Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood has advanced in voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, becoming one of 52 remaining for consideration by the hall’s blue ribbon panel for senior player inductees.
The seniors committee considers players whose final season was played before 2000. There were a total of 162 players nominated. Of those, 52 remain, including Greenwood. The blue-ribbon committee will then narrow that list to 25, then to nine and then to three finalists, which will be voted on by the entire Hall of Fame voting panel.
In addition to Greenwood, outside linebacker Greg Lloyd, wide receivers coach Lionel Taylor and running back Byron “Whizzer” White were also nominated, but did not advance in the process.
Last year, Greenwood made the initial cut to 60 players, but was eliminated when the list was reduced from 60 to 31.
Greenwood is probably the most-decorated member of the 1970s Steelers who has not yet been enshrined in Canton, Ohio. A 10th-round draft pick out of Arkansas Pine-Bluff in 1969, Greenwood became a starter in his third season and then spent another 10 as the team’s stalwart at left defensive end.
He was a four-time Super Bowl champion, a six-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro. Greenwood was a member of the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, and is already a member of the Steelers Hall of Honor.
Though sacks were not official NFL statistics until 1983, research by Pro Football Reference credits Greenwood with 78 in his career, the fourth-most in franchise history.
Greenwood retired in 1981 and died from kidney failure in 2013 at the age of 67.
The other defensive linemen under consideration by the committee are Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Jim Marshall and Harvey Martin.
Eight Steelers, including returning semifinalists Hines Ward and James Harrison and newly eligible offensive linemen David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey, have been nominated for modern-era player voting.
1963: Owner/Coach Bert Bell, FB/Coach Johnny “Blood’ McNally, OT Cal Hubbard
1964: Owner Art Rooney
1966: RB Bill Dudley, G/Coach Walt Kiesling
1967: QB Bobby Layne
1969: FB Marion Motley
1969: DT Ernie Stautner
1987: DT Joe Greene, FB John Henry Johnson, QB Len Dawson
1988: OLB Jack Ham
1989: CB Mel Blount, QB Terry Bradshaw
1990: RB Franco Harris, OLB Jack Lambert
1993: Coach Chuck Noll
1997: C Mike Webster
2000: Owner Dan Rooney
2001: WR Lynn Swann
2002: WR John Stallworth
2009: CB Rod Woodson
2012: CB Jack Butler, C Dermontti Dawson
2015: RB Jerome Bettis
2016: OLB Kevin Greene
2020: SS Troy Polamalu, SS Donnie Shell, Coach Bill Cowher
2021: G Alan Faneca, Scout Bill Nunn
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Legend L.C. Greenwood Advances in Hall of Fame Voting
