Val Jansante Valerio Richard Jansante ( September 27 , 1920 – October 1 , 2008 ) was a professional American football player who played wide receiver for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers . Career . High school . Born in La Belle , Pennsylvania , Jansante first played his first game of football , in 1939 , his senior year in high school under Alex Ufema at Bentleyville High School in Bentleyville , Pennsylvania . He played running back and end and racked up 9 touchdown s . Three TDs were against Ellsworth High all for more than 40 yards per score . Jansante also was a star basketball player and was awarded the prestigious top athlete award of the area known as the Mid - Mon Valley Award due to his success in both sports . College . In college , Jansante was one of Buff Donelli ’ s star pupils at Duquesne University . He played on the team during their 26 game winning streak . Duquesne was undefeated in 1941 . At that time , Duquesne University played big time Division I football . Because of World War II , Jansante went into the Navy in 1943 and was discharged in 1945 and joined the Steelers . During part of his service time Jansante spent a semester as a student at Harvard University in Massachusetts . In 1943 , Jansante was a student and varsity football player at Villanova University . Perhaps his biggest game of his career , the game that changed his future , was when Villanova was scrimmaging the “ Steagles ” ( combined Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles due to World War II ) and Jansante sacked the quarterback five times and caught seven receptions . Bert Bell , from the Steelers ’ front office , immediately put Jansante on the NFL draft list . Then , he played for the Navel Base Fleet City team stationed out of Oakland , California . The Fleet City team played against professional teams that were still in existence during the war . Jansante ’ s first 6 pass receptions were for touchdowns in 1945 , and the unbeaten Fleet City football team won the championship . NFL . Jansante was a tenth round draft pick in 1944 but because of his service in World War II , did not join the team until 1946 . Immediately Jansante led the team in receptions , but he needed only 10 to earn that distinction in 1946 . A year later , in 1947 , he set club records with 35 catches for 599 yards and 5 touchdowns , leading the Eastern Division in receiving until the last game of the season . That was the first year the Steelers went to the playoffs ( 8 - 4 record ) , their only competition until Franco Harris ' “ Immaculate Reception ” of 1972 . Jansante broke his mark in 1948 with 39 receptions for 623 yards . In addition , he led the Steelers in pass receptions in 1949 and 1950 . Also in 1950 , Jansante led the entire NFL with 8 . 5 quarterback sacks from the defensive end position . Jansante was a two - way starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers from the first day he stepped onto the field in 1946 . He played six seasons with the Steelers in which he was named First Team and Second Team All - Pro . With 154 receptions in six seasons , Jansante held the reception record for a while and was among the top 10 pass catchers for a number of years for the Steelers . There were two games in which he caught 10 passes . The first was in 1949 in a game against Philadelphia ; the quarterback attempted a total of 10 passes and Jansante caught all ten . The second game with 10 receptions was against Los Angeles in 1950 . In the 75 year Steelers ’ history , Val is eighth on the all - time list for most receptions in a single game . In 1951 , while leading the club with 15 receptions in mid - season , following the 6th game , he left the Steelers to join the Green Bay Packers as a running back . He played 3 games for the Packers , and was listed by the team as an end . Jansante Jansante played for conservative coaches Dr . Jock Sutherland and John Michelosen . It was both coaches ’ style not to throw the football . He was the first of the Steelers to catch double - digit ( 10 ) passes in a single game , therefore it is a surprise that even 10 passes were thrown in Jansante ’ s big days . Retirement . After retiring from football , Jansante was a teacher and head football coach at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh , Mon Valley Catholic High School in Monongahela , and Bentworth High School in Bentleyville . He coached both boys and girls athletics in the WPIAL ( Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League , District 7 ) for more than 25 years . Jansante resided in Bentleyville , Pennsylvania until his death . Legacy . In 1983 when the Steelers were celebrating the 50th year in the National Football League , Jansante was on the All Time Greatest Steelers Ballot . Art Rooney , Sr . , founder of the team , said he had fond memories of Jansante . “ There wasn ’ t any better than Jansante , ” he recalled . Jansante is also listed as one of the All Time Greatest Steelers in the 1998 book , Total Steelers , “ The Official Encyclopedia of the Pittsburgh Steelers . ” In 1999 , he had the distinction of being listed as one of only six receivers to be considered on the ballot for the Pittsburgh Steelers All Century Team . In 2001 , he was honored with the opening of the new Heinz Field by being one of 12 members of the 1947 first playoff team . Again in 2007 , he was the honorary team captain for the coin toss when the Steelers played the San Francisco 49ers as one of the players from the 40 ’ s decade . He has been honored by being placed in the Duquesne University Sports Hall of Fame , the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame , the Italian - American Sports Hall of Fame , and in 2000 he was inducted into the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame at the same time as the NFL Great Joe Montana . Until 2006 , Jansante was the only Steeler in the history of the club to lead the team 5 consecutive years in receiving ; Super Bowl XL MVP , Hines Ward broke his 50 + year record . This is quite and accomplishment considering the forward pass wasn ’ t nearly as popular or effective when Val Jansante played . In the Single Wing that Pittsburgh played at the time , Jansante was considered the best pass catcher in Steelers history and was often compared to Pro Football Hall of Fame player , Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers .