Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Greg Hawthorne has died at 69. A first-round draft pick, the Baylor product spent the first five seasons of his nine-year career in black and gold.
“On behalf of the Hawthorne family, it is with deep sadness that our brother Gregory Dale Hawthorne passed away last night,” his family said in a Facebook post on Thursday. “Please keep his mother and his children, his brother and sisters as well as the whole family in your prayers.”
The cause of death has not yet been revealed.
The Steelers plucked Hawthorne with the No. 28 overall choice of the 1979 NFL Draft. He wasn’t expected to go so early after playing just three games as a college senior. Hawthorne shared the workload with a group of ball carriers during his Steelers tenure, including Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier, Frank Pollard, Walter Abercrombie, Russell Davis and Sidney Thornton.
Hawthorne’s best Steelers go-round was in 1980, when he started six games and ran for 226 yards and four touchdowns on 63 carries. He joined the New England Patriots ahead of the 1984 season and spent three seasons with them, then finished his pro career with the Indianapolis Colts in 1987.
Hawthorne was part of the Steelers’ Super Bowl XIV win and reached Super Bowl XX with New England.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Ex-Steelers First-Round Draft Pick Dead at 69
