Steelers Throwback Thursdays: Orr, Dial, Nickel remain in Top 25 of NFL leaderboard
Before the NFL officially gears up for the 2022-23 season, Steel City Underground will be taking fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us as we revisit these moments in our “Steelers Throwback Thursdays”
It isn’t everyday that an NFL franchise can say they still, after all these years of changes in professional football, have three players in the Top 25 of a statistical category in the league’s all-time leaderboard; the Steelers can, and one player has remained in his number two spot for over six decades! Today, we look at three Steelers who are still leaving their mark on the National Football League’s all-time leaderboard in single-season yards-per-reception records.
Jimmy Orr
A lot of NFL fans may have overlooked Orr’s time with Pittsburgh as he’s more notably remembered as having been a top target for Johnny Unitas with the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V. Regardless, Orr earned the number two spot on the NFL’s all-time leaderboard in yards-per-reception in 1958 with the Steelers and has yet to relinquish that spot with a record of 27.6 Y/R.
The former Georgia Bulldog was named UPI NFL Rookie of the Year in 1958 after grabbing 33 passes for 910 yards and seven touchdowns while also punting for Pittsburgh and being utilized in gadget plays and defensively. His receiving yards stood as the franchise’s rookie record until JuJu Smith-Schuster broke it in 2017.
That same famed ’58 season, Orr scored three touchdowns and 205 yards against the Chicago Cardinals in the Steelers’ season finale. Those remain Steelers rookie franchise records as of the 2021-22 NFL season.
In 1970, after playing for 13 seasons, Orr retired with 400 career receptions for 7,914 yards and 66 touchdowns. He was a two-time Pro Bowl player (1959, 1965), a two-time Second-Team All-Pro (1958, 1959), First-Team All-Pro (1965), NFL champion (1968) and Super Bowl V champion (1970).
The only player in NFL history with a better yards-per-reception average in a single season is Don Currivan who was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in the third round of the 1943 NFL Draft and played for the Boston Yanks/Tigers and Los Angeles Rams in his career. Currivan set the 32.6 Y/R mark in 1947 with Boston.
Orr also sits at number 12 on the same NFL leaderboard for his 25.6 Y/R average with the Colts for the 1968 season. He’s also tied at 96 for his 21.7 Y/R in 1964 (BAL)
Elbie Nickel
Nickel is generally considered to be among the top three tight ends to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A three-sport star at the University of Cincinnati, his pro career came after service in WWII. Nickel was drafted by the Steelers at 149th overall in the 1947 NFL Draft.
For his career, Nickel recorded 329 receptions at tight end. In 1949, though, Nickel set the league’s season high yards-per-reception mark at 24.3 on 26 receptions for 633 yards.
Few modern-era (post 2000s) NFL tight ends can claim anywhere near that level of efficiency, let alone a spot on the NFL record book.
Buddy Dial
Gilbert L. “Buddy” Dial was a Rice University star before he was selected by the New York Giants (22nd overall) in the 1959 NFL Draft. Fortunately, the receiver was released before the season kicked off and the Steelers grabbed him off the waiver wire to pair with quarterback Bobby Layne.
In 1959, Dial recorded a 26.8 yards-per-reception average but it wasn’t until 1960 that he set an NFL single-season record with 24.3 Y/R on 40 catches for 972 yards and nine touchdowns.
That 24.3 Y/R mark still has Dial and Nickel tied in history at the 22 spot on that all-time yards-per-receptions single season leaderboard Dial shows up on that record book again tied at No. 100 (21.6 Y/R) for his 1963 season,
When Dial left the Steelers, he did so with team records: 229 receptions for 4,723 yards and 42 touchdowns; his single-season touchdown reception total of 12, single-game receiving yards (1,295), and career yards-per-reception average (21.6).
The only other Steelers players to get near the high ranking Orr, Nickel, and Dial on the NFL leaderboard were Roy Jefferson and Ron Shanklin.
All of the Steelers who have made the list are, by year, as follows:
| Record in order of season held | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL rank (all-time) | Player (age) | Y/R avg | Season | Team |
| 209 | Sam Boyd (25) | 20.1 | 1939 | PIT |
| 22 | Elbie Nickel (26) | 24.3 | 1949 | PIT |
| 141 | Ray Mathews (29) | 21.0 | 1958 | PIT |
| 2 | Jimmy Orr (22) | 27.6 | 1958 | PIT |
| 22 | Buddy Dial (23) | 24.3 | 1960 | PIT |
| 245 | Buddy Dial (24) | 19.8 | 1961 | PIT |
| 100 | Buddy Dial (26) | 21.6 | 1963 | PIT |
| 231 | Gary Ballman (24) | 19.9 | 1964 | PIT |
| 105 | Gary Ballman (25) | 21.5 | 1965 | PIT |
| 27 | Roy Jefferson (22) | 24.1 | 1966 | PIT |
| 54 | Ron Shanklin (22) | 23.0 | 1970 | PIT |
| 35 | Ron Shanklin (25) | 23.7 | 1973 | PIT |
| 60 | Jim Smith (27) | 22.8 | 1982 | PIT |
| 193 | Dwight Stone (27) | 20.3 | 1991 | PIT |
| 231 | Plaxico Burress (27) | 19.9 | 2004 | PIT |
| 141 | Mike Wallace (24) | 21.0 | 2010 | PIT |
Note: Pro Football Reference stats confirmed.
