Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers boast a long and illustrious history of legendary players. 32 Steelers are forever enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, and the franchise has seen tons of all-time greats since becoming nationally relevant in the 1970s.
That said, on a sports Mount Rushmore, there is only room for four players. So, in no particular order, here are the four greatest Steelers of all time.
A quick note: ‘greatest’ is not necessarily analogous to ‘most talented’ or ‘best’; greatness is largely viewed within the lens of what a specific player contributed to a franchise.
It is hard not to add Big Ben to this list, for multiple reasons. First, the stats: Roethlisberger is 7th all-time in passing yards, 9th in passing touchdowns, and 8th in completed passes. In his 17 seasons as a pro (all spent in Pittsburgh), Roethliberger never experienced a losing season; he never finished worse than 8-8.
Not only that, but Roethlisberger’s dominance against divisional opponents is hard to overstate. Including playoffs, he finished with a 19-11 record against Baltimore; a 26-10 record against Cincinnati; and a 26-3-1 record against Cleveland.
At age 23 in 2006, he became the youngest QB to win a Super Bowl after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. He went on to appear in two more Super Bowls, winning one.
One could argue that Roethlisberger hit his physical prime after winning his two rings, and in the 2010s, he led the “Killer B’s” offense, putting up video-game numbers alongside Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. While their peak was brief, the Killer B’s were arguably the most lethal QB-WR-RB trio since the Cowboys’ “Triplets” in the 1990s.
Everything about Roethlisberger — the rings, the Hall of Fame numbers, and his role in defining an era of Steelers football — makes him a shoo-in here.
Another relative sho0-in on this list, Joe Greene was the heart and soul of the 1970s “Steel Curtain” defense.
The native Texan was integral to bringing the Steelers to relevance during the decade, as his physicality, toughness, and consistency laid the groundwork for an era-defining defensive unit. Greene racked up 77.5 sacks in his career, which, while a low number in the modern all-time rankings, was a massive feat for his era.
Even beyond the X’s and O’s, Greene was arguably the first Pittsburgh athlete, along with Roberto Clemente, to become nationally famous. Greene became nationally beloved for his style of play on the field, and his iconic 1979 Coca-Cola commercial helped solidify his forever status as a household name.
Few players in NFL history are perfectly aligned with one team and one era. Greene, a Steeler from 1969 to 1981, is exactly that kind of player, and his place on the Steelers Mount Rushmore is a foregone conclusion.
Even for a franchise historically built around dominant defense, few players rank in the same legendary airs as Jack Lambert. Initially considered under-sized for a middle linebacker,...
