Upcoming Event: Track & Field versus Duke Invitational on April 8, 2026
Track & Field
vs Duke Invitational
Roth: Duke Alumnus A Steelers Legend
DURHAM, N.C. ? Former Duke athlete Howard Hartley has been named to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 24-man Legends Team. The NFL franchise selected the team as part of its 75th season celebration and announced the honorees at a recent home game. The legends team recognizes standout Steelers prior to the 1970 season.
Hartley was honored for his skills as a defensive back. After playing his rookie NFL season for the Washington Redskins in 1948, Hartley went to the Steelers for four years, 1949-52, and had an outstanding career with 28 interceptions. His best season was 1951, when he picked off 10 passes, the second best total in the league. He also returned punts, averaging 9.7 yards for his career.
Hartley came to Duke from his home in Ravenswood, W.Va., and played on the freshman football team in 1942, before moving up to varsity in 1943. He then served in the Navy during World War II before returning to Duke to play for the 1946 and 1947 teams. He graduated with an economics degree in 1948.
Nicknamed Rabbit, Hartley was a back on offense and defense for Eddie Cameron’s high-scoring 1943 team that won the Southern Conference and finished with a No. 7 national ranking. Duke defeated rival North Carolina twice that season, with Hartley’s interception return for a touchdown accounting for the winning margin in a 14-7 decision. Later that academic year, as a member of the basketball team, Hartley came off the bench to help the Blue Devils defeat UNC in the Southern Conference championship game.
Upon returning to Duke after the war, Hartley delivered one of the longest interception returns in school history with an 83-yarder against Richmond in 1946.
After Duke and the NFL, Hartley worked as a sales representative in the chemical business for 25 years. He died last September at the age of 82 in Greenville, S.C., following a battle with cancer.
