Former Shocker Kellum had Super Bowl moment

Marv Kellum?

He’s a part of Super Bowl history with ties to Kansas and Wichita. But how many recognize his name?

He is a 1970 graduate of Perry-Lecompton High, near Topeka, and he played college football at Wichita State.

But how many know his Super Bowl claim to fame?

It’s been 42 years since Kellum, then a free-agent rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers playing in Super Bowl IX, was, as he says, in the right place and the right time to recover a Bill Brown fumble at the Minnesota 30-yard line on the kickoff to begin the second half. Four plays later, Franco Harris scored from 9 yards to give the Steelers a 9-0 lead on the way to a 16-6 win.

Kellum, a backup linebacker during three seasons in Pittsburgh, played in Super Bowl X, too. And he just missed Super Bowl XI when the Steelers were knocked off by the Oakland Raiders in the AFC title game.

“We should have been in that Super Bowl, too,” said the 64-year-old Kellum, who has lived in Pittsburgh since retiring from the NFL after the 1977 season because of bad knees.

Kellum was recruited to Wichita State by Ben Wilson, the coach at the time and one of the 31 victims who died in the Oct. 2, 1970, plane crash in Colorado as the Shockers were en route to Logan, Utah, for a game against Utah State.

The NCAA allowed WSU to use freshmen for a game against Arkansas in late October, one in which the Shockers were beaten 62-0. Kellum was on the field, getting his first taste, before becoming a mainstay over the next three seasons.

“I had no idea I would be an NFL player, I never dreamed about playing in the pros or any of that stuff,” said Kellum, who worked as a carpenter for more than 30 years in Pittsburgh. “I just liked the contact and I liked playing the game of football. I was a running back in high school, then a defensive back and linebacker and defensive end. I even played some tackle. I was doing pretty good, but I never thought about pro ball.”

Kellum wasn’t drafted after his senior year at Wichita State, but remembers talking to a few scouts. One of his Shocker teammates, Ray Burford, indicated that Dallas might have some interest in Kellum, he said, but he ran into Steelers scout Lionel Taylor first.

“He offered $1,500 and I’m thinking this was gold, I’m playing pro ball,” Kellum said. “I had no idea we had to go and try out.”

Kellum also had no idea the dynasty he was about to join.

The Steelers had been to the playoffs the previous two seasons and were building to a crescendo that would include four Super Bowl wins in six seasons.

Pittsburgh had a who’s-who roster that included future Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount. And Chuck Noll, one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.

Kellum soaked it in. He backed up Lambert, one of the game’s greats at middle linebacker. Ham and Andy Russell were the other starting linebackers and that’s arguably the greatest linebacker corps in NFL history.

“Our defense was loaded,” Kellum said. “I loved playing with those guys because there weren’t too many games we went into that we didn’t dominate. I remember running a lot of stunts with Joe Greene and I really got to learn how to play football during that time.”

Kellum, though, couldn’t crack the starting lineup. Given the team’s linebackers, nobody else could have, either.

He was traded to St. Louis after the 1976 season at a time when the Cardinals had a high-flying offense led by quarterback Jim Hart and running back Terry Metcalf.

“If it wasn’t for that guy Lambert in front of me in Pittsburgh, I might have had a shot,” Kellum said. “I always tell people I made him what he was.”

Kellum’s knees had always bothered him, but they became especially sensitive during his season in St. Louis, during which he started four games. He was only 25, but the wear and tear of a life spent playing sports was causing too much pain to continue.

“It was definitely irritating to have to quit playing,” Kellum said. “(Pittsburgh) has James Harrison on the team now and he’s 38 and still doing what he does, but he’s a rare breed. The guys today take care of themselves a lot better than we ever did.”

Kellum said he still regularly sees some of the players from those great Steelers teams.

But not Lambert, although he believes the iconic Steeler lives in one of the suburbs north of Pittsburgh.

“We roomed together some and he was just as intense off the field as he was on the field,” Kellum said. “There are stories I can’t tell you about, I’ll just say that. But he was always kind of a loner and still doesn’t want to be bothered.”

Kellum has two sons and two grandsons living in Pittsburgh. He retired eight years ago and likes spending time with his family and helping with golf events to raise money for charities.

“That fumble recovery in the Super Bowl is kind of frozen in time,” Kellum said. “But the story only gets better. I tell Franco every time I see him that he was the MVP but that I should have been for setting up that touchdown for him.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2017 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Former Shocker Kellum had Super Bowl moment."