Pittsburgh Steelers Legends team

The Pittsburgh Steelers Legends team represents the franchise's best players from the pre-1970 era. The team was chosen by a small group of Steeler officials and journalists and presented as a part of the Steelers' 75th season celebration in 2007.

The club presented an updated and expanded All-Time team at the same time, which was determined on the basis of fan voting.[1] The All-Time team represented the top 33 players in the team's first 75 years.[2] However, club officials recognized that since the All-Time team was selected by fans who had a natural bias toward choosing more recent players — due both to the team's struggles prior to the 1970s and because many fans never saw the players older players perform — many noteworthy players from the team's first four decades would be overlooked. The Legends team was created to address this oversight.[3]

Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney summed up the sentiment to create the Legends team thusly: "There were a lot of great Steelers prior to 1970 who were as good as today's superstars, but fewer people got to see them play. We are looking forward to welcoming the Legends Team and having today's fans see some of the great Steelers from the pre-1970 era."[3]

The eight-person selection committee that named the Legends team included Dan Rooney, Steelers Vice President Art Rooney, Jr., team scout Bill Nunn, former long-time coach Dick Hoak, long-time Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope, former sports editor of the Pittsburgh Press Roy McHugh, and former team officials Joe Gordon and Ed Kiely. This panel chose the top 24 players in the club's pre-1970 history: eleven on offense, eleven on defense, one punter and one placekicker.[3]

Offense

Position Jersey No. Player Years on Team # of Pro Bowls Hall of Fame Honors Ref.
Quarterback 22 Bobby Layne 1958–1962 6 Yes 1950s All-Decade Team [4]
Running back 44 Dick Hoak 1961–1971 1 No [5]
Running back 35 John Henry Johnson 1960–1965 4 Yes [6]
Wide receiver 87 Roy Jefferson 1965–1969 3 No 1969 Steelers MVP [7]
Wide receiver 44, 25 Ray Mathews 1951–1959 2 No [8]
Tight end 81 Elbie Nickel 1947–1957 3 No [9]
Center 21 Chuck Cherundolo 1941–1942, 1945–1948 2 No [10]
Guard 62 Mike Sandusky 1957–1965 1 No [11]
Guard 66 Bruce Van Dyke 1967–1973 1 No [12]
Tackle 71 Charlie Bradshaw 1961–1966 2 No [13]
Tackle 74 Frank Varrichione 1955–1960 5 No [14]

Defense

Position Jersey No. Player Years on Team # of Pro Bowls Hall of Fame Honors Ref.
Defensive tackle 76 Eugene Lipscomb 1961–1962 3 No[a] [15]
Defensive tackle 70 Ernie Stautner 1950–1963 9 Yes 1950s All-Decade Team [16]
Defensive end 60 Ben McGee 1964–1972 2 No [17]
Defensive end 84 Bill McPeak 1949–1957 3 No [18]
Linebacker 60 Dale Dodrill 1951–1959 4 No [19]
Linebacker 66 Myron Pottios 1961, 1963–1965 3 No [20]
Linebacker 49, 33 Jerry Shipkey 1948–1952 3 No [21]
Defensive back 80 Jack Butler 1951–1959 4 Yes [22]
Defensive back 3, 35 Bill Dudley 1942, 1945–1946 3 Yes 1946 NFL MVP
1940s All-Decade Team 		[23]
Defensive back 11, 20 Howard Hartley 1949–1952 - No [24]
Defensive back 28 Clendon Thomas 1962–1968 1 No [25]

Specialists

Position Jersey No. Player Years on Team # of Pro Bowls Hall of Fame Honors Ref.
Placekicker 17, 23, 39 Armand Niccolai 1934–1942 - No [26]
Punter 28, 18 Pat Brady 1952–1954 - No [27]

Notes

Names in bold indicate the player spent his entire playing career with the Steelers.
a Finalist in 1970 & 1977[28]

References

  1. ↑ Dvorchak, Robert (October 25, 2007). "Steelers name 33 players who stand above rest to its All-Time Team". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  2. ↑ "Steelers Announce All-Time Team as Part of Club's 75th Season Celebration". Steelers.com. October 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 "Steelers Announce Legends Team as Part of 75th Season Celebration Twenty-Four Honored as Best Pre-1970's Players in Club History". Steelers.com. October 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  4. ↑ "Bobby Layne bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  5. ↑ "Dick Hoak bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  6. ↑ "John Henry Johnson bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  7. ↑ "Roy Jefferson bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  8. ↑ "Ray Mathews bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "Elbie Nickel bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  10. ↑ "Chuck Cherundolo bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Mike Sandusky bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "Bruce Van Dyke bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "Charlie Bradshaw bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "Frank Varrichione bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  15. ↑ "Eugene Lipscomb bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  16. ↑ "Ernie Stautner bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "Ben McGee bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  18. ↑ "Bill McPeak bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  19. ↑ "Dale Dodrill bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  20. ↑ "Myron Pottios bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  21. ↑ "Jerry Shipkey bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  22. ↑ "Jack Butler bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  23. ↑ "Bill Dudley bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  24. ↑ "Howard Hartley bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  25. ↑ "Clendon Thomas bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  26. ↑ "Armand Niccolai bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  27. ↑ "Pat Brady bio". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  28. ↑ "Hall of Famers: Yearly Finalists". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
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