely a factor that can have an impact on starting lineups - I appreciate it.

I wonder what preseason consisted of in '35? Maybe Bach just went with the lineup he liked based on preseason since he wasn't around to see how the players performed in '34. Also, maybe some of the new backs he considered "his guys".