Hall of Famer, “Mean” Joe Green going thru an attempted block & about to pursue the ball carrier. Ouch, I feel for whomever has the ball.

My 2^nd fav Steeler, “Mean” Joe Greene – the Minister of Defense the meanest of the mean – a true terror to all Offensive Linemen, Quarterbacks & Half Backs throughout the 1970s & became arguably the most dominant defensive lineman in the NFL & is considered by many to be one of the best defensive lineman to ever play the game. Was the leader & cornerstone of the famous “Steel Curtain” defense. Played in 4 Super Bowls with Terry Bradshaw & like Terry was victorious in all 4 of them. A short recap of his 13 year career, 1969 - 1981.

Starred at North Texas State University Mean Green (where his nickname came from) from 1966-68, in which team was 23-5-1. In 1969 he was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers as the 4th pick of the NFL draft & ended up spending his entire NFL career with 1 team, the Steelers till 1981. Greene quickly made himself a dominant defensive star in which he soon started to see himself get double-teamed and even triple-teamed throughout his playing days. He was quick, super strong & with a great motor & intensity/temper. He was the NFL’s rookie of the year in 1969, in spite playing for a horribly Steelers team that won 1 game & lost the rest (1-13). Losing was about to change here in Pittsburgh, as the team quickly improved (thru a tremendous magic touch of very successful draft picks) over the next few years. Greene was quite upset initially with being drafted by the Steelers, as they had a long history of losing. He had very little patience & no tolerance in losing motivated him to play hard & aggressive. The Steelers were on an upswing, as they started to win after a couple of years. He perhaps by many, including myself think of him as the main cog in the machine that won 4 titles & there is no doubt in my mind the most important/valuable player in team history – for a team that has so many Hall of famers – that is saying a lot.

He won the NFL defensive player of the year award 2 times, in 1972 & 1974. He went to 10 pro bowls, was an 11 time All-Pro selection. Named to the NFL 75^th Anniversary All-Time team & the NFL 1970’s All-decade team. In 1976 what was probably the greatest Defense in NFL history, they allowed about 10 pts a game, 138 in 14 games. They had a 9 game winning streak in which they recorded 5 shutouts & allowed only 28 points (3 pts per game) which are both records – only 2 TD’s were scored against the Steel Curtain in those 9 games. He finished with 181 games played, 78.5 sacks & 16 fumble recoveries – the sacks look very unimpressive, but keep in mind sacks were not an official stat until 1982. He played at 6’4 270 pounds - back in those days, that was a very imposing / scary site to line up against – a true giant of the game. Elected to the NFL hall of fame in 1987.

And of course who can ever forget his most memorable off the field thing, the famous Coke commercial which first aired on Sept 1 of 1979. In which a child gives him a Coke, Mean Joe then smiles & gives the kid his game jersey. The commercial was listed as one of the top ten commercials of all time by TV guide magazine. I know I’m dating myself, but I was a little kid myself when this aired – I still remember it fondly.