Steelers have a long history of winning defensive player of the year awards

If the Steelers have become synonymous with anything, it’s fielding defensive players who love to play smash-mouth football.

Some of them pulverized their opponents and instilled fear In their opponents. Some were a one-man wrecking crew when they played. As a result, since 1971, the Steelers have racked up more defensive player of the year award winners than any other team in the NFL than any other team.

The AP’s defensive player of the year award began in the 1971 season. First handed out to Alan Page of the Minnesota Vikings. Since then, only the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants, each with four players having won the award,  have come the closest to the Steelers in producing Defensive Player of the Year winners. Between 1972-1976 the only non Steelers’ player to win the award was the Dolphins’ safety, Dick Anderson.

Of all of the Steelers defensive players to have won the award, here are some great Steelers’ players who did not manage to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award: Jack Ham, Donnie Shell, L.C. Greenwood, Dwight White, Joey Porter, Carnell Lake, Ryan Shazier, and Cam Heyward. Some of them are in the NFL Hall of Fame, others had great careers with the Steelers, and some are still playing.

So if those are the Steelers who have not won the prestigious award, then which ones have the award? Well, in this case, it’s not hard to guess who they are. They are obvious names that were not on the list of the non-winners. They are the ones who stepped onto the field and managed to do the impossible, making the difficult look easy.

So without further ado.