Plenty of great football teams have played over the years, but few can be called a dynasty. The 1975 Pittsburg Steelers weren't just the best team the city ever had; they're one of the best teams that's ever existed in the NFL. Famous for its famed "Steel Curtain" defense, the Steelers won back-to-back Super Bowls, in 1974 and 1975. So where are these guys now? Ex-footballers often lead fascinating lives, and these former Steelers are no exception. From Terry Bradshaw's "Masked Singer" appearance to "Mean" Joe Greene's establishment of a nonprofit in honor of his late wife, here's what the '75 Steelers look like today.
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00:00Ex-footballers often lead fascinating lives, and that certainly includes the members of
00:04one of the best Pittsburgh Steelers teams of all time.
00:08Is mean Joe Green really all that mean?
00:10Keep watching to find out.
00:12In 1975, quarterback Terry Bradshaw was on top of the world, but that didn't last forever,
00:18and by 1983, he was sidelined by an arm injury.
00:22He couldn't even bring himself to attend games with someone else in his place, which led
00:26to a public feud with head coach Chuck Knoll and a re-injury.
00:30He retired at the end of the 83 season at the age of 35.
00:34In 1984, Bradshaw started his broadcasting career as a CBS game analyst.
00:40Then in 1994, he became one of the founding members of Fox NFL Sunday, and in 2019, the
00:46show was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
00:51He's also enjoyed an acting career, appearing in the likes of Smokey and the Bandit 2 and
00:56Father Figures, and he was even a contestant on The Masked Singer.
01:00What is more difficult, playing football or doing this?
01:03Oh, this by far.
01:05Wide receiver Lin Swan retired with a whopping four Super Bowl wins, along with more than
01:105,000 yards receiving, 336 receptions, and 51 touchdowns.
01:16Post-retirement, he waded into broadcasting with ABC Sports.
01:20Then in 2002, George W. Bush selected him as a member of the President's Council on
01:25Physical Fitness and Sports, which was followed by a bid for governor of Pennsylvania as the
01:29Republican candidate.
01:31In 2016, Swan returned to his old love of football when he stepped in as the University
01:37of Southern California's athletic director.
01:39But he resigned in 2019 amid controversy.
01:42In 2021, he sat down with the National Football Foundation to talk about how things had and
01:48hadn't changed for black players.
01:50He shared a story about how he, his brothers, and cousin went out to dinner in San Francisco
01:54to celebrate the day he was drafted by the Steelers.
01:57It ended with them all in jail, although they would eventually win $40,000 each in a civil
02:02lawsuit.
02:03He explained how he moved past that by noting,
02:06"...I let who I was as a person speak."
02:08"...that was not me.
02:10I was not that person.
02:12I was falsely arrested and continued to move forward."
02:15Rocky Blyer was drafted by the Steelers in 1968, and then he was drafted again in 1969,
02:22this time by the Army.
02:24He served a tour in Vietnam, sustained injuries that included shrapnel in his leg and the
02:29loss of part of his right foot, and received both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
02:34He went through hell again in the form of physical rehabilitation before stepping back
02:38into his position as Steelers running back.
02:41In 1974, Blyer was ready to quit, but he returned and inspired football fans across
02:47the nation.
02:48After his final season in 1980, he embarked on a career as a motivational speaker, spreading
02:53the word about how ordinary people can overcome extraordinary things.
02:58Then in August 2019, for the 50th anniversary of his combat injury, Blyer returned to the
03:03valley in Vietnam where he'd been injured.
03:06This was filmed for an ESPN special called The Return, in which Blyer talks about how
03:11he was determined not to let that day dictate his life's path.
03:15"...maybe for me, it accomplished what it needed to accomplish as a closure in that
03:22part of my life."
03:24During Jack Ham's 12 seasons in the NFL, he went to the Pro Bowl eight consecutive times,
03:29all while working a regular job on the side.
03:32As an outside linebacker, he formed an important link in the chain of the Steelers' nearly
03:37impenetrable defense.
03:39Since his retirement in 1982, Ham has kept his toe in the game.
03:43The 2020 season saw him and co-broadcaster Steve Jones start their 21st season calling
03:49football games for Penn State.
03:51He's also a minority owner of the junior ice hockey team, the Johnstown Tomahawks.
03:56Most recently, he's lent business acumen to another venture, medical marijuana.
04:01For Ham, this effort has been his way of fighting the opioid crisis.
04:06He's known countless players who were addicted to opiate-based painkillers, and he believed
04:10that there must be a better way.
04:12So he put his money where his mouth was and invested in the medical marijuana company,
04:16Agramed.
04:17"...if anyone knows anything about pain, it's gotta be a Super Bowl player, not once but
04:24four times."
04:25"...well, ex-football players, yeah."
04:28Player Jack Lambert once said,
04:30"...we're the Pittsburgh Steelers.
04:32We're supposed to be the intimidators."
04:35And intimidate he did.
04:37With his missing front teeth and angry snarl, he was the guy that nobody wanted to line
04:41up against.
04:43He was so fearsome that he once body-slammed an opponent for taunting one of his teammates.
04:48Lambert retired in 1984 after suffering a major injury, and he spent his post-playing
04:53days with his wife and children on their 125-acre piece of property not far from where three
04:58River Stadium once stood.
05:00Initially spending his time as a volunteer deputy wildlife officer, he became known around
05:04town as the go-to coach for youth sports and the guy who made sure all the playing fields
05:09were always in tip-top shape.
05:11For the most part, he shuns the public spotlight and prefers the quiet life.
05:16Running back Franco Harris danced his way right into football history as part of perhaps
05:21the most famous play in NFL history.
