Four former Pittsburgh Steelers greats are among the 162 senior players nominated by the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the Class of 2026 Thursday.
Four-time Super Bowl champion and Steel Curtain member L.C. Greenwood was among those four players. So, too, are former outside linebacker Greg Lloyd, running back Byron “Whizzer” White, and former wide receivers coach Lionel Taylor, who was a standout receiver for the Denver Broncos.
Taylor died Aug. 6 at the age of 89. He was the wide receivers coach under Chuck Noll for the Super Bowl-winning teams in 1974 and 1975, having joined Noll’s staff in 1970 and remaining there until the 1977 season before leaving for the Rams.
Greenwood is the headliner here for the Steelers, a player who should have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame a long time ago. He was among nominees last season in the senior category but was snubbed.
Now, he’s back up for nomination again.
A 10th-round pick out of Arkansas Pine-Bluff in the 1969 NFL Draft, Greenwood played 13 seasons for the Steelers, developing from rotational defensive end in his first two seasons into one of the best players in the NFL.
He retired in 1981 after winning four Super Bowls as a key component in the famed Steel Curtain defense.
During his playing days, sacks weren’t an official stat. They didn’t become an official stat that was tracked until the 1982 season. But Pro Football Reference went back and charted every sack, and Greenwood finished his career with 78.0 sacks. He also had 14 fumble recoveries in his career, was a two-time All-Pro and earned six Pro Bowl nods.
Greenwood was named to the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade team, is in the Steelers Hall of Honor and is on the all-time team, too. He should be in the Hall of Fame already.
With Lloyd, he was one of the best pass rushers of his time. He played for the Steelers from 1987-97 and racked up sacks and accolades along the way as part of the famed “Blitzburgh” defense.
Lloyd was a three time first-team All-Pro, earned five Pro Bowl nods and was twice the NFL’s leader in forced fumbles. He finished his career with 54.5 sacks and was named to the Steelers’ all-time team and inducted into their Hall of Honor, too.
His best season came in 1994 when he had 10 sacks, was first-team All-Pro and finished top three in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He followed that up in 1995 with 6.5 sacks, led the NFL in forced fumbles with six, and had three interceptions, finishing second in DPOY voting.
White played just one season for the Steelers — then the Pirates — in 1938 and earned a first-team All-Pro accolade, leading the NFL in rushing with 567 yards and four touchdowns, including a long of 79 yards. He later played two seasons for Detroit before serving in World War II as part of the United States Navy.
After the war, White went on to law school and later became a United States Supreme Court associate justice, serving in that role from 1962-1993.
The 162 players nominated will be reduced to 50 in the coming weeks, before three finalists are ultimately selected in late fall for the Class of 2026.
