Joe Greene (American football)

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Charles Edward Greene, known as "Mean Joe" Greene, (born September 24, 1946) is a former all-pro American football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. Throughout the early 1970s he developed into arguably the most dominant defensive lineman in the NFL. He is considered by many to be one of the the best defensive lineman to ever play the game and was the cornerstone of the famous "Steel Curtain" defense. He is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a four-time Super Bowl champion.

[edit] College career

Before his NFL career, "Mean Joe" Greene had an outstanding college football career at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) (1966-1968), assisting the team to a 23-5-1 record during his 3 seasons with them. In 1984, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2006 was voted to the East-West Shrine Game Hall of Fame [1].

[edit] Pro football career

In 1969, he was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 4th pick of the NFL draft and spent his entire career with them until his retirement in 1981. When Joe Greene was drafted, a newspaper headline asked Who's Joe Greene? The question was quickly answered as Greene became so good, that teams double-teamed and even triple-teamed him throughout his entire career.

After he was drafted Greene quickly established himself as a dominant defensive player. He was incredibly strong, quick and intense. He was the NFL's rookie of the year in 1969, even though he played on a poor Steelers team that went 1-13 and had a long standing reputation of being a walking mat for other NFL teams. But that was also Chuck Noll's first year as a coach for the Steelers, and the Steelers quickly improved over the next few seasons. Greene later admitted that he was upset with being drafted by the Steelers due to their long history of losing. He showed his displeasure on the field. In his early years with the Steelers, Greene was at times uncontrollable and often let his temper get the best of him. His had no tolerance for losing but the team veterans quickly took notice. His desire to win rallied the veterans around him and with great drafts along with superb coaching the Steelers franchise soon began to undergo a dramatic makeover. Joe Greene was credited as the cornerstone of the great Steelers dynasty and perhaps the most important player in team history.

Greene was the leader and cornerstone of the Steel Curtain defense that won four Super Bowls in the 1970s. He was twice recognized as the NFL defensive player of the year in 1972 and 1974. He, along, with other members of the Steelers' front four (L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White and Ernie Holmes) even appeared on the cover of Time magazine. That defense held NFL MVP Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings offense scoreless in Super Bowl IX (the Vikings only scored on a blocked punt, for which they missed the extra point), the only time that has occurred in Super Bowl history. It was also Greene's best championship performance, when he became the first player ever to record an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in a single Super Bowl. He went to the Pro Bowl 10 times during his career.

Greene is also well-known for the "pinch" defense in which he would line up at an angle, between the center and guard, and would explode into the line taking up 2-3 blockers. He started doing this sometime in the 1974 season, and while it cut down on the number of sacks he racked up it freed up his other defensive teammates like middle linebacker Jack Lambert to make tackles with ease.

After leading the Steelers to another Super Bowl win after the 1975 season over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X, Greene missed the first several games of the 1976 season with a back injury. The Steelers started off the season 1-4 and looked like they would not make the playoffs. Quarterback Terry Bradshaw also got injured and was replaced by rookie Mike Kruczek. The season looked lost. But Greene and the Steelers defense carried the Steelers to nine straight wins and the playoffs. In what was probably the greatest NFL defense in the modern era, the 1976 Steelers held opponents to an average of less than 10 points per game (138 points over 14 games). During their nine-game winning streak, the Steelers defense recorded five shutouts, another modern record, and gave up a total of just 28 points (roughly 3 points per game). The defense allowed only two touchdowns over nine games.

Ten of the eleven starters on that 1976 Steelers team were players who made the Pro Bowl at least once in their career (eight starters made the Pro Bowl after the 1976 season). Middle lineback Jack Lambert had, along with Greene, become the emotional leader of the defense and over the next several years became the dominant player at his position while Greene continued to perform at an all-pro level, becoming a 5-time All-Pro (1972-74,77,79) and in 1969 receiving the first of his 10 Pro Bowl invitations. He retired after the 1981 season after 13 years in the league.

His end stats were 181 games, 78.5 sacks (unofficially, as sacks were not an official statistic until 1982) and 16 fumble recoveries.

[edit] Retirement

After retiring from the NFL, Greene became an assistant coach under Steelers' head coach Chuck Noll in 1987. He spent the next 16 years as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, and Arizona Cardinals. In 2004, he retired from coaching and was named the special assistant for player personnel for the Steelers. In this position he earned his 5th Super Bowl ring after the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. Along with longtime running backs coach Dick Hoak, Greene is one of the few outside the Rooney family to have Super Bowl rings from all five championship teams.

It was Greene, in fact, who coined the phrase "One for the Thumb in '81" after the Steelers won Super Bowl XIV. After the Steelers missed the playoffs in 1980, the saying was shortened to "One for the Thumb", and became the unofficial rally cry for the Steelers search for the elusive fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy until the team finally won it in 2005.

Although the Steelers do not officially retire jersey numbers, Greene's number 75 has not been issued since his retirement and is understood to be "unofficially retired". Greene also briefly wore number 72 during his rookie season before switching to his more familiar 75 midseason.^[1]

Mr. Greene now resides in Flower Mound, Texas.

[edit] Film and Television

Greene made a number of television and film appearances:

• The Black Six (1974) as Kevin Washington
• Horror High (1974) as the coach's buddy, a policeman
• Lady Cocoa (1975)
• Fighting Back: The Story of Rocky Bleier (1980TV) as a Steeler player
• Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) as himself
• ...All the Marbles (1981) as himself
• The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid (1981TV) as himself
• SCTV in the episode "Battle of the PBS Stars" as himself

Greene has also appeared in commercials, the most famous of which first aired on 1 September 1979 in which a child (Tommy Okon) gives him a Coke, prompting "Mean" Joe to smile and give the kid his game jersey. The commercial was listed as one of the top ten commercials of all time by TV Guide magazine. The advert was also shown in many other countries (including the UK) even where Greene wasn't well known. Later it was adapted to star other countries sports stars, including Argentina (with Diego Maradona playing Greene's role), Brazil (with Zico), Italy (with Dino Zoff) and Thailand. Also, a similar themed advert for Pepsi aired in the UK with David Beckham many years later. In 1981, "The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid" expanded the Coke commercial into a TV movie with Greene playing himself and the kid played by Henry Thomas, who soon after starred as Elliot in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. This advertisement was paid homage to in 2006, in a TV ad promoting asthma awareness. In the 2006 ad, a child with asthma tosses his Jerome Bettis Steelers jersey to Jerome himself, who is also an asthma sufferer.

Due to the longstanding popularity of the Coke commercial featuring Greene, Coca-Cola and the Steelers have since developed a longtime partnership between the two, which includes the Coca-Cola Great Hall at Heinz Field, which honors the Steeler greats, including Greene.

In season one of Star Wars: Clone Wars, Mace Windu lands in front of a small farm child during the Battle of Dantooine, who then offers him a sip of his canteen before Windu force jumps away in a reference to the Coke kid commercial. It has also been parodied in the Family Guy episode Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater where "Mean" Joe not only offers his jersey, but throws the rest of his clothing as well.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://news6.steelers.com/article/40479/

[edit] External links

• Hall of Fame page for Joe Greene
• iFilm: Coca-Cola Ad
• Behind the scenes: The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid
• College Football Hall of Fame bio
• Member of the Cold, Hard Football Facts.com "All-Time 11" (2006)