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Published: Monday, May 6, 2013, 5:42 p.m.Updated 21 hours ago
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, right, stands with Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene during the NFL football team's training camp session in Latrobe, Pa. Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Joe Greene is saying goodbye to the Steelers for the third and final time.
Greene, the Hall of Fame defensive tackle who was the foundation of the famed Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s, has retired from the Steelers' player personnel department. The announcement was made Monday.
Greene, 66, spent the past nine seasons as a special assistant for pro and college personnel for general manager Kevin Colbert. He joined the Steelers in part because owner Dan Rooney wanted one of the figurehead players in franchise history more actively involved with the team following his retirement as a longtime NFL assistant coach.
Considered to be one of the best defensive linemen in NFL history, he anchored a defense that still is widely acknowledged to be the greatest in league history. He was a 10-time Pro Bowl player and an eight-team All-Pro selection from 1969-81, and he was chosen by NFL.com as the 13th-best player in league history.
Greene was the Steelers' defensive line coach from 1987-91. He held the same job with the Dolphins from 1992-95 and the Cardinals from 1996-2003 before retiring as a coach and rejoining the Steelers.
“There are very few people in the history of the NFL who have had a greater impact on one franchise than Joe Greene has had on the Pittsburgh Steelers,” team president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “As a player, Joe was the cornerstone of the greatest defense of all time. As a coach, Joe helped Chuck Noll finish his tenure as head coach. Then we were fortunate to have Joe rejoin the organization in our player personnel department for the last nine years, which included two more Super Bowl championships.
“Joe has been an inspiration in this organization in so many capacities over so many years.”
Greene said he will miss “everyone in the Steelers organization.”
“When I played, our success was based on the people there — the players, coaches and front office — and I felt the same way when I was in scouting,” Greene said in a statement. “The people were very important to me, brought me along and made me feel comfortable, and I thought we made a pretty good team together.”
Greene was the first player drafted by the Steelers after coach Chuck Noll's hiring in 1969. He quickly became pivotal to the team's turnaround from being the NFL's worst team to its best.
That transformation continued with the drafting of players such as Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and Lynn Swann and peaked with four Super Bowl wins in six seasons from 1974-79.
Greene was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/3973094-74/steelers-greene-defensive#ixzz2ShNitoMy
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