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Greene emotional at ceremony

By Jim Wexell for The 3 min read

PITTSBURGH — “Mean” Joe Greene wasn’t so mean the night they retired his jersey, No. 75.

The Steelers unveiled a stadium wall-sized memorial to Greene alongside Ernie Stautner last night in The Great Hall at Heinz Field prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The jerseys of the two defensive linemen from different eras were put behind glass, and it choked the big man up.

“This is completely overwhelming,” Greene told a group of family, friends, former teammates, organization members and fans.

“My teammates, they probably guessed when I was going to get cracked up,” Greene said, “because they know that I am an emotional guy and this is truly, truly overwhelming.”

As a player, Greene used that emotion to lead the Steelers to four championships during his playing years of 1969-81. He was asked after the ceremony for his definition of leadership.

“Leadership is doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason,” he said. “During my experience, you never designate yourself a leader. I don’t think anyone on our football team did. It just evolved. The leadership role passed along to each and every one of us. Those guys that you saw up here a few minutes ago, they all had a leadership role at some point in time, as I did at some point in time. It is impossible for one person to provide the kind of leadership that is needed to win football games for 16 games. You can’t do it. I don’t think it’s possible. That’s why the leadership role passes along from player to player. When it hits you, you have to rise to the occasion.”

Greene rose to the occasion just about every week as a player and a leader and because of it became the conscience of what many consider to be the greatest NFL team of all time.

Here are a few of his other interesting comments from the ceremony and ensuing interview:

n “And of course, Steeler Nation. All over the place. I love them. Some days I feel like loving you; some days I feel like flipping you over on my knee. But I still love you.”

n “Super Duper Mel Blount. We all knew he caused some mayhem on the football field. The question is: Did he kill somebody?”

n “John (Stallworth), you probably made me experience one of my most embarrassing moments when you made the tremendous catch over your shoulder in Super Bowl XIV and went into the end zone, and I jumped about that high (holds fingers inches apart). That was very embarrassing.”

n “I signed my first contract with Dan (Rooney). My first day going to training camp, Dan escorted me. I didn’t know he would be escorting me into a trap but he did (laughter).”

n “I want (fans) to think that Joe Greene was a part of a fantastic football team of the 1970s that probably set the tone and tempo for history for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They helped create what was the most dynamic and fantastic football city and football fans in the world — the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

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