April 21: Rocky Bleier to speak
Former Steeler Rocky Bleier to speak on importance of perseverance
8:13 a.m., April 14, 2015--Vietnam veteran and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rocky Bleier will discuss his experiences and the importance of perseverance during a University of Delaware InterFraternity Council presentation at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 21, at Mitchell Hall.
The presentation is free, and the doors of Mitchell Hall will open at 6:30 p.m.
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Bleier played collegiate football at the University of Notre Dame, winning the 1966 national championship, and was drafted by the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
Following his rookie season with the Steelers in 1968, he also was drafted by the U.S. Army and went off to fight in Vietnam.
His unit was on patrol in August 1969 when it was ambushed in a rice paddy. Bleier was shot in the left thigh then hit again by shrapnel from a hand grenade.
Doctors said he could never play football again but Bleier persevered and rejoined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974, and went on to win four Super Bowl rings with the team.
Bleier wrote a book about his experiences, Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story.