The Greatest Pittsburgh Steelers Players of All Time
Pittsburgh won no playoff game until 1972, then 4 Super Bowls in 6 seasons; the greatest Pittsburgh Steelers players of all time are yours to rank. Each player here is named on at least 7 of the 13 Steelers honor rolls and all-time rankings counted here: the team's honor roll (Hall of Honor plus retired numbers, as one), the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the team's 2007 All-Time Team, and ten press rankings. Players left off no more than one of the sources that could have named them start in the top group; everyone else who clears the door starts below them, and your votes set the order from there.
Jack Lambert is #1 on “The Greatest Pittsburgh Steelers Players of All Time”.
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Jack Lambert
Super Bowl X against Dallas had Cowboys safety Cliff Harris taunting kicker Roy Gerela after a missed field goal, until Lambert slammed Harris down; Pittsburgh outscored the Cowboys 14-7 from there and won, and Lambert finished with 14 tackles. That was his 2nd season; he played middle linebacker in Pittsburgh from 1974 through 1984. His rookie season brought the defensive rookie award, 1976 brought the league's top defensive honor, and 9 straight Pro Bowl selections ran from 1975 to 1983. In the AFC Championship Game that put them in Super Bowl X, he'd recovered 3 fumbles. All 13 of the sources counted here name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lambert_(American_football) - 2
Terry Bradshaw
Pittsburgh drafted him first overall in 1970, and he quarterbacked the team for 14 seasons, 1970 through 1983. The NFL voted him its Most Valuable Player for 1978, and he became the first quarterback to win 3 Super Bowls and then 4. His best afternoon came in Super Bowl XIII, when he completed 17 of 30 against Dallas for a then-record 318 yards and threw 4 touchdown passes as Pittsburgh won 35-31, earning the first of his 2 Super Bowl MVP awards. The second came a year later, when he threw for 309 yards and the Rams lost 31-19. He also threw the pass Franco Harris turned into the Immaculate Reception. You'll find him on 12 of the 13 sources counted for this list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Bradshaw - 3
Joe Greene
In 1974 he started lining up at a sharp angle between the guard and the center, a look he called the stunt 4-3, and in the 16-6 Super Bowl IX win over Minnesota that closed the season he had an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, the first of his 4 titles. He anchored Pittsburgh's defensive line at tackle from 1969 through 1981. He was the NFL's best defensive rookie of 1969, took the league's defensive award twice, in 1972 and 1974, and went to 10 Pro Bowls. Every one of the 13 counted sources names him. Pittsburgh retired his jersey, number 75, at halftime of a game against Baltimore on November 2, 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Greene - 4
Ben Roethlisberger
At 23, a season after going 13-0 as a regular-season starter and winning top offensive rookie honors, he became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl. He played 18 seasons in Pittsburgh, 2004 through 2021. In Super Bowl XLIII, Arizona led 23-20 with 2:30 left, and he moved the Steelers 88 yards in 8 plays, ending with a 6-yard touchdown to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds to go. His 2018 totals of 5,129 passing yards and 34 touchdowns set team records. Of the 11 sources open to him he's on 10: no Hall of Fame election has been held since he became eligible, and a 2020 ranking limited itself to Hall of Famers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Roethlisberger - 5
Franco Harris
The 13th pick of the 1972 draft, he was Pittsburgh's fullback through 1983 and finished up in Seattle. Offensive rookie honors came his way in 1972, his 9 straight Pro Bowl trips ran from that year through 1980, and he topped 1,000 rushing yards 8 times, which broke a record set by Jim Brown. The Immaculate Reception came in the first round of the playoffs in his rookie year: the Raiders led 7-6 with 22 seconds to play, and he snatched a Bradshaw pass just before it hit the ground. In Super Bowl IX, 2 seasons later, he was MVP with 158 yards on 34 carries. He's on 12 of 13 sources, and Pittsburgh retired number 32 on December 24, 2022, days after his death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Harris - 6
