The 1974 NFL draft was held Jan. 29-30 at the Americana Hotel in New York City. Mel Kiper Jr. and his hair were still a decade away from introducing themselves to America. If the draft was mocked, it was because it lasted 17 rounds, saw 442 players selected and was not televised. The Steelers took 21 players. Of the 17 who did not make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, two have died — UCLA cornerback Jimmy Allen in 2019 and Prairie View A&M defensive tackle Jim Wolf in 2003. The 15 others took varied paths in life, often quite interesting ones.

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Some names from the Steelers’ legendary 1974 draft class still stand out.

Dickie Morton.

Octavus Morgan.

Hugh Lickiss.

Those names are hard to beat. They probably weren’t the ones you were thinking of, but let’s be honest: You already know the Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Mike Webster and Lynn Swann stories. You know undrafted free agent Donnie Shell recently became the fifth Pro Football Hall of Famer from that rookie class, too.

You might not know that 15th-round pick Lawrence “Big Daddy” Hunt asked the Steelers for $100,000, left town for good when they didn’t meet his price and experienced a devastating identity crisis.

You probably don’t know that Eastern Michigan quarterback Frank Kolch, a 13th-round pick, also refused to sign a contract, and that ninth-rounder Tommy Reamon, a running back out of Missouri, bolted for the World Football League and would later land a role on the iconic television series “Charlie’s Angels,” starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.

“Talk about a Hall of Fame group,” Reamon says.

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