Rocky Bleier / Running Back Extraordinaire

Rocky Bleier gained fame as a key member of the storied Pittsburgh Steeler teams that won four Super Bowls and personified determination and courage in the 1970s.

Drafted in the 16^th round in 1968 after playing college ball under Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame, he was drafted again, this time by the Army, before he could prove himself as a rookie. Severely wounded in a firefight in Vietnam on August 20, 1969, both legs riddled with shrapnel from a grenade, his biggest challenge was to regain use of his legs.

For two years he struggled to walk, then run, then play and star as a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The story of his agonizing battle to overcome his injuries is told in the book Fighting Back, which also was the basis for the 1980 ABV-TV movie of the same name. (He was portrayed by Robert Urich.)

Following a twelve-year stint with the Steelers, which included a thousand-yard rushing season, Bleier has created a career as a motivational speaker, focusing on the themes of how ordinary people, by pushing their limits, can become extraordinary achievers.

Rocky Bleier also has been active in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the International Special Olympics. He was a board member of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which sponsored the competition and raised the funds to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He has been honored with dozens of awards, including the Whizzer White Humanitarian Award, the Vince Lombardi Award, and the Most Courageous Athlete of the Decade Award.