Former Falcons scouting executive Chuck Connor dies at age 87

He also was kind to those around him.

“A nice, nice man,” former Falcons trainer Jerry Rhea told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I hear the funeral was nice. … I did talk to Lynn Nobis (widow of Falcons great Tommy Nobis), who went. She said it was a really nice service.”

Connor, who played football at the University of Cincinnati, was an NFL scout for more than four decades with BLESTO, the Steelers, Dolphins and Falcons.

“I was glad we were able to get him because he was working for the Dolphins,” Herock said. “It was a good franchise. He was the personnel director and did a good job with Shula. When you worked for Shula you better, you had to be a hard worker. If you weren’t, you would last long.”

He was with the Falcons from 1989 to 2000 as the director of player personnel. He retired and was replaced by Les Snead in 2000.

“He was always the kindest and sweetest player man,” said Rhea, who was the trainer from 1969-94. “Just a very kind of low-key, got-your-back guy. I’m really going to miss him.”

He was a scout for BLESTO in the 1960s.

While with the Steelers, he helped in the scouting of “Mean Joe” Greene out of North Texas, who would become a key part of the famed “Steel Curtain” defense. He helped to lay the groundwork for the powerful Steeler teams of the 1970s.

He joined the Dolphins as director of player personnel under coach Don Shula. He had a role in the scouting of quarterback Dan Marino in the early 1980s. He helped the Dolphins to reach two Super Bowls during his tenure.

In the Dolphins’ announcement of the move, Shula said, “I’m certainly sorry to see Chuck go, but I can understand Chuck wanting to be closer to his family (in Stone Mountain.”

With the Falcons he helped shape the team’s roster and contributed to a Super Bowl appearance in January 1999 under coach Dan Reeves. “We were in the business where people would get upset and blow off steam,” Rhea said. “I just never did see him angry.”

Herock, who drafted future Hall of Famers Deion Sanders and Brett Favre during his tenure with the Falcons, could depend on Connor.

“What I liked about him, I could go out of the office and I could trust him,” Herock said. “I was able to get out on the road a few days a week and not have to worry about what was going on in the office because I knew Chuck would handle it or call me right away and say what’s going on.”

Connor also had a keen eye for talent.

“Good evaluator,” Herock said. “Knew talent every well. Even when he retired, we’d always talk and talk about player or teams. It seemed like he never stopped talking about football until his last few days before he got the dementia. We always talked once a week about players and football teams and so forth.”

Connor also was dedicated to his family and the franchise.

“Chuck was a good warrior,” Herock said. “You can’t find guys like him. Trustworthy. There are lot of guys in the business that are always trying to get your job, or something like that. Chuck was the type of guys where he didn’t need to do that. He just did his business. Did he work and that was it.”

Connor was born in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 7, 1937.

He married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Jane Chujko, in 1958. Together, they raised four children: Chuck, Michael, Karen, and Scott; and had five grandchildren: Alex, Ella, Matthew, Brandon, and Anne.

In retirement, Connor enjoyed traveling with family and longtime friends, working in the yard and being outdoors. He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Tommy Nobis Center or the Dementia Society of America.