Tom Miner 1958

[LeonardRachiele]

Tom Miner was a great offensive end who was as equally effective on defense … led the Hurricanes in receiving for the 1951 and 1953 seasons … caught 31 passes for 459 yards as a sophomore, and had 18 receptions for 363 yards and a 20.1 average per catch his senior season … also handled the placekicking duties in his three seasons, leading Tulsa in scoring in 1952 with 74 points on five TDs, one field goal and 41 PATs … was an All-Missouri Valley Conference performer in 1951 and `53 … went on to play professionally with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was a longtime professional scout.

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Just after New Years in 1988, I saw the obituary in the Tucson, AZ Star about the death of Tom Miner. He had been a scout for the University of Arizona and was just 55. As shown, Miner was very versatile, playing both offense and defense, in addition to placekicking. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Miner in 1955 but he went to Canada instead. Finally, Pittsburgh signed TM just a few months before the start of the 1958 season.

For years, the Steelers had been looking for a dependable placekicker. Pittsburgh had an exhibition game at Green Bay. A hard steady rain began about 12 hours before the kickoff and continued throughout the game. On the muddy slippery field, Tom Miner kicked a 47 yard field goal with 12 seconds left in the game to give Pittsburgh a 3 to 0 victory.

When the games counted, Miner set a Steeler record and, for the season, led the NFL with 14 field goals. Tom was also perfect in all 31 extra point attempts. It seemed like the Steelers’ search for reliable placekicker was over. Much to my surprise, the Steelers released Miner in August of 1959 and no other NFL team signed him.

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[RichardBak]

Miner left Canada after he messed up his right knee and Calgary cut him. Pittsburgh signed him with the understanding that they'd take care of the medical expenses. I believe he was the last player cut by Buddy Parker just before the '59 season started. Miner had just reinjured his knee in an exhibition game against the Cardinals, and Parker had Bobby Layne (good on accuracy but limited range) and Tom Tracy to take over kicking duties. Still, cutting Miner was a bit of a shock. Also, Parker needed to make room on his 36-man roster for Buddy Dial, who had just been released by the NYG.

[LeonardRachiele]

Two years after Miner died, or in 1990 at last he was inducted into the Tulsa University Hall of Fame. After 1958, he became a scout for several college teams. He was living in Tucson, AZ at the time of his death as stated Jan 1, 1988