Taking a quick trip down Pittsburgh Steelers’ memory lane today. Jack Lambert is regarded as one of the most feared players of all time. And not just by lesser players, backups who knew Lambert and the Steel Curtain would overwhelm. Even future Hall of Famers felt the same intimidation.
Like John Elway. He faced the Steelers in his 1983 NFL debut and seeing Lambert stare him down on his first NFL snap nearly had Elway running for the hills.
Archived by The Seattle Times, Elway discussed the moment more than a decade later.
“He had no teeth, and he was slobbering all over himself,” Elway said. “I’m thinking, `You can have your money back. Just get me out of here. Let me go be an accountant.’
“I can’t tell you how badly I wanted out of there.”
And we pulled up the play. There’s one story that says Elway initially was so frightened, he accidentally lined up behind his right guard before sliding over to center, but the play doesn’t seem to hold that up. The play was a simple handoff and Elway was probably thankful he didn’t have to pass.
Lambert’s scary presence worked. Elway was a mess that day, going an ugly 1-of-8 for 14 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, and four sacks. His only saving grace was that Pittsburgh’s Cliff Stoudt wasn’t much better, throwing three picks, and Denver’s Steve DeBerg came off the bench to throw a game-winning touchdown pass in a 14-10 win.
For Lambert, 1983 was him nearing the end of his career. But he could still play, starting 15 of 16 games, recording four sacks, making his ninth Pro Bowl and sixth All-Pro team and finishing fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. The following year, Lambert battled turf toe, started just three games, and retired after the year. There was probably no one as happy to hear the news than John Elway.
