Since 1972, no NFL team has been as consistently good as the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the 1970s, the Steelers were so dominant that NFL Films narrator John Facenda once said, “There are 27 teams in the National Football League, and then, there are the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
From 1974-79, the Steelers won four Super Bowls in a six-year span, a feat that has yet to be matched. Pittsburgh has since won two more Super Bowls along with four more AFC titles. In 2024, the Steelers can match the Cowboys for the most consecutive seasons without a losing record. Pittsburgh hasn’t had a losing season since 2003 and has never posted a losing record under head coach Mike Tomlin.
Obviously, the Steelers have benefitted from having great players over the years. Pittsburgh currently has a whopping 32 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while 49 former players have been enshrined into the Steelers Hall of Honor.
With their 92nd season set to begin soon (the team celebrated 91 years on Monday), I decided to rank the top 20 players in Steelers history, a list that includes a slew of NFL legends.
** denotes a player who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
1. Joe Greene, DT (1969-1981)**
The first player Chuck Noll selected after becoming the Steelers head coach, Greene’s play on the field and unyielding drive to become a champion helped drive Pittsburgh’s success throughout their dynasty run.
The league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1972 and again in 1974, Greene spearheaded Pittsburgh’s legendary “Steel Curtain” defense that held the mighty Oakland Raiders to just 29 yards rushing in the ’74 AFC title game and the Minnesota Vikings to 17 yards on the ground in Super Bowl IX, Pittsburgh’s first of four Super Bowl wins during the decade. In Super Bowl IX, Greene recorded an interception and a fumble recovery while ending the Steelers’ 42-year championship wait.
The following season,…
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