Best NFL Players of All Time: Joe Greene. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Joe Greene

Millions of football fans are familiar with Joe Greene because of his trademark Coca-Cola commercial and his contentious nickname. “Mean Joe” wasn’t the most aggressive or violent player to ever step onto a football field, but he was one of the best pass rushers and defensive lines in history.

Greene, a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers who wore number 75, has the most famous license plate on the Steel Curtain defense. A 10-year-old child approaches a tired Greene in a 1980 Super Bowl XIV commercial and gives him a bottle of Coca-Cola, which Greene accepts. After giving the drink a long, satisfying gulp, Greene sees the boy start to walk away.

“Hey, kid,” Greene yells after that. Greene tosses the boy’s game-used jersey to him when he turns around.

That commercial, which is still included in the greatest Super Bowl commercials ever, was released when Greene’s career was coming to an end. Before that advertising, he became known as the most feared defensive player in the Steel Curtain.

Of course, the defense won four Super Bowls in the 1970s and produced four Hall of Famers: Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, and Mel Blount. They are frequently considered the finest of all time since they were not one-year wonders like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens or the 1985 Chicago Bears.

Greene played collegiate football at North Texas State, one of the few universities to grant him a scholarship. The Mean Green moniker from North Texas served as the inspiration for Greene’s moniker.

He lived up to that nickname during his early years with the Steelers. He was really displeased about joining a losing team when the Steelers selected him in the 1969 NFL Draft. During Pittsburgh’s 1-13 season, he was often enraged, and his biting and rudeness forced rookie head coach Chuck Noll to sit him down and have a talk with him. But as the Steelers started to play better, Greene came around to Noll’s plan and became the indisputable captain of the club.

Greene’s quick reflexes and keen sense of awareness allowed him to be incredibly productive on the field. He was one of the first defensive linemen to play at an angle, or “tilt,” rather than square his shoulders against the opposition. Greene’s enemies never knew who he would target because he lived in the guard-center gap.

When the Steelers flew to Oakland to play the Raiders in the AFC Championship Game, they employed the strategy that Greene had disclosed during the 1974 season. The Raiders were the favorite since they were playing at home and many believed their offensive line could match the Steelers’ defense. Along with Raiders center Jim Otto and guard Gene Upshaw, who are both Hall of Fame players, Greene dominated play as the Steelers crushed the Raiders 23–14.

Two weeks later, in the Super Bowl vs the Minnesota Vikings, Greene was back at it. Greene penalized Vikings center Mick Tinglehoff, who was considered the best player of his era in that role and is now in the Hall of Fame. Despite his little stature of 6-foot-2 and 237 pounds, Tinglehoff has exceptional speed and technique. An important element in the Steelers’ 16–6 victory was Greene’s effort. He had a tremendous day, preventing the Vikings from scoring an offensive touchdown by causing a fumble, recovering one, and intercepting the pass.

The Steelers’ defense achieved a pinnacle in their first two Super Bowl appearances (1974 and 1975), eventually defeating the Vikings and Dallas Cowboys in the title game.

Bowls IX and X. But when they prevented their rivals from scoring, they might have played their best game of 1976. They held nine additional teams to single digits and shut out five opponents throughout the season. They were overwhelming favorites to go to the Super Bowl after finishing the regular season with nine straight victories. In the 1976 AFC Championship Game, the Raiders defeated the Steelers 24–7, but their offense was hindered by injuries to its starting running backs, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier.

“What drew my attention was the defense,” said Greene. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not disparaging our Super Bowl teams; we just dominated that year.

We had a bad start to the season, losing four of our first five games. After that, the light came on. We had to stop the run because teams were so deterred from trying. We then broke off the pass. Each defense group communicated with the others. Nothing was more superior than it. When you have shutouts, you are doing your job. And in a couple of those games, teams were lucky to get two or three first downs.

The Pittsburgh defensive line was where it all started. The defensive line was the engine that propelled everything, even though Mel Blount headed the outstanding secondary and Jack Lambert led the linebackers. Greene, Dwight White, Ernie “Fats” Holmes, and L.C. Greenwood formed a fearsome foursome that rivaled or even outperformed the front fours of the Rams and Vikings that had come before them. Green was the most dangerous player of them all since he had the most unofficial sacks (66) during his career.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Joe Greene Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Sk	AV
1969	23	PIT	LDT	75	14	14			0						9.5	7
1970	24	PIT	LDT	75	14	14			0						8	9
1971	25	PIT	LDT	75	14	14			0		0	3	3	0	5.5	10
1972	26	PIT	LDT	75	14	14			0		0	1	0	0	11	18
1973	27	PIT	LDT	75	14	13			0		0	2	0	0	4	15
1974	28	PIT	LDT	75	14	14	1	26	0	26	1	4	7	0	9	16
1975	29	PIT	LDT	75	10	9			0						3	10
1976	30	PIT	LDT	75	14	14			0						6	14
1977	31	PIT	LDT	75	13	13			0		0	1	0	0	4	12
1978	32	PIT	LDT	75	16	16			0		0	5	0	0	4.5	12
1979	33	PIT	LDT	75	15	15			0						5	9
1980	34	PIT	LDT	75	15	15			0						3.5	7
1981	35	PIT	LDT	75	14	7			0						4.5	4
Career					181	172	1	26	0	26	1	16	10	0	77.5	143

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Sk
1972	26	PIT	LDT	2	2			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1973	27	PIT	LDT	1	1			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1974	28	PIT	LDT	3	3	1	10	0	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
1975	29	PIT	LDT	2	2			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1976	30	PIT	LDT	2	2			0			0	0	0	0	0	1
1977	31	PIT	LDT	1	1			0			0	0	1	0	0	0
1978	32	PIT	LDT	3	3			0			0	0	0	0	0	4
1979	33	PIT	LDT	3	3			0			0	0	0	0	0	1
Career				17	17	1	10	0	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	7

 

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