Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Oliver Gibson has died at the age of 53, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported on Monday.
Gibson was the Steelers’ fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame in the 1995 NFL Draft, and he played four seasons in Pittsburgh. He also spent five years with the Cincinnati Bengals, and spent time with the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring from pro football.
A 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle, Gibson was a regular in rotation on the Steelers’ defensive line even as a rookie in 1995, when he played in 12 games on the way to the team’s appearance in Super Bowl XXX. He went on to play 60 games with the Steelers over four season, racking up 5.5 sacks, 42 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery, mostly serving as the backup to nose tackle Joel Steed.
In 1999, Gibson left the Steelers in free agency, and became a starter for the Cincinnati Bengals. Gibson was a starter for four of his five seasons with the Bengals. His best seasons statistically came in 1999, when he had a career-high 4.5 sacks, and in 2000, when he posted 55 tackles.
Despite playing more of his career with the Bengals, Gibson always remembered himself as a member of the Steelers Blitzburgh defense.
“Pittsburgh is the only team I watch,” Gibson said to Steelers.com in 2011. “I have fond memories of Cincinnati, had a lot of fun. But there is something magic about the Steelers. If I have an autograph session and I have pictures from Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, nobody wants the Cincinnati picture and I started more for them. They want the Steelers picture. I always watch the Steelers. It’s exciting to watch them. The way they play defense is special.”
Following his playing career, Gibson worked as a manager for a construction company, worked in media at WJOL in Joliet, Illinois, coached at Aurora Christian High School, Arizona Western Junior College was a coaching intern with the Steelers in 2012, and was the head coach for his alma mater, Romeoville High School outside of Chicago, starting in 2015.
Gibson is the second member of the 1990s Steelers “Blitzburgh” defense to die in 2025. Defensive lineman Ray Seals died at the age of 59 in April.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers AFC Champion Defensive Lineman Dies at 53
