Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers outdoors linebacker Andy Russell, a two-time Tremendous Bowl champion, has died. He was 82.
Russell died Friday, in response to the Steelers. A reason behind demise is not instantly identified.
Russell was a seven-time Professional Bowl choice whereas a part of the well-known Metal Curtain protection. The Steelers gained Tremendous Bowl IX and X throughout Russell’s tenure.
He was a part of a star-studded trio of linebackers that includes Jack Lambert within the center and Jack Ham on the opposite facet.
“If you wish to be an excellent linebacker, you additionally should be sensible on the market, and he taught me the psychological a part of the sport,” Ham instructed the Pittsburgh Submit-Gazette. “I believe that is what set him aside and made his profession such an excellent profession right here in Pittsburgh.”
Russell was a Sixteenth-round decide in 1963 and performed 12 seasons with Pittsburgh, starting in 1963 earlier than serving a two-year army stint. He returned to play from 1966 to 1976 and put collectively a streak of 168 consecutive video games performed, by no means lacking a recreation throughout his profession.
His teammates voted Russell the membership’s Most Helpful Participant in 1971, a season through which the roster included future Corridor of Famers Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Ham and Terry Bradshaw.
Within the 1975 postseason, Russell set a playoff report for longest fumble return when he picked up the ball and ran 93 yards for a landing in opposition to the Baltimore Colts. The report stood till Sam Hubbard of the Cincinnati Bengals had a 98-yard return in opposition to the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 15, 2023.
“We’re saddened by the information of the passing of Andy Russell,” Steelers president Artwork Rooney II stated in an announcement. “Andy was a part of the muse of the good Steelers groups of the Nineteen Seventies. He was one of many few gamers saved by Coach Chuck Noll on the staff after he turned our head coach in 1969. Andy was the staff captain and his management was a vital a part of Coach Noll’s growth of the Nineteen Seventies Steelers, which paved the way in which to 4 Tremendous Bowl Championships. We had been excited to induct Andy into our inaugural Steelers’ Corridor of Honor class in 2017.
“Andy went on to have a really profitable profession in enterprise after his enjoying days and was a relentless presence within the Pittsburgh Group. We prolong our deepest sympathies to his spouse Cindy, and the Russell Household.”
Earlier than his NFL profession, Russell performed linebacker and operating again for Missouri. He was inducted into the varsity’s athletic corridor of fame in 1993.
A two-way star throughout his collegiate profession at Missouri, Russell was discouraged from enjoying within the NFL by his father, who instructed him it might be an “embarrassment to the Russell household” if Andy went to the NFL.
Russell adopted his father’s orders. When NFL groups despatched him a questionnaire that included a question on whether or not he needed to play skilled soccer, Russell checked the field marked “no.”
The one staff that did not mail him a survey was the Steelers, who made the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Russell the 220th decide after which supplied him a $12,000 contract and a $3,000 signing bonus.
Russell’s preliminary plan was to play one season for the cash, then pursue an MBA. An damage to linebacker John Reger within the season opener in opposition to Philadelphia led Russell to enter the lineup to fill in and he by no means left.
“You discuss luck,” Russell stated. “If that hadn’t occurred, I’d have performed one yr, obtained my MBA and gone into enterprise. I simply obtained an infinite break.”
Russell hit pause after his rookie yr, lacking the 1964 and 1965 seasons whereas finishing the army dedication required as a ROTC member.
When he returned, the Steelers had been nonetheless mired within the standings, successful a mixed 11 video games over the following three seasons, with Russell’s stellar play typically misplaced amid all of the shedding. He did fulfill his objective, incomes an MBA in finance in 1967 and launching a sequence of companies, together with an funding agency tied to Wall Avenue, and beginning an funding financial institution.
Russell’s soccer fortunes turned when Noll got here on board. The Steelers drafted Ham in 1971 and Lambert in 1974, the trio forming one of many best linebacking teams in NFL historical past. Pittsburgh gained its first two Tremendous Bowls after the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
Russell retired after the Steelers misplaced to Oakland within the 1976 AFC Championship Sport.
Russell wrote three books about his profession after his retirement and was an avid climber, reaching all 54 peaks in Colorado that attain an elevation of at the least 14,000 ft. He remained lively within the Pittsburgh group and launched the Andy Russell Charitable Basis, which supported a wide range of native charities throughout western Pennsylvania.
Russell, a member of the inaugural class of the Steelers Corridor of Honor in 2017, is survived by his spouse, Cindy, two kids and 7 grandchildren.
Subject Stage Media and The Related Press contributed to this report.
