Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Andy Russell has died. He was 82. WTAE reported the news Friday morning.
Russell, a two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the few holdovers after Chuck Noll inherited the team in 1969, helped make up the Steel Curtain during the Steelers’ first pair of Super Bowl runs.
A 16th-round pick out of Missouri, Russell proved he was good enough to be part of Noll’s new-look team. Most players on roster when Noll was hired were quickly shown the door, the roster rebuilt to change a losing culture and years of disappointing results. But Russell was a bright spot who proved his staying power, bridging the gap from lovable losers to world champions.
A seven-time Pro Bowler, he started 162 games, his playing career spanning 1963 to 1976. He missed the 1964-1965 seasons due to military service, deployed to Germany to serve in the Army. Russell played alongside Jack Lambert and Jack Ham, making up an incredible linebacker trio. For his career, Russell picked off 18 passes and unofficially, according to Pro Football Reference, recorded 38 sacks. He made his first Pro Bowl in 1968, one year before Noll’s arrival, and earned leaguewide recognition despite the Steelers’ poor 2-11-1 record under head coach Bill Austin. He would make his second Pro Bowl in 1970 and do so for the next five straight seasons.
A titan of durability, he never missed a game in high school, college, or during his NFL career.
Over the years, Andy Russell’s teammates made the case for him to make the Hall of Fame, one of the few front seven members of the Steel Curtain not to be immortalized in Canton. In November 2022, shortly before his own death, RB Franco Harris said Russell belonged.
And in 2018, Joe Greene also stated the case for Russell.
“We talk about him as being the third guy (as a linebacker), but he’s really the first,” he said in June of that year. “Andy Russell was there when we were the Steelers … you know, the team that everybody could beat. Andy suffered through some terrible years.”
Russell was inducted into the Steelers Hall of Honor in 2017. He was named to the Steelers’ 50th and 75th anniversary teams.
Following his playing days, Russell made an impact in his community. He was named the 1989 Big Brothers and Sisters Man of the Year. He helped raise over $5 million for the Russell Family Foundation and supported Children’s Hospital and cancer research. In 2008, Russell received the Myron Cope Legends in Sports Award. Russell also became an author, writing three books on his Steelers and football career.
According to WTAE, funeral arraignments are pending for Russell.
On Saturday, Steelers’ team president and owner Art Rooney II released a statement on Russell’s death.
Rooney called Russell’s leadership a critical part of the Steelers’ development under Chuck Noll in the 70s, paving the way to the dynasty in that decade.
