NFL Greatest Players

Joe Greene: If the bear-paw hands couldn't twist a blocker into submission, the club-like forearms might finish the job.

The heads of many NFL offensive linemen were sent into a throbbing spin by bell-ringing blows to the helmet from Joe Greene.

He was the meanest, nastiest, most ornery member of Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain defense and the cornerstone upon which a four-time Super Bowl champion was built.

The 6-4, 275-pound Greene could single-handedly dominate a game. He was strong, mobile and hostile -- a grizzly bear looking for a quarterback snack. Mean Joe didn't just overpower blockers, he brutalized them with a no-holds-barred style.

He was cocky enough to believe he could do anything he wanted any time he wanted to -- and he usually did, double- and triple-team blocking notwithstanding.

Like in the December 10, 1972, game against Houston when Greene recorded five sacks, blocked a field-goal attempt, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble in a 9-3 victory that helped the Steelers secure the first of their seven AFC Central titles in the 1970s.

Off the field, Greene was articulate, outspoken, thoughtful and quick to smile. On the field, he was on a mission of destruction, the anchor for a run-stuffing wall that included L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White.

Times were tough in Pittsburgh when Greene, out of North Texas State, was selected in the first round (fourth overall) in 1969 -- the first pick of the Chuck Noll coaching era.

But with the man who would come to epitomize Pittsburgh-style football stationed on the line, the Steelers rose to prominence, ending almost four decades of frustration by reaching the AFC championship game six times in eight years and winning four Super Bowls in six years.

Greene's relentless pursuit of excellence was reflected in 10 Pro Bowl selections in a 13-year career that ended in 1981.