Troy Polamalu
In the 4th quarter of the 2008 AFC Championship Game he picked off Baltimore's Joe Flacco and ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown, and the 23-14 win sent Pittsburgh to Super Bowl XLIII, the second of his 2 titles. Safety was his position in Pittsburgh for 12 seasons, 2003 through 2014. Pro Bowl voters picked him 8 times, and he won the 2010 award as the league's best defender. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2020, and his count is a clean 13 for 13. After a 2006 game in which a Chiefs running back dragged him down by his hair, he took out an insurance policy on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Polamalu - 7
Mel Blount
Pass coverage rules changed because of the way he played: the league made his kind of harassment of a receiver illegal, and the change came to be called the Mel Blount Rule. He covered receivers at cornerback for Pittsburgh from 1970 until he retired in 1983. In 1975 his 11 interceptions led the league and he was voted the NFL's best defensive player, and he finished with 57 interceptions in all. In Super Bowl XIII, a 35-31 win over Dallas, his interception started the drive to a go-ahead touchdown, and that was the 3rd of his 4 titles. 13 sources out of 13 list him, and Canton inducted him in 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Blount - 8
Jack Ham
His 53 takeaways (32 interceptions, 21 fumble recoveries) are the NFL record for a player who wasn't a defensive back. His Pittsburgh years ran from 1971 to 1982, at linebacker; All-Pro selectors named him first team every year from 1974 to 1979, and his Pro Bowl count reached 8. Take the 1974 AFC Championship Game at Oakland: it was 10-10 in the 4th quarter when he stepped in front of a Ken Stabler sideline pass meant for Charlie Smith and returned it, and Lynn Swann caught the go-ahead touchdown on the drive that followed. Pittsburgh went to its first Super Bowl. The tally is 13 of 13. An ankle injury kept him out of Super Bowl XIV.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ham - 9
Rod Woodson
In 1994 the NFL put him on its 75th Anniversary Team while he was still playing, one of 5 active players chosen. The 10th overall pick in 1987, he spent 10 seasons in Pittsburgh, through 1996, before stops in San Francisco, Baltimore and Oakland. As a Steeler he went to 7 Pro Bowls and had his name on 5 All-Pro first teams between 1989 and 1994. The 1993 season was his peak there: 8 interceptions, his Pittsburgh high, 95 combined tackles, 2 sacks and a touchdown, and the league's defensive player honor. He tore his ACL in the 1995 opener against Detroit and was back on the field for Super Bowl XXX that same season. None of the 13 sources leaves him off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Woodson - 10
Mike Webster
A 5th-round pick in 1974, he played center for Pittsburgh through 1988, 15 seasons, before 2 more in Kansas City. He spent his first 2 years as a backup at center and guard, learning from veteran Ray Mansfield, and in 1976 the starting job at center became his and stayed his for 150 consecutive games. They called him Iron Mike, and he played with bare arms whatever the weather. His 6 straight first-team All-Pro years ran 1978 to 1983, there were 9 Pro Bowl trips, and the team won 4 Super Bowls in his time. He died on September 24, 2002, and 12 sources out of 13 have him on their list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Webster - 11
Jerome Bettis
Super Bowl XL was in Detroit, his hometown, and after Pittsburgh beat Seattle 21-10 he announced his retirement holding the trophy. The Rams had traded him to Pittsburgh on draft day in 1996, after 3 seasons with them, and he was the Steelers' running back from 1996 through 2005, retiring 5th on the NFL's career rushing list with 13,662 yards across both stops. That first year in Pittsburgh brought the league's comeback award plus All-Pro first-team status. In the 2005 playoffs at Indianapolis, with Pittsburgh up 21-18 at the Colts' 2-yard line and 1:20 left, he fumbled, and Nick Harper was off with it until Roethlisberger tackled him; the Colts then missed a 46-yard kick. Count 11 of the 13 sources in his favor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Bettis - 12