05:24Known as the Immaculate Reception, Harris caught a touchdown pass from Terry Bradshaw
05:29right before it hit the ground after it bounced off either a helmet or someone's hands.
05:34Harris' career with the Steelers lasted 12 seasons, and since his retirement, he's remained
05:39incredibly busy.
05:41After retiring, Harris jumped feet-first into business pursuits, starting with a bakery
05:46venture called Super Bakery and the development of a nutritious donut.
05:50A few other ventures failed to really get off the ground, like licensing player-name
05:54shirts as well as an abortive attempt to save a popular Baltimore sausage business.
05:59He didn't give up, though, and in 2014, he was getting his newest company of Silver Sport
06:04off the ground, as he sold antimicrobial sports gear.
06:09Then in 2017, he got involved with a company growing and processing medical marijuana.
06:16John Stallworth arrived in Pittsburgh in 1974 and quickly became one of the team's
06:20most invaluable wide receivers.
06:23He'd come a long way to get to that point, as he'd contracted a viral infection as a
06:27child that left him paralyzed, which led to him having a late start in football.
06:31He played in high school, but was ignored by college teams.
06:34That, however, really motivated him to prove his worth, and that motivation has continued
06:40post-retirement.
06:42John Stallworth is putting his business degree from Alabama A&M University to good work,
06:46and as of 2022, he's one of the members of the Steelers Ownership Group.
06:51He's also been successful developing his own business ventures, including founding the
06:55Madison Research Corporation in 1986.
06:58He's since sold the company for a cool $69 million, and he currently focuses on his work
07:04through the John Stallworth Foundation.
07:06In addition to supporting various business ventures and providing scholarships to Alabama
07:10college students, he serves on the board of directors of various organizations.
07:16When Steelers owner Art Rooney called John Kolb to congratulate him on being drafted
07:20by the team, Kolb thought it was a joke.
07:23He laughed, and Rooney hung up.
07:25And it was only later that night that he saw the news, and realized that he really had
07:30been drafted.
07:31Fourteen years later, he was still apologizing, and Rooney was still laughing, after he'd
07:36stopped playing and started coaching.
07:38Kolb retired after the 1981 season with a fistful of Super Bowl rings, and then he headed
07:43back to school.
07:45Getting his master's in kinesiology and exercise science, he went on to found a non-profit
07:50organization called Adventures in Training with a Purpose, which offers physical training
07:55and psychological support.
07:57As of 2022, Kolb still serves as the director of physical training.
08:01He's also published papers on his research into the impact of exercise on illnesses like
08:06diabetes.
08:07But outside of work, he's pretty hardcore, as he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2020 at
08:12the age of 73.
08:15Mel Blunt was basically the ideal cornerback.
08:18He went undrafted, but he rose to become one of the best to ever play the position, even
08:23though he was also the reason for a new rule that made contact between receivers and defensive
08:27backs illegal after five yards.
08:30I know of very few players in the history of the NFL where the league changed the rules
08:34because one guy was too good at one thing.
08:38Blunt retired in 1983, and that same year he'd already laid the groundwork for his post-NFL
08:43life with the founding of the Mel Blunt Youth Home in Vidalia, Georgia.
08:48Over the years, Blunt has continued to expand the Mel Blunt Youth Leadership Initiative,
08:53and it hasn't always been easy.
08:55When he first announced that he was going to establish a youth center in Pennsylvania,
08:59he got the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, though the center was still officially opened
09:03a year later.
09:04The camp has partnered with the Steelers for events like hosting an all-day training camp,
09:09and in 2012, they launched a girls' equestrian program.
09:13Donnie Schell went from an undrafted rookie to one of the first class of players inaugurated
09:18into the Steelers Hall of Honor, as he was a starter for 11 seasons.
09:22He retired in 1987, and afterwards, he started giving back to other players who were in the
09:27same situation that he was.
09:29He spent 15 years as the Carolina Panthers' Director of Player Development, a position
09:34that allowed him to help prepare players for moving on in the real world after their careers
09:39in the NFL came to an end.
09:41Schell retired from that position in 2009, and then went on to partner with Johnson C.
09:46Smith University to become an advisor for their Center for Spiritual Life and to help
09:51develop programs for their crisis response facilities.
09:54In 2020, he added another line to his long resume, when it was announced that he would
09:59be joining Dedication to Community as an executive advisor.
10:03The group acts to bridge the gap between communities and law enforcement, and partners with multiple
10:08cities and professional sports teams across the country.
10:12Mean Joe Green got his nickname well before his NFL career began, and it wasn't until
10:17that iconic Coca-Cola commercial that the world realized he was only mean on the field.
10:23He's often lauded as one of the best players to ever play the game for his tenure as a
10:27tackle on the Steelers' infamous Steel Curtain defense.
10:31Decades after his retirement, he's still recognized for that commercial.
10:35People who had once been afraid of him now come up to him on the street to offer him
10:39a Coke and a hug.
10:41Green went on to hold a handful of coaching jobs, including defensive line coach for the
10:45Cardinals and the Dolphins.
10:47The 2003 season was his last as a coach, as he then returned to the Steelers for the next
10:52nine years as a special assistant.
10:55Tragically, his post-retirement life has also been marked by loss.
11:00In 2015, his wife Agnes passed away from breast cancer.
11:05To honor her memory, he established a memorial scholarship for students who had either been
11:10diagnosed with breast cancer or had a parent or guardian with the disease.
11:14Being part of and living through what cancer does to a family, what can you do?
11:23This one's a little different, as Iron Mike Webster passed away in 2002.
11:28This legendary Steelers center is still being talked about today, