#75 And Other “Retired” Steelers Jersey Numbers

by Joe Kuzma (joe_kuzma) on August 1, 2014

“Mean” Joe Greene will break an unofficial 50 year policy of retiring jersey numbers when the Steelers will honor him this November. Greene’s #75 will become only the second number retired by the team.

Up until this year, the only retired number in team history was DT Ernie Stautner’s #70, honored back in 1964. While not officially retired like #70 and #75, there have been a number of jersey numbers that have never been re-issued since the players who wore them retired.

Here is a list of those unofficially “retired” numbers:

1 Gary Anderson
12 Terry Bradshaw
32 Franco Harris
36 Jerome Bettis
52 Mike Webster
58 Jack Lambert
59 Jack Ham
63 Dermontti Dawson
86 Hines Ward

While all of the players above may be deserving of the recognition, none is more deserving than Greene, who was involved in the league through 6 different decades. His list of accomplishments will likely never be matched by another player:

2011 Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame
Ranked #13 NFL Player of All-Time by NFL.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (1987)
10× Pro Bowl (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979)
5× First-team All-Pro selection (1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979)
3× Second-team All-Pro selection (1969, 1971, 1975)
11× First-team All-AFC selection (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
4× Super Bowl champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV)
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team
1969 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
2× AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1972, 1974)
2× KCC 101 AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1972, 1974)
2× NEA NFL Defensive MVP winner (1972, 1974)
Pittsburgh Steelers #75 retired