For nearly their first 40 years, the Pittsburgh Steelers were not a good football team. From the team's inception in 1933 until 1972, the franchise did not win a playoff game and had only one postseason trip during that stretch. Then, in 1969, the Rooney family hired Chuck Noll, who helped transform this floundering franchise into an NFL powerhouse.
Since Noll's arrival, the Steelers have led the NFL in winning percentage, winning six Super Bowls and reaching the championship game on two occasions. Some of the best players in NFL history have suited up in the Black and Yellow, but which distinguished few were among the franchise's best?
Here are the 10 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers of all time.
10 Greatest Pittsburgh Steelers of All Time
Honorable Mention:
Ernie Stautner, Alan Faneca, Dermotti Dawson, Donnie Shell, Franco Harris
10) Jerome Bettis
Steelers honors: Six-time Pro Bowler, two-time First Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame
A career carved from consistency. Jerome Bettis was rarely considered the best running back in the league, but that did not prevent him from finishing eighth all-time in the NFL in rushing yards.
Bettis rushed for 1,000 in each of his first six seasons in the Steel City, and his 1997 campaign will go down as one of the best seasons by a running back in franchise history. The Bus had 1,665 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. He had 10 100-yard games that year and did not rush for less than 63 yards in a contest. He managed all of this while playing 15 games.
Seven years later, in his 12th NFL season, Bettis nearly surpassed the 1,000-yard mark, finishing with 941 yards on the ground. His 13 touchdowns on the ground were one sort of tying the franchise record. Jerome Bettis' longevity helps him earn a spot on this list.
9) Mike Webster
Steelers honors: Nine-time Pro Bowler, Five-time First Team All-Pro
The Steelers have three offensive linemen from the Super Bowl era in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Mike Webster, Dermotti Dawson, and Alan Faneca. It is difficult to judge between this trio, having attended 25 total Pro Bowls while earning spots on the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s NFL Hall of Fame Decade teams, but Mike Webster has a slight edge for a few reasons.
First, he was part of two Super Bowl-winning teams, starting on two champion squads. Webster is also second all-time in Approximate Value accrued for the Steelers — a stat that calculates a player's worth to their team each season. Plus, the Pittsburgh center was on the 1970s and 1980s All-Decade squads, giving him an advantage over the franchise's other two Hall-of-Fame offensive linemen.
8) Mel Blount
Steelers honors: Five-time Pro Bowler, two-time First Team All-Pro, 1975 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Pro Football Hall of Fame
How many teams can boast having three Defensive Players of the Year in the prime of their career? And how many of those teams had different players take home the award in three consecutive seasons? The Baltimore Ravens boasted a trio of DPOY's in 2011 and 2012 (Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, and Terrell Suggs), but the Steelers are the only team to dominate the Defensive Player of the Year award as they did in the 1970s.
Joe Greene won the accolades in 1974, Mel Blount took home the hardware in 1975, and Jack Lambert was AP Defensive Player of the Year in 1976. Mel Blount's 1975 campaign is easily the most statistically impressive of this trio of winners. Blount led the NFL with 11 interceptions — a total only surpassed twice in the seasons since.
The strong, physical Pittsburgh corner was so dominant that the NFL changed the rules in 1978 to prevent defenders from making contact with receivers more than five yards downfield. Mel Blount redefined the cornerback position in the 1970s, thus earning him a place on this special list.
7) Jack Ham
Steelers Honors: Eight-time Pro Bowler, six-time First Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame
While Jack Lambert had his scowl and Joe Green had his “Mean” moniker, Jack Ham was often the overshadowed member of the Pittsburgh front seven. Yet the undersized linebacker managed to carve out his own Hall-of-Fame career as a member of the Steel Curtain. Between 1974 and 1979, Ham was First Team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler every season. Along with Lambert, Green, and Blount, Ham was also a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.
