The Ten Pro Bowls of Mean Joe Greene Quiz

Answer: Gale Sayers

Greene was drafted by the Steelers fourth overall out of North Texas State in the 1969 NFL draft. His selection is widely regarded as the seminal event in the resurrection of the Steelers franchise by their great coach, Chuck Noll, and by the Rooney family, their legendary owners. An accomplished player with a fiery personality who hated losing, Greene undertook to lead by example. It wasn't easy. The Steelers' record in the 1969 season was 1-13; which makes Greene's accomplishment in winning the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year Award that year even more impressive.

Gale Sayers was an All-American standout at the University of Kansas when he was drafted in 1965 by the Chicago Bears. He was an immediate success; and was elected to the Pro Bowl at the end of both of his first two seasons. His third season was ended prematurely by the first of the serious knee injuries that would ultimately cut short his pro football career. Sayers' friendship with his doomed teammate Brian Piccolo would inspire the legendary sports film "Brian's Song." The story of how the two teammates and rivals at running back supported each other through Sayers' injuries and Piccolo's unsuccessful battle with cancer remains one of the most popular sports films of all time. Gale Sayers retired from the NFL in 1972 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

Answer: John Madden

In 1970, the Steelers improved their record to 5-9, adding two future Hall-of-Famers, quarterback Terry Bradshaw and cornerback Mel Blount, to the roster. Help was on the way, at last. Three Rivers Stadium, one of the generation of multi-purpose "bowl" stadiums that opened around the country in the 1970s, had opened in July, 1970. The Steelers, an "old NFL" team, had offered, along with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts, to move to the newly-constituted American Football Conference with the teams from the old American Football League when that league was merged into the NFL, thus creating its National and American Conferences.

A successful collegiate and professional football player, John Madden went on to become the Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969-1978, winning the Super Bowl with them in 1977. The Raiders were one of the great rivals of the Steelers during this period. Madden was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, by which time he had become a popular color commentator on NFL broadcasts for each of the major US television networks. In 1988, Madden began his association with EA Sports in the development and marketing of the Madden NFL series of video games.

Answer: Roger Staubach

Although the Steelers had made a substantial leap towards respectability in the previous season, in 1971 they added just one more victory, bringing their record to 6-8. They were a wildly inconsistent team, looking like losers one week and world beaters the next. Their defense, led by Greene, was markedly improving, seeking its place amongst the NFL elite. But Terry Bradshaw was having his ups and downs along the quarterback learning curve, and the offense was correspondingly spotty.

A Heisman Trophy winner at the Naval Academy in 1965, Roger Staubach joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969 after his military service and led them for the next eleven seasons, during which they won Super Bowls in 1972 and 1978. The 1972 Pro Bowl had to be a letdown for Staubach, who had just led his Cowboys to their first Super Bowl victory the previous week. He completed only one pass and had two passes intercepted in that Pro Bowl. Regardless of this off day, Staubach continued to lead the Cowboys with daring in the years to come. The Steelers had no greater rivals for NFL supremacy during this period: they would defeat the 'Boys in the Super Bowls of 1976 and 1979. After his 1979 retirement, taken largely because of the many concussions he had suffered as a player, Staubach was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Answer: O. J. Simpson

In 1972 the Steelers finally came into their own as NFL elite, winning their division (AFC Central) with a record of 11-3, and thus moving into postseason play for only the third time in the team's history. The team had added key players Jack Ham, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White, Ernie Holmes, Steve Furness, and Mike Wagner to its defense; and Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier, Larry Brown, and Joe Gilliam to its offense. For his part, Joe Greene rose to even greater heights as a player that year, no doubt helped by the addition of the core of the Pittsburgh defense. In so doing he was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year. In the postseason, the Steelers won the legendary "Immaculate Reception" game, in which Franco Harris grabbed a deflected touchdown pass off his shoetops to defeat the Oakland Raiders. However, the Steelers would fall in the next game to the Miami Dolphins, who were on their way to the NFL championship, completing their iconic 17-0 season.

