90. Mean Joe Greene and the Steel Curtain cover art

90. Mean Joe Greene and the Steel Curtain

90. Mean Joe Greene and the Steel Curtain

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 They were the defending champs… and they were just getting started. After a draft in 1974 that would eventually produce 5 Hall of Famers… names like Lambert, Swann, Stallworth, Shell and Webster… the Steelers were ready to repeat as champions… and while the 2nd year players began to come into their own in ’75, the team was led by Quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who 5 years after being the #1 overall pick out of Louisiana Tech, was finally ready to claim the role as QB1 without having to look over his shoulder. And on the defensive side of things… the Steel Curtain was ready to wreak havoc on the opposing quarterbacks throughout the NFL. LC Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, Dwight White and the man on the cover of the September 22, 1975 issue of Sports Illustrated, Mean Joe Greene were laying the foundation for a Steelers dynasty… 4 Super Bowl wins in 6 years! The NFL’s first two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, Joe Greene was everything you wanted in a leader… tough, driven, disciplined, and in this case, yes, a little mean. His years in Pittsburgh would end with a gold jacket in Canton and a legacy that is second to none in the Steel City, or anywhere for that matter. Alex Kozora is someone who appreciates Mean Joe and the Steelers and has been covering the team for over a decade as one of the hosts on The Terrible Podcast, a Steelers podcast for Pittsburgh Steelers fans where he and Dave Bryan discuss the goings on of one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. But that wasn’t always the case. Prior to Chuck Noll’s and Mean Joe’s arrival in 1969, the Steelers had been to one playoff game in their 37 years in the NFL. But in 1972, that all changed… David Orochena is a writer for www.steelersdepot.com and contributor to The Terrible Podcast and he tells us that the “Immaculate Reception” was much more than just the Steelers winning their first ever playoff game. It was a defining moment for the sports structure of Pittsburgh. A week after Franco Harris caught the ball out of midair off a deflection, Roberto Clemente was tragically killed in a plane crash helping bring aid to an earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. The death of a man who symbolized Pittsburgh and the Pirates completely devastated the city and according to Orochena, it was the Steelers that helped fill that void going forward. It’s much more than just the X’s & O’s of professional football. It’s a chat with two guys who know the ins and outs of a franchise that were the laughing stock of the NFL for decades… and turned it around in the mid 70’s to become the envy of every organization in the league. Alex and David tell us about how Terry Bradshaw finally won the QB job for good in ’75, how the Terrible Towel came to be and inspired a couple of guys years later to start a Terrible Podcast… and how one play changed the course of the Steelers franchise and how the Steel Curtain came to symbolize a team on it’s way glory. They dominated and kicked tail and didn’t care who got in their way… Was it nice? No… it was mean… Mean Joe Greene and the 1975 Steelers on the Past Our Prime podcast… Listen to both Past Our Prime and The Terrible Podcast wherever you get your podcasts and please leave a review and a 5-star rating if you desire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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