GOT LINEBACKERS?.....the STEELERS BEST LBs from the 1970's to current......REAL BLACK & GOLD Verified.....STEELERS LB LORE

They use Colleges when they talk about Tradition and History of Different Positions that some Colleges have had Top Notch Talent over and over again. Well in the NFL you will find very few teams that are SYNONYMOUS with one Position on the Field because the talent level on SUNDAYS is everywhere.

ENTER.......those Three RIVERS in WESTERN P A........the ALLEGHENY, MONONGAHELA, and the OHIO.....which runs into each other in PITTSBURGH Pennsylvania. Thus the 1t STADIUM that the STEELERS played in was the Historical THREE RIVERS STADIUM.

Now what were the STEELERS known for and to this day more than any other FRANCHISE........LINEBACKERS. You know the ones current Coach Mike TOMLIN said at a draft a year ago when asked after the STEELERS get their guy what do you look for in the LATER ROUNDS after need. Coach T says, " WE like the 6'4" 250lb VIOLENT TYPES..........WE in PITTSBURGH COVET those young men".

And when the STEELERS started to turn their FRANCHISE around it was on Defense and centered around a Defensive Tackle called Mean JOE and a ILB names LAMBERT. This is where the 6'4"...well....I don't know about 250 El BEES but VIOLENT....right on QUE.

Jack LAMBERT was joined by 2 other STUDS in the 70's LBs Jack HAM and Andy RUSSELL. These 2 gentleman teamed up with the other 7 STEELERS to form a Defense that as so dominant it was named the STEEL CURTAIN. They ran a conventional 4-3 back then and not until the 90's did the STEELERS start to run that Vaunted 3-4 Zone Blitz Scheme.

After those Teams combined to win 4 Super BOWLS in the 70's...the team went kinda flat in the 80's as those gentleman got older but the DEFENSE remained a staple to the STEELERS.

The 1980's brought guys and still the violent type like Robin COLE and Mike MERRIWEATHER. Jack LAMBERT anchored those 2 until a TURF TOE ended LAMBERT'S Career. And believe it or Not the STEELERS also drafted one of the BEST Linebackers in the 90's and he played for the Tampa Bay BUCCANEERS.....EL DRAGO.....Hardy NICKERSON....who played with COLE and MERRIWEATHER.

Then in 1988 the tide turned into what was going to be one of the best Linebackers to ever line up in the 'BURGH.....Greg LLOYD of Fort Valley STATE and a member of KAPPA ALPHA PSI aka NUPE.

And a few YEARS later the STEELERS grabbed the biggest LINEBACKER on RECORD in DEATH VALLEY'S (Clemson TIGERS) ILB Levon KIRKLAND. So now the STEELERS have KIRKLAND and LLOYD and they were still looking.

Then STEELERS Nation got another chip in 1993 when they drafted COLORADO BUFFALO All American OLB Chad BROWN. And picked up the last piece to the PUZZLE from the LA RAMS in OLB Kevin GREENE. Now we start to get to that 3-4 Zone Scheme. But it wasn't LeBEAU who brought it to the 'BURGH first. It was someone we know all too well and he beat us in SUPER BOWL 45.....Packers Defensive COORDINATOR Dom CAPERS. Le BEAU was on his staff in the 90's as DB Coach as CAPERS ran the 3-4 and back then it was hard to run it because TEAMS were not spreading it out and PASSING it all over they were Running the ROCK.

Capers had installed that 3-4 with KIRKLAND as the Captain, BROWN,. LLOYD, and GREENE. The 1994 Draft bought us another good one in OKLAHOMA STATE Cowboy OLB Jason GILDON who would get his apprenticeship behind LLOYD and GREENE.

AS we went to the 1995 Super Bowl and lost to the COWBOYS.....OLB Greene departed, LLOYD was hurt all season and the next in line to play was FAMU ILB Earl HOLMES. We lost then to in the coming Years Chad Brown to the SEAHAWKS for some unknown reason and LLOYD retired as well.

Then heading into the 2K's we had a descent group but it was headlined by GILDON and 1999 Pick Joey PORTER aka J-PEEZY. Then in 2002 the STEELERS have major transactions going on....they get Georgia All SEC LB Kendrell BELL, ILB James FARRIOR from the JETS, Larry FOOTE, and a little unknown guy James HARRISON on the Practice Squad.

In 2003 the group looked like FARRIOR, BELL, HAGGANS, GILDON, and PORTER. The 2004 season ended the career of Kendrell BELL after teammate OLB Joey PORTER ran into him causing Blow out of the KNEE.

The 2005 Season put the STEELERS back into the LOMBARDI Collection with FOOTE, FARRIOR, HARRISON, PORTER, and HAGGANS. We win SUPER BOWL XL in the Motor City.

The 2006 Season we stay the same at Linebacker and then the 2007 Draft.....on the TO GET MENU....2 Linebackers. The STEELERS select at 17 Lawrence TIMMONS and early in the 2nd at 46 Lamaar WOODLEY. And that brings us to the current collection of LINEBACKERS and in all that...Super Bowl 43 Winners with Starting Linebackers FARRIOR, WOODLEY, HARRISON, and FOOTE with TIMMONS playing spot duty.

And now you know what it is to be a STEELER LINEBACKER and the the STEELER Linebacker LORE is something to be reckon with.

Notable LINEBACKERS by Decades

1970's

Jack LAMBERT 58
Jack HAM 59
Andy RUSSELL 34
Dirk WINSTON 53
Robin COLE 56

1980's

Mike MERRIWEATHER 57
David LITTLE 50
Hardy NICKERSON 54
Greg LLOYD 95

1990's

Levon KIRKLAND 99
Chad BROWN 94
Kevin GREENE 91
Jason GILDON 92
Earl HOLMES 50
Joey PORTER 55

2000's

James FARRIOR 51
Larry FOOTE 50
Clark HAGGANS 54
Kendrell BELL 97
James HARRISON 92
Lawrence TIMMONS 94
Lamaar WOODLEY 56