In the Pro Bowl at the end of the season O.J. Simpson gained over 100 yards rushing and caught three passes to lead the AFC to a comeback victory. In light of the events of the 1990s and 2000s, in which he was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife and a friend in California and later imprisoned for armed robbery and kidnapping in Nevada; it is easy to forget that O.J. Simpson was one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. A Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Southern California, Simpson was the first player selected in the 1969 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He went on to lead that team to its own resurgence and into the playoffs. In 1973 Simpson became the first player to gain more than 2000 yards rushing in a season; and he was named the NFL Player of the Year for that season. Simpson retired in 1980 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Answer: Kansas City Chiefs

During the 1973 season, the Steeler defense established a record for pass defense, setting Super-Bowl-era records for lowest rating by opposing quarterbacks (33.1) and interceptions (37, spread over eleven different defenders, with no one defender grabbing more than eight). Joe Greene and his teammates on the defensive line - the legendary "Steel Curtain" - contributed in no small part to these records. Their persistent harassment of quarterbacks and run-stuffing abilities placed inordinate pressure on opponents' passing attacks, making interceptions almost inevitable.

The Kansas City Chiefs moved to their new home in 1963 from Dallas, Texas, where they had been known as the Dallas Texans. Plans for a new stadium for the team began almost immediately; and construction on the facility began in 1968. Arrowhead Stadium was opened in the suburbs of Kansas City in August, 1972. In the week prior to the Pro Bowl in January, 1974, the Kansas City area was hit by an ice storm and extremely low temperatures, causing the NFL to move Pro Bowl practices to San Diego. The 41 degree gametime temperature, cold as it was, actually represented a warming trend.

Answer: James Harris

Although they could not have known it at the time, the Steelers first Super-Bowl-winning season began with its draft in the spring of 1974, when the team selected four future Hall-of-Famers: wide receiver tandem Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, linebacker Jack Lambert, and center Mike Webster. This achievement is considered the most outstanding draft in NFL history. During the season, in which they had a 10-3-1 record, the Steelers grew as an offense, and Joe Greene's defense continued to dominate, so much so that he garnered another Defensive Player of the Year Award. In the AFC playoffs the team defeated O.J. Simpson's Buffalo Bills and the hated Oakland Raiders (in a game where Greene's defense allowed only 29 total yards rushing); and in Super Bowl IX the Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 16-3 for the franchise's first Super Bowl victory, in a game in which the defense allowed only 17 yards rushing and made three interceptions.

In the Pro Bowl the following week, L.A. Rams quarterback James Harris, who stepped in to replace several more prominent quarterbacks, garnered MVP honors. In so doing the Grambling University graduate became the first African American quarterback to receive the honor; just as in 1969 he had become the first African American to start a season at quarterback when he did so for the Buffalo Bills.

Answer: Billy "White Shoes" Johnson

The 1975 season saw the Steelers improve their record to 12-2 and successfully defend their Super Bowl Championship, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Super Bowl X. The team's offense became more potent as new wide receivers Swann and Stallworth were given more to do; and it was business-as-usual for Joe Greene's defense, as it provided another Defensive Player of the Year to the NFL: this time it was cornerback Mel Blount. The 1975 Steeler team sent eleven players to the Pro Bowl after their Super Bowl victory. Perhaps the most lasting impact on Steeler history was made that year not by a player, but by the team's hilarious broadcaster, Myron Cope: he suggested that everyone attending the home playoff game against Baltimore bring a yellow towel to wave as a show of support. Thus the Terrible Towel was born. It has endured as a Steeler tradition; and in sports venues around the world rags, flags, and various other emblems are waved and twirled in support of countless other teams.

William Arthur Johnson earned the nickname Billy "White Shoes" at his Pennsylvania high school for his habit of coloring his football shoes white to match his stockings. At 5'9" tall he was considered by college and pro scouts to be too small; but he proved them wrong, using his speed and agility to excel on both levels. Drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1974, he became a periodic contributor at wide receiver, although he made his mark returning kickoffs and punts, so much so that he was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. In addition to his trademark footwear, Johnson was one of the first to start an NFL tradition that many may have come to rue: the post-touchdown celebration dance. In the Pro Bowl in 1976 he returned one punt 90 yards for a touchdown and another 55 yards to set up a field goal, which provided the victory margin.

Answer: Mel Blount

The Steeler defense of 1976 was widely regarded as the greatest in team history. They had to be. When quarterback Terry Bradshaw was injured early in the season and the team's record fell to 1-4, Joe Greene's defense put the team's fate on its back and gave up only 28 total points to Steeler opponents in the remaining nine regular season games. The Steelers did not lose another game in the regular season, finishing at 10-4. Despite its prowess, however, the defense could not score points, and the decimated offense was eventually exposed when the Steelers lost the conference championship game to the Oakland Raiders, thus failing in their quest to win three Super Bowls in a row.

Melvin Cornell "Mel" Blount was drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 1970 draft, out of Southern University. Accomplished in several sports, he chose to concentrate on football when he accepted a scholarship to play the sport in college. The Steelers installed him at cornerback, and he became a starter in 1972, not surrendering a single touchdown in that season. He was such a physical and dominating player that it is widely believed that the league rewrote the rules governing defensive secondary play to make such intimidating play illegal (the "Mel Blount Rule"). He was named to the Pro Bowl five times. Mel Blount retired in 1983 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Answer: Steve Largent

In the 1978 regular season the Steelers shook off the doldrums of the previous year to register a 14-2 record, the league's best. Joe Greene's defense remained potent; but equally powerful now was the offense of Terry Bradshaw, who was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. In the playoffs the Steelers dominated the Denver Broncos and the Houston Oilers on their way to the Conference Championship. And in Super Bowl XIII, the Steelers and Dallas Cowboys fought a seesaw battle in one of the most exciting championships to date, which the Steelers won 35-31, becoming the first team to win three Super Bowls. Terry Bradshaw was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

Steven Michael Largent was drafted out of the University of Tulsa by the Houston Oilers in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL draft. In training camp he was traded to the expansion Seattle Seahawks, which turned out to be one of the shrewdest personnel moves in NFL history, at least as far as the Seahawks were concerned. Largent played 14 years at wide receiver with Seattle, earning Pro Bowl honors seven times for his surehanded play. He retired in 1989 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995. Largent was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and was re-elected three times, leaving the Congress in 2002.

Answer: Honolulu, Hawaii

The Steelers defended their league championship in the 1979 season, going 12-4 and dispatching the Miami Dolphins and the Houston Oilers on their way to Super Bowl XIV against the upstart Los Angeles Rams. The Steelers, behind in the score 17-19 at the start of the fourth quarter, came back to win the game 31-19, their fourth Super Bowl victory, which provided Terry Bradshaw with his second consecutive Super Bowl MVP Award.

The Pro Bowl had been played at various locations since its inception in 1938, primarily at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; but also occasionally at open-air stadiums in such places as Florida, Texas, and even Philadelphia, Kansas City, and New York; and at indoor stadiums in New Orleans and Seattle. The NFL hatched a plan to relocate the game to a picturesque, tourist-and-family-friendly, dependably-warm locale, namely to Aloha Stadium, in Halawa, Hawaii, a Honolulu suburb. The new location was chosen in order to boost TV ratings, encourage tourism, and even to make the Pro Bowl game more attractive to the selected players.

Joe Greene's tenth Pro Bowl in 1980 marked the high water mark for both his football career as a player (he would later coach for various NFL teams, including the Steelers) and for the Steelers as a team. Injuries and inevitable retirements befell the team in the early 1980s; and although the organization fielded some strong entries over the years, the Steelers did not win another Super Bowl until 2006. It seems trite to speak of a "Dynasty," but the Joe Greene Steelers were the very definition of that word. Retiring as a player in 1982, Greene was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. The following Steelers from his era have joined him there: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, and Head Coach Chuck Noll (owners Art Rooney, Sr. and Dan Rooney are also members) - and several other players from his era deserve to be there. The ten Pro Bowls of Mean Joe Greene are a mirror into a player, a team, and an era in American professional football that may never be equaled again.