Despite their rarity in retiring jersey numbers, the Steelers certainly have many that are iconic and will forever be linked to the men who wore them during their Hall of Fame careers.
Joe Greene might only be the second player in team history to have his number retired (which he will in a ceremony at Heinz Field on November 2 ), but he's surely just the first of many players from the 1970s Super Bowl teams who will be so honored in the future.
When you think of No. 75, you'll always picture Mean Joe; same holds true for Franco's No. 32, Jack Ham's No. 59, and Jack Lambert's No. 58. But there were Steelers who wore these numbers before they became iconic. And in light of last week's announcement about Greene as well as the just concluded Hall of Fame weekend, I thought it would be interesting to go back and take a look at some of these individuals who might leave you scratching your head if you met them, and they told you their old Steelers number.
Hubie Bryant, No. 32, wide receiver/return specialist, 1970
Two seasons before Franco Harris would take No. 32 and run into Steelers lore thanks to the Immaculate Reception, Hubie Bryant wore it in the inaugural season of old Three Rivers Stadium in 1970, catching eight passes as a receiver and compiling 159 yards on punt and kickoff returns, according to Pro Football Reference.
Bryant's tenure in Pittsburgh ended the following season when he was traded to New England because, as he stated in an interview with the Pittsburgh Sports Daily Bulletin in 2011, the turf at Three Rivers was "crude--no cushion," and he suffered a hamstring injury because of it.
Bryant played one full season with the Patriots before suffering another hamstring injury which ultimately ended his short NFL career.
Bryant's time with Pittsburgh and in the NFL was unremarkable, but he said he was the first Steeler in the history of Three Rivers Stadium to receive a game ball: "I made Steelers history actually. In the first game at Three Rivers--the dedication game, I got the game ball. It was an exhibition game and I had a couple good returns and catches."
Chuck Allen, No 58, middle linebacker, 1970-1971
A few years before middle linebacker Jack Lambert and his menacing, toothless grin would begin to roam sideline to sideline at Three Rivers Stadium and eventually immortalize No. 58 for Steelers fans everywhere, No. 58 Chuck Allen played the same position and roamed the same turf in 1970 and 1971.
Allen was drafted in 1961 by both the Rams (NFL) and Chargers (AFL), but signed with San Diego where he played nine seasons and was a three-time All-Star and an AFL Champion, when he helped lead the Chargers to the crown in 1963.
After playing for him when he was an assistant coach while in San Diego, Allen came to the Steelers in 1970 via trade by then head coach Chuck Noll.
Allen started 24 games over two seasons, totaling seven interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
As he told the Pittsburgh Daily Sports Bulletin in an interview in 2012, Allen suffered a pretty severe knee injury near the end of the '71 season and was placed on waivers the following preseason before finishing his NFL career with the Eagles in 1972.
Before his pro career, Allen played his college ball at Washington, where he helped lead the Huskies to back-to-back Rose Bowl championships in 1960 and 1961 as both a middle linebacker and a guard.
Allen is also in the Chargers' Hall of Fame and a member of their 50th Anniversary Team, according to his wikipedia page.
Ray May, No. 59, middle linebacker, 1967-1969
Before Jack Ham wore his No. 59 about as flawlessly as any outside linebacker ever could for 12 Hall of Fame seasons with the Steelers, Ray May, No. 59, played three seasons in Pittsburgh as a middle linebacker in the late 60s.
May was the Steelers fourth round draft pick in 1967 and started a combined 26 games in 1968 and 1969 before being traded to Baltimore prior to the 1970 season. You would think leaving a last place team (the Steelers were 1-13 in '69) and going to an NFL juggernaut such as the Colts were in those days would have buoyed a young player's spirits.
But in an interview with The Baltimore Sun last summer, May said the move had the opposite effect on him (at least early on).
"I came to Baltimore filled with self-doubts," he said. "I thought, 'I got traded from a last place team so, holy shemeneez, how bad must I be?'"
After some encouragement from Johnny Unitas, May soon flourished for the Colts rough and tough defense, starting a combined 28 games in '71 and '72.
And while he may have missed out on playing along side two legendary Steelers linebackers and for those Super Bowl teams of the 1970s, May got to play in-between two all-time great linebackers for the Colts--Mike Curtis and Ted Hendricks--and he won a ring as a member of Baltimore's Super Bowl V championship team.
May played three-plus years in Baltimore before ending his career in 1975 after two and half seasons with the Broncos.
Ken Kortas, No. 75, defensive tackle, 1965-1968
Ken Kortas may not have revolutionized the defensive tackle position like the No. 75 who would succeed him, but he was a first round pick in his own right when the Cardinals selected him ninth overall in the 1964 NFL Draft.
And if an interview with the Pittsburgh Daily Sports Bulletin in 2012 was any indication, Kortas may have been almost as feisty as Mean Joe, a disposition that would help land him in Pittsburgh by 1965:
"We didn't see eye-to-eye. I thought St. Louis was a poor organization--a bunch of poor guys. I asked to leave."
"It was one of those things where they [the Cardinals] got down on me, and when they did, they didn't stop--they stayed down on me. I said to let me go and they did. When I played I played OK--I just didn't get along with any of them."
Kortas was traded to Pittsburgh and said it was a "joy" to come here.
Kortas didn't have a great career with the Steelers--only starting 10 games in four years--but he seemed to have a great time here. If you can, check out his interview linked above. It's full of some fascinating tidbits--including Kortas' assertion that hiring Bill Austin, Pittsburgh's last head coach before Noll, was a mistake and that he was a "strange person."
Following the '68 season--and the arrival of Noll and his drafting of Greene--Kortas was traded around and played his final year with the Bears in 1969.