Menu
A+ A A-

41 Levon Kirkland

Levon Kirkland played in all 16 Games in his 1992 rookie season, but he was mostly in Special Teams.  In his second year in the National Football League, he became a starter at Left Inside Linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he held that job until he was surprisingly waived in 2000.

39. Heath Miller

Heath Miller was an All-American Tight End at Virginia, and his work as a Cavalier resulted in him being a First Round Pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

37. Dale Dodrill

You could argue that many people in Pittsburgh don't think that football began until 1970, but many great players wore the black and yellow, among them being two-way 50s player, Dale Dodrill.

38. John Henry Johnson

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted John Henry Johnson in 1953, but he elected to go north instead, where he played for the Calgary Stampeders for a year.  Johnson returned to the United States but signed with the San Francisco 49ers. After three years in the Bay Area, he was traded to Detroit, and three years after that, the Steelers traded for him, finally getting the Running Back they took 18thOverall seven years before.

40. Mike Wagner

Mike Wagner was drafted in the 11thRound in 1971 by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where the team looked at him as a potential Wide Receiver.  They moved the product of Western Illinois to Safety, and it seemed to be the correct decision.

36. Dwight White

Dwight White was Pittsburgh’s 1971 Fourth Round Pick from East Texas, and he would play the entirety of his ten-year career wearing the black and yellow.

34. Jason Gildon

After being chosen in the Third Round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1994, Jason Gildon was used mostly on Special Teams in his first two seasons.  It was not until Greg Lloyd Sr. went down to injury in 1997 where the Oklahoma State Cowboy became a starting Linebacker.

33. Joey Porter

A backup as a rookie in 1999, Joey Porter became the Pittsburgh Steelers starting Right Outside Linebacker in his second season, and it would not take long for the pass-rusher to capture the hearts of the Steelers fanbase.

31. David DeCastro

An All-American at Stanford, David DeCastro was the player with whom the Pittsburgh Steelers used their First Round (24thOverall) Pick on in the 2012 Draft.

29. Carnell Lake

Carnell Lake came to the Pittsburgh Steelers as a Second Round Pick in 1989, and while the UCLA Defensive Back was not an All-Rookie, he was named by the Steelers as their Rookie of the Year. 

28. Lynn Swann

One of the most recognized players of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl era of the 1970s, Lynn Swann, was a member of all four of their titles in their dynastic run.

27. James Farrior

If you were to ask the New York Jets fans from 1997 to 2001 what they thought of James Farrior, they would likely call him a bust.  Other than his last season in New York, he was not a starter, and the former Eighth Overall Pick from Virginia just wasn't panning out as expected.

32. Aaron Smith

One of the best players to ever play in the NFL, who played collegiate in Northern Colorado, Aaron Smith, was taken in the Fourth Round in 1999.

30. Casey Hampton

Casey Hampton was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as a Texas Longhorn in 2000, and the Pittsburgh Steelers landed him the following year as the 19thOverall Pick.

21. Jack Butler

Playing at St. Bonaventure, Jack Butler did not receive any attention from the NFL scouts, which reflected as he was not a Pick in the Draft.  Butler was able to find employment with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1951, and it worked out well for both parties. 

11. Terry Bradshaw

Say what you want about how the help that Terry Bradshaw had with the Steel Curtain defense and Franco Harris in the backfield, but no Quarterback wins four Super Bowls without being an excellent player.

22. Jerome Bettis

Jerome Bettis began his NFL career with the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, where he donned the horns on his helmet for the first three seasons of his career.  Bettis was a First Team All-Pro as a rookie with 1,429 Rushing Yards, but in his third season, he dropped to 637 Yards and was deemed expendable by the Rams.  "The Bus" was traded to the Steelers, and the Rams regretted that decision ever since.

Subscribe to this RSS feed