VIENNA TWP., Ohio - Serving as the honorary chairman for the 6th Annual Freedom Warrior Golf Outing and Gala is Vietnam veteran and Pittsburgh Steelers great Rocky Bleier who serves as a shining example of courage and determination. 

Bleier hopes his story shares a message of hope.

"It's a message of hope. I tell people, the one business, no matter what we do, that we're all in the hope business of one nature or another and the impacts that we make within our lives," said Bleier. 

During his NFL career, Bleier helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowls. His toughest battle wasn't on the football field, though; it was the battlefield of Vietnam. 

"You never know what's gonna happen and or what's gonna take place and hopefully you get out of that in one piece, and you come back home alive and so to be able to do that you really have to count on one another," he said. 

Near the end of his first year with the Steelers in 1969, Bleier was drafted by the U.S. Army. Shortly after being thrust into combat in Vietnam, he was seriously injured. 

"I got shot through the left thigh and on the same day, the same action, later on, I got hit with a grenade."

The wounds were so great that doctors told him he would never play football again. 

"Shortly after that, two days later, I get a postcard in the mail, a simple postcard, it's got two lines on it, said this, 'Rock, teams not doing well, we need you. Art Rooney.'"

Bleier couldn't walk without being in pain but was determined to make it back to the Steelers. 

"When I got hurt, damaged as I was, I didn't lose a leg, I didn't lose an arm, I've been damaged, and my first thought was well in time it will heal. I don't know how bad it's going to be, but it will heal, and you'll go back and play, so that was a positive thought process I had during that period," said Bleier.

After five years of showing tremendous heart and resiliency, Bleier became the Steelers starting halfback in 1974. 

"I was elated, and especially that thought of being in the first Super Bowl and being able to be introduced as the starting running back and everything that had taken place up to that point really was an exciting moment in my life. 

Bleier says he never focused on the outcome, but rather the process. 

"I can't control whether or not I make this football team. All I can control is putting myself in the position to make this football team. So for me, that meant gaining weight, strength, working on speed, working on conditioning as I best possibly could to put myself in that position when we went to training camp to try and be able to make this team," he said. 

When Bleier retired in 1980, he finished with over 3,800 rushing yards, nearly 1,300 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns. He's one of the all-time Steeler greats and the gold standard for how ordinary people, with courage, heart, and dedication, can do extraordinary things. 

"We have strengths, and we have weaknesses, but we also have a talent, different from anybody else, and we have to be able to define what that talent might be. For me specifically, to get a job with the Pittsburgh Steelers, my one talent boiled down to being the best blocker on the team. They found a weakness, they needed someone to be able to do that coming out of the backfield, and I was designated because of that one talent. And because of that, we fit well, Franco and myself in that backfield, I didn't want to be Franco, he didn't want to block, so it worked well. So all of a sudden you find yourself in a position to be able to play on the team, and then ultimately we play six years together and we play in those four Super Bowls together and then in 1976 Franco and I become the second set of running backs in the history of the NFL each to gain a thousand yards rushing in one season, in all because of 1 talent."

Bleier said it was an honor to be at the Freedom Warrior Golf Outing and Gala and hopes his story will inspire not only veterans but everyone in all walks of life.