10 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers of all time

Pittsburgh head coach Chuck Noll with wide receiver coach Lionel Taylor, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene and defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, during the closing seconds of the Steelers 16-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX on January 12, 1975 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sylvia Allen/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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Defensive tackle Ernie Stautner(70) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 27 to 26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on October 2, 1955 at the Los Angeles Memorial Colesium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vic Stein/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

9. Ernie Stautner, DT

In case it wasn’t clear in the introduction, the Pittsburgh Pirates/turned Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the worst franchises in the league for nearly 40 years. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the club had its share of standout players during its lean years. For instance, outside linebacker Andy Russell toiled with the club a few years before Jack Ham (1971) and Jack Lambert (1974) joined the team. He was a Pro Bowler in 1968 and 1970, earned five additional invitations and was a part of Pittsburgh’s first two Super Bowl championship teams.

Another case in point is Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Ernie Stautner, who probably received more notoriety for his days as an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys as perhaps he did on the field with the Steelers. But make no mistake, he was a rough and tumble performer and one of the best ever at his position, earning a total of nine Pro Bowl invitations during his 14 seasons in the National Football League.

Stautner played in a total of 173 regular-season games and made 143 starts. While individual sacks were not an official stat those days, the former Boston College product had a nose for the ball with a pair of interceptions and 23 fumble recoveries.

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