Robert Patrick "Rocky" Bleier ( , born March 5, 1946) is an American former professional football player and a veteran of the United States Army. He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968 and from 1970 to 1980.
Origin of nickname
Nicknamed "Rocky" as a baby, Bleier said, "As the first born of the family, my dad was proud, as all parents are. And the guys would come into the bar and say 'Bob, how's that new kid of yours?' And my dad would go, 'Aw, you should see him, guys, looks like a little rock sitting in that crib. He's got all these muscles.' So they'd come back in the bar and they'd say, 'Hey Bob, how's that little rock of yours?' So after that, that's how I got it. It stuck." who ran a tavern, Bleier's Bar, while the family of six lived above it. He had a paper route as a youth, and graduated from Xavier High School in 1964, where he starred in football and basketball. In football, Bleier was a three-time all-state selection as running back, and won all-conference honors at both linebacker and defensive back. He was a team captain in football, basketball, and track.
Bleier played college football at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and graduated in 1968 with a degree in business management. During his junior season in 1966, the Fighting Irish won the national championship and he was a team captain as a senior in 1967. His right foot was severely damaged in the blast as well. He was later awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
While he was recovering in a hospital in Tokyo, doctors told him he should not expect to ever play football again. Soon after, he received a postcard from Steelers owner Art Rooney which simply read "Rock - the team's not doing well. We need you. Art Rooney". Bleier later said, "When you have somebody take the time and interest to send you a postcard, something that they didn't have to do, you have a special place for those kinds of people". After several surgeries, he was discharged from the Army in July 1970, and began informal workouts with Steeler teammates.
NFL career
thumb|left|President [[Jimmy Carter and Bleier following the Steelers' Super Bowl XIV victory]]
Bleier rejoined the Steelers in camp in 1970. Upon his return, he couldn't walk without being in pain, and weighed only . He was put on injured reserve for the season, but returned in 1971 and played on special teams. with 3,865 rushing yards, 136 receptions for 1,294 yards, and 25 touchdowns. At the time of his retirement, he was the Steelers' fourth all-time leading rusher.
NFL career statistics
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| Won the Super Bowl
|-
| Bold
| Career high
|}
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="2"| Games
! colspan="5"| Rushing
! colspan="5"| Receiving
|-
! GP !! GS !! Att !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD
|-
! 1968 || PIT
| 10 || 0 || 6 || 39 || 6.5 || 21 || 0 || 3 || 68 || 22.7 || 54 || 0
|-
! 1969 || PIT
| 0 || 0 || colspan="10"| Did not play due to service in Vietnam War
|-
! 1970 || PIT
| 0 || 0 || colspan="10"| Did not play due to injury
|-
! 1971 || PIT
| 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 1972 || PIT
| 14 || 0 || 1 || 17 || 17.0 || 17 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 1973 || PIT
| 12 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 1974 || style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|PIT
| 12 || 7 || 88 || 373 || 4.2 || 18 || 2 || 7 || 87 || 12.4 || 24 || 0
|-
! 1975 || style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|PIT
| 11 || 11 || 140 || 528 || 3.8 || 17 || 2 || 15 || 65 || 4.3 || 13 || 0
|-
! 1976 || PIT
| 14 || 14 || 220 || 1,036 || 4.7 || 28 || 5 || 24 || 294 || 12.3 || 32 || 0
|-
! 1977 || PIT
| 13 || 13 || 135 || 465 || 3.4 || 16 || 4 || 18 || 161 || 8.9 || 30 || 0
|-
! |1978 || style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|PIT
| 16 || 16 || 165 || 633 || 3.8 || 24 || 5 || 17 || 168 || 9.9 || 32 || 1
|-
! 1979 || style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|PIT
| 16 || 7 || 92 || 434 || 4.7 || 70 || 4 || 31 || 277 || 8.9 || 28 || 0
|-
! 1980 || PIT
| 16 || 6 || 78 || 340 || 4.4 || 19 || 1 || 21 || 174 || 8.3 || 17 || 1
|-
! colspan="2"|Career !! 140 !! 74 !! 928 !! 3,865 !! 4.2 !! 70 !! 23 !! 136 !! 1,294 !! 9.5 !! 54 !! 2
|}
Off the field
200px|right|thumb|Bleier signs an autograph at the North Dakota National Guard's 2009 Safety Conference in [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck.]] Bleier wrote a book about his struggle to recover from his war wounds called Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story, and it was made into a television movie in 1980 with Robert Urich starring as Bleier, Richard Herd as Steelers coach Chuck Noll, Art Carney as team owner Art Rooney, and many of Bleier's teammates including Matt Bahr and "Mean Joe" Greene as themselves. Bleier is featured in the 2014 feature documentary "Project 22", which chronicles the cross-country motorcycle journey of two young veterans exploring alternative treatments for PTSD and TBI.
Bleier has four children. He has two children from his marriage with Aleta Giacobine Whitaker, from whom he was divorced in October 1996. He also has two adopted children with his second wife, Jan Gyurina.
Bleier has become an author and speaker on retirement and financial management. He has authored the book Don't Fumble Your Retirement and is the co-host of a weekly radio show The Rock on Retirement on Pittsburgh radio station 104.7 FM WPGB. He runs Bleier Zagula Financial with his business partner Matt Zagula.
Honors
The football stadium at Xavier High School was renamed Rocky Bleier Field on the Knights of Columbus Sports Complex on October 12, 2007. Bleier tossed the coin to start the high school football game that evening. He had spoken earlier in the day to students at an assembly. The entire student body wore T-shirts with his number 23, the only number retired in the school's history. On the following day, the third day of a three-day event, mayor Tim Hanna unveiled a street named in his honor. The former Oneida Court was renamed Rocky Bleier Run.