Pittsburgh Steelers: 15 greatest first-round picks of all-time
Steelers 1969 first-round pick: DT Joe Greene
There is no better player to ever put on a black and yellow uniform than defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene. Whether we’re talking defenders, draft picks, Pro Football Hall of Famers, or just impactful people, Greene tops all lists, and will stay atop all lists for the foreseeable future.
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The No. 4 overall pick in the 1969 NFL Draft entered the league as a quarterback crushing defensive lineman from North Texas. His first season, he won NFL Rookie of the Year, and from there, only continued to grow into the NFL’s all-time greatest.
Through his 13-year career, Greene earned two Defensive Player of the Year awards, six First-Team All-Pro honors, 10 Pro Bowl selections and an NFL Man of the Year award. All on top of his four Super Bowl trophies as the most prominent piece of the Pittsburgh Steel Curtain in the 1970s.
It’s impossible not to place Greene first on any list. Without him, the Steel Curtain never exists. Pittsburgh probably doesn’t win four Super Bowls during his time. Worst of all, the Pittsburgh attitude, everyone holds dearly to this day, never establishes itself.
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No one will ever replace Greene’s place in Pittsburgh. He will forever be the Steelers’ greatest player. All because the Steelers wrote his name on that slip of paper to draft him No. 4 overall in 1969. Let’s just say it was the best draft decision the Steelers have ever made to date.