There might be no player who embodied the Pittsburgh Steelers way more than “Mean” Joe Greene. Greene is often lauded as the best player in the franchise’s history and the man to turn their fortunes around. Before Greene, the Steelers were losers. After they drafted him in 1969, they quickly became one of the best teams in the NFL. As a rookie, no one knew the career Greene would go on to have, but it sounds like Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton found out the hard way.
“I’m with the Giants, and we’re playing him, and he’s going after me,” Tarkenton said recently on the NFL Players Second Acts Podcast.