Ernie Stautner
In 1962 he was 37, and he's credited unofficially with 8 sacks that season. Born near Cham in Bavaria, he played on Pittsburgh's defensive line from 1950 through 1963, missing 6 games in those 14 seasons. Selectors sent him to 9 Pro Bowls between 1952 and 1961, and the NFL's Best Lineman Award for 1957 went to him too. On October 25, 1964, his number 70 became the first the Steelers formally retired, and the next one didn't come until 2014. Hall of Fame voters elected him in 1969, as soon as he was eligible, and he's named on 9 of the 13 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Stautner - 13
Lynn Swann
George Atkinson's hit in the 1975 AFC Championship Game left him with a severe concussion, and he played in Super Bowl X anyway: 4 catches for 161 yards, a Super Bowl record, and a touchdown in the 21-17 win over Dallas, which made him the first wide receiver named Super Bowl MVP. The Steelers had him at wide receiver for 9 seasons, 1974 to 1982. That 1975 season he had 49 catches for 781 yards and 11 touchdown catches, the NFL high, and he was picked first-team All-Pro that year, in 1977 and in 1978. He has 4 rings, Canton enshrined him in 2001, and his name is on 10 of the 13 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Swann - 14
Hines Ward
A blindside block in 2008 broke Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers's jaw, and the league's rule against that kind of hit is called the Hines Ward Rule. His 14 seasons in Pittsburgh ran from 1998 through 2011, and he became the team's career leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He went to 4 straight Pro Bowls from 2001 to 2004. Super Bowl XL made him its MVP: 5 catches for 123 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown thrown by wide receiver Antwaan Randle El that sealed a 21-10 victory over the Seahawks, and he won a second ring in Super Bowl XLIII. He's on 8 of 12; a 2020 ranking limited to Hall of Famers is the source that couldn't include him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hines_Ward - 15
Dermontti Dawson
Drafted 44th overall in 1988, he played center and long snapper in Pittsburgh through 2000, and he took over at center when Mike Webster left after that first season. From 1992 to 1998 his Pro Bowl run reached 7 straight, he was the All-Pro first team's center 6 years running from 1993, and he played 170 consecutive games until hamstring injuries cost him 9 games in 1999 and 7 more in 2000. His first career start at center was a 51-0 home loss to Cleveland, and a decade later he was on the winning side of a 43-0 game in Cleveland. Canton's class of 2012 included him; he shows up on 10 of 13 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermontti_Dawson - 16
John Stallworth
Out of Alabama A&M, he was a 4th-round pick in 1974 and caught passes for Pittsburgh from that year through 1987. In Super Bowl XIV, Pittsburgh trailed the Rams 19-17 with 12 minutes left when Bradshaw threw long, and he took it 73 yards for the touchdown that put them ahead for good in a 31-19 win. A year earlier he'd caught a record-tying 75-yard touchdown in Super Bowl XIII. The 1984 season brought the league's comeback honor, after he led the AFC with a career-high 1,395 yards on 80 catches. His reception total was the franchise record until 2005, he was inducted at Canton in 2002, and 10 of the 13 sources include him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stallworth - 17
Alan Faneca
Injuries in 2003 pushed him from left guard out to left tackle, and he still made the All-Pro second team that year. He played guard in Pittsburgh from 1998 through 2007 before closing out with the Jets and Cardinals, and each of his 6 first-team All-Pro nods came as a Steeler. He did it with epilepsy; his seizures began when he was 15, and he took medication and kept playing. In Super Bowl XL his block helped spring Willie Parker for a 75-yard touchdown run, the longest in the game's history. Voters sent him to Canton in 2021, and he's named on 10 of the 12 that could have named him, since a 2020 ranking stuck to Hall of Famers and came out months before his election.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Faneca - 18
James Harrison