6) Ben Roethlisberger
Steelers honors: Six-time Pro Bowler
While Terry Bradshaw has four Super Bowl titles, it is hard to argue against Ben Roethlisberger as the better all-around quarterback. Big Ben is fifth all-time in the NFL in passing yards, eighth in passing touchdowns, and just one of 10 QBs to throw for at least 5,000 yards in a season. Roethlisberger has one more career interception than Bradshaw, but he makes up for it with 206 more touchdown passes.
While a lack of playoff success in the second half of his career holds him back, Roethlisberger still owns two Super Bowl rings and holds just about every Steelers passing record.
5) Troy Polamalu
Steelers honors: Eight-time Pro Bowler, four-time First Team All-Pro, 2010 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Pro Football Hall of Fame
Like Rod Woodson a decade earlier, Troy Polamalu patrolled the Pittsburgh secondary with a fluidity and a feel for the game that most NFL players can only dream of. Polamalu was a strong safety in name only, roaming the field with unparalleled freedom. The USC product could be found perfectly timing the snap and jumping over the entire offensive line to sack the quarterback. Two players later, he was just as likely to make a diving interception 25 yards downfield.
Polamalu's ability to make extravagant plays while consistently doing the little things to help his team win made him a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in 2020 and put him among the best Steelers players ever.
4) Jack Lambert
Steelers honors: Nine-time Pro Bowler, six-time First Team All-Pro, 1976 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Pro Football Hall of Fame
Before the arrival of linebacker Jack Lambert, the Steelers were an excellent team that could not quite break through in the playoffs. Pittsburgh went 11-3 in 1972, winning in the Divisional Round of the playoffs (the Immaculate Reception game) before falling in the AFC Championship, then lost in the Divisional Round in 1973. The franchise drafted Lambert in the second round in 1974, and that season, Lambert won Defensive Rookie of the Year and helped guide the Steelers to their first of four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s.
With Lambert at middle linebacker, the Steelers never had a losing season and went 14-5 in postseason contests. He was the catalyst for Pittsburgh's breakthrough and will go down as one of the best defensive players in NFL history.
3) T.J. Watt
Steelers honors: Six-time Pro Bowler, four-time First Team All-Pro, 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year
Since the franchise started awarding a team MVP award in 1969, no player had won the honor in three consecutive seasons. That is until T.J. Watt came along. In just seven NFL seasons, Watt already holds the franchise record for career sacks and has led the NFL in sacks in three of the last four years, with the only outlier being in 2022, when he missed seven games through injury.
The 29-year-old has just one AP Defensive Player of the Year award but has finished in the top three on three other occasions. T.J. Watt is not only one of his generation's most dominant defensive players of his generation, he has all but secured a Hall-of-Fame spot before he turns 30.
2) Rod Woodson
Steelers honors: Seven-time Pro Bowler, five-time First Team All-Pro, 1993 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Pro Football Hall of Fame
In an era where Deion Sanders garnered the headlines for his flashy play and frequent touchdowns, perhaps there was no better all-around defensive back than the Steelers' Rod Wodson. Woodson was a lockdown cover corner, a ball-hawking playmaker, and an All-Pro returner.
During his decade with the Steelers, Woodson averaged 5.9 turnovers forced per season (interceptions + forced fumbles) while recovering 16 fumbles and scoring 10 touchdowns. At his peak, Woodson earned First Team All-Pro five times in six years — a feat only matched by two other defenders in Steelers history (Jack Lambert and Jack Ham).
1) Joe Greene
Steelers honors: 10-time Pro Bowler, three-time First Team All-Pro, 1972 and 1974 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Pro Football Hall of Fame
One of eight NFL players to earn two Defensive Player of the Year awards, “Mean” Joe Greene was the anchor of the Steel Curtain defense that dominated the 1970s, winning four Super Bowls in six seasons. The North Texas product embodied everything the Steelers were about during that decade: physical dominance, relentlessness, and inciting fear in opponents.
