The actor once had a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Fifty years ago, Ed O’Neill was there.

O’Neill, 62, who gained fame as Al Bundy in the television sitcom “Married ... with Children” from 1987 to 1997, recalled that he attended the 1958 Mooney vs. Ursuline high school football game with his father, Edward Phillip O’Neill.

“I was about 10 or 11 but remember the high socks worn by [Mooney quarterback] Jim Traficant. He was flashy; pretty flamboyant.”

Traficant would go on to become a Mahoning County sheriff and U.S. congressman.

Speaking from his home in Southern California, the actor also had a few words about his play in the Fighting Irish-Cardinals match-up in 1963 during his senior year.

“We were undefeated, but our only blemish was that 8-8 tie against Mooney,” O’Neill said.

“We had a couple of [key] injuries, like losing running back Jim Shaw and quarterback Denny Killany, and [we] also lost end Jim Napoli with an ankle injury. We were limping through, so we were lucky to tie. Fullback Dick Angle kept us in the game,” he said of the game played before a crowd of 13,000 at South High Stadium.

O’Neill remembers that Mooney quarterback Joe Minotti and center Denny Blank were very good players.

“I played over Blank that year. He weighed about 215 and I was 180,” O’Neill said of his position as middle guard. “We had a pretty interesting night because we were going after each other pretty good. But I was quick and strong; that makes up for a lot of things, especially when you’re in high school.”

Killany went on to play for Notre Dame, and Shaw went to the Miami of Ohio football team coached by Bo Schembechler and was later drafted by the New York Jets.

“He weighed 215 and ... ran the 100 [yard dash] in 9.8,” O’Neill said of Shaw.

Though Ursuline’s 9-0-1 record in 1963 still stands as the school’s last undefeated team, O’Neill insists that the Irish should have beaten Mooney that year.

“[Mooney] had better teams before my senior year when they had Joe Mogulich, but we were better my senior year, no doubt. We just had bad luck that night.”

Offensively, O’Neill, who played tight end, made All-City Series his senior year. He attended Ohio University then came back to Youngstown University. His tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers came in the 1969 preseason camp that saw the likes of defensive linemen “Mean” Joe Green and L.C. Greenwood and quarterback Terry Hanratty.

It was also Chuck Noll’s first year as Steelers coach.

bassetti@vindy.com