One of Pittsburgh’s pioneer sports figures has passed away at the age of 80. John “Paul” Martha, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, was a Pitt star on the football field and basketball court, a Steelers number-one draft choice in 1964, and a Duquesne law school graduate and attorney who worked for the Edward DeBartolo family when they owned both the San Francisco 49ers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Martha was executive vice president and general counsel and CEO of the Penguins, executive VP and general counsel of the 49ers, and ran the Civic Arena for the DeBartolo family, and even served as GM of the original Pittsburgh Maulers.
Martha had been living in a retirement community in Valencia, in Butler County, at the time of his death on February 4th.
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