Gold Jacket Spotlight: It Couldn't Have Worked Out Any Better For ‘Dobre Shunka’

While fans cheered on Jack Ham as “Dobre Shunka” (Slovak for “Great Ham”), the Class of 1988 enshrinee always recognized the efforts of his teammates and others in his ascent to football immortality.

During his Enshrinement speech on the steps of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Ham credited a fellow Johnstown, Pa., native and Penn State University player, Steve Smear, for the Nittany Lions offering Ham the last scholarship available that year.

“If it hadn’t been for Steve Smear, I really wouldn’t be here right now. He went on a limb for me before I was an All-Pro player or before I became an All-American at Penn State. He went to bat for me to Joe Paterno.”

It was Paterno who presented Ham for Enshrinement on that summer day in Canton, Ohio.

After being drafted in the second round, 34th overall pick, in the 1971 NFL Draft, Ham’s career included 162 games over 12 seasons. 

Ham was joining a team with no success in the playoffs – the lone appearance in their nearly 40-year history to that point a lost in 1947. He recalled in a recent interview that he had not been contacted by the team prior to his selection.

“They drafted me, and it couldn’t have worked out any better,” Ham told Arthur Moates last December. He added, “The 1974 draft put us over the top and made us a great football team.” 

In 1974, the Steelers drafted Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. Each of those four is Ham’s forever teammate in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Among the honors Ham accumulated during his 12 seasons were being an AP All-Pro selection seven times, appearing in eight consecutive Pro Bowls, earning the 1975 Defensive Player of the Year from Football News and being named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s.

And, of course, he was a four-time Super Bowl champion.

Ham’s former Steeler teammate, Lambert (Class of 1990), referenced the team’s defense during that era as “arguably the greatest defense ever assembled” during his own Enshrinement speech.

Again, Ham credits teammates with much of his success.

“The person who probably influenced my game and made me the linebacker I became was Andy Russell. He taught me more about football, more about the mental part of the game and made me just a great player.”

Ham said, “Andy was known as the ‘thinking man’s linebacker.”

Russell’s “student” amassed 21 fumble recoveries and 32 interceptions in his career and earned a reputation as a defender who could anticipate plays and react accordingly.

“I prefer to play consistent, error-free football,” Ham declared. “If you’re doing your job well and defending your area, you might not get tested that often, or get a chance to make big plays.” 

Ham’s 32 interceptions position him with Lee Roy Jordan and Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti in third place all-time in regular-season interceptions by a linebacker.

“I’m in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because we had a great football team during that run and a lot of great guys that I played with. It is more of a reflection of our football team. Football is the best team sport. I’m in the Hall of Fame because we, collectively, we’re a hell of a football team.”

Nobody would argue that point with the Dobre Shunka.