There have been a handful of NFL players who have made the switch from tight end to tackle at some point in their careers. Jason Peters, Joe Alt and even former Steeler Alejandro Villanueva. But none of them changed their position in the middle of their professional career like Steelers Ring of Honor member Larry Brown did.
After winning two Super Bowls with Pittsburgh as a tight end, Brown switched to the offensive line in 1977. During a recent interview with Portage Learning, he recounted the moment when Chuck Noll started to plant the seeds for his position change.
“Coach Noll called me into his office prior to the offseason starting and said that he wanted me to start the camp out going over and working with Coach Radakovich with the offensive line,” Brown said “ I wasn’t able to work because my knee wasn’t good, but he had me go over there and just kind of observe and when you’re able and ready to come back we will bring you back over. Well, I never got brought back over. So as I rehabbed and recovered the starting offensive tackle for that year was traded away and so I kinda just slipped in that position.”
The move worked out for him, with Brown going on to play a key role in winning two Super Bowls in 1979 and 1980. He manned the right tackle position for eight years, even earning a Pro Bowl bid in 1982 for his efforts. While he didn’t like it at first, Brown credits the move with extending his career.
“As it turned out I played another eight years and likely I wouldn’t have done that as tight end for a number of reasons,” said Brown. “So it worked out well for me.”
He went on to say that after making the move, he didn’t hold out hope for an eventual return to tight end, citing the difficulty of making an NFL roster and that there are only so many spots on a team.
Instead, Larry Brown leaned into his position change, seeing his most success as a tackle. This isn’t to say that he wasn’t exactly a slouch at tight end either. He won two Super Bowls at that position as well, famously playing a key role in Super Bowl IX, catching a touchdown from Terry Bradshaw in the game.
Brown’s efforts in helping the Steelers to win four Super Bowls earned him a place in the Steelers Ring of Honor, where he was inducted in 2019.