In 2008 he became the first undrafted winner of the league's defensive player award, part of a run of Pro Bowls in every season from 2007 through 2011. Undrafted in 2002 and released 3 times early on, he stuck in Pittsburgh from 2004 to 2012 and came back for 2014 to 2017, with a season in Cincinnati between and a late stop in New England. His Super Bowl XLIII play came just before halftime: he made an interception and returned it 100 yards for a score, the longest play the Super Bowl had seen, and Pittsburgh went on to beat Arizona 27-23. Set aside a 2020 ranking whose field was Hall of Famers, and he's on 7 of the remaining 12 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harrison_(American_football) - 19
L. C. Greenwood
He wore gold shoes, which helped announcers tell him apart from Joe Greene. A 10th-round find, 238th overall, he lined up at end on Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain line from 1969 to 1981 and died in 2013. Against Minnesota in Super Bowl IX he batted down 2 Fran Tarkenton passes, and a year later, in Super Bowl X, he sacked Roger Staubach 4 times. He had 6 Pro Bowl trips, the 1974 and 1975 All-Pro first teams both included him, and he's credited with 78 career sacks, an unofficial stat at the time. He was a Hall of Fame finalist 6 times without being elected, so a 2020 ranking of Hall of Famers could not have named him; he's on 8 of the other 12.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._C._Greenwood - 20
Donnie Shell
Nobody drafted him in 1974, so he signed with Pittsburgh out of South Carolina State and stayed through 1987. He played strong safety, and his Pro Bowl run covered 1978 through 1982. The Steelers named him team MVP for 1980, when his career-high 7 interceptions led their defenders, and no NFL strong safety before him had passed 50 interceptions; he finished with 51, plus 4 Super Bowl rings. Hall of Fame voters got to him in 2020, 33 years after he stopped playing. All 13 sources were open to him, and 9 of them name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnie_Shell - 21
Jack Butler
Undrafted out of St. Bonaventure, he signed with Pittsburgh in 1951 and played cornerback there through 1959. His Pro Bowl years ran 1955 through 1958, but the game worth looking up came earlier: on December 13, 1953, he intercepted Washington 4 times, and one of them went back 35 yards for a touchdown that decided a 14-13 win. He retired in 1959 with 52 interceptions, second in NFL history at the time, after Eagles tight end Pete Retzlaff rolled into his knee. After that he spent 46 years at the BLESTO scouting combine, 44 as its director, before his 2012 Hall of Fame election as a senior nominee. Each of the 13 sources could have named him, and 7 did.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Butler_(American_football) - 22
Greg Lloyd
His forced fumbles led the NFL in 1991, 1994 and 1995, and the last of those seasons was his loudest: 6 forced fumbles, 6.5 sacks and 3 interceptions, then an AFC Championship win over Indianapolis. A 6th-round pick in 1987, he lost his rookie year to a knee sprain in camp, then held down a linebacker spot for Pittsburgh from 1988 through 1997, with a final year in Carolina after that. His Pro Bowl streak ran 5 years, 1991 to 1995. Another knee injury wrecked his 1996 season, and the Steelers put him in their Hall of Honor in 2020. He's at 7 of 12, since a 2020 ranking whose entrants had to be Hall of Famers could not name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Lloyd - 23
Joey Porter
In week 2 of 2002, against Oakland, he had 3 sacks and 2 interceptions and returned one of them 84 yards in a 30-17 loss. Colorado State sent him to Pittsburgh, where he played outside linebacker from 1999 through 2006 before stints in Miami and Arizona. His Pittsburgh years produced 3 Pro Bowl selections, in 2002, 2004 and 2005, and a first-team All-Pro nod for the first of them. His 10.5 sacks in 2005 matched his Pittsburgh high, and that season ended with a championship ring. In 2023 the Steelers drafted his son, Joey Porter Jr., 32nd overall. Of the 12 sources that could have named him he's on 7; the 13th, a 2020 ranking, was restricted to Hall of Famers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Porter
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