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Top 50 Pittsburgh Steelers

There are many that feel that the Pittsburgh Steelers really did not begin until the 1970s, but of course, that isn't true.

The origin of the Steelers dates all the way back in 1933, and they are the seventh oldest NFL franchise in existence.  They made the playoffs in 1947, but that was the only time they made it to a post-season from 1933 to 1971.  The Steelers would then become the power of the AFC, winning four Super Bowls in the 1970s, primarily on the strength of their potent "Steel Curtain" defense.

Their 70s success made them one of the most popular teams in the game, a status that they maintain today.  Pittsburgh never had another dynasty, but they did have success winning two more Super Bowls this millennium, giving them six, which is tied with the New England Patriots for the most.


Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.

This list is active until the end of the 2022 Season.

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…

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Donnie Shell was a superstar at South Carolina State, so much so that he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame. This did not translate into a drafted selection for the Safety, but the Steelers signed him that year, thus adding to the four players that year who they did draft who entered Canton.
An All-American and Rose Bowl winner at Ohio State, Cameron Heyward was taken 31stOverall in the 2011 Draft, but it has been in the last three years where he has really shone and earned a spot on this list. 
Maurkice Pouncey was Pittsburgh’s First Round (18thOverall) Pick in 2010, and the Center would instantly become their starting Center.
Greg Lloyd played all but his last season in professional football with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which was an incredible accomplishment for a player at Fort Valley State.
After being a 16thRound Pick from Missouri in the 1963 Draft, Andy Russell made the Pittsburgh Steelers team.  That in itself was a nice accomplishment, but Russell would prove that just making it to the National Football League wasn't enough.
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.
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.
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. 
When you are the younger brother of J.J. Watt, a large shadow is cast over you.  T.J. Watt has done a great job escaping it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Le’Veon Bell was the second Running Back taken in 2013 when the Pittsburgh Steelers used the 48thOverall Pick on the Michigan State Spartan.
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.
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.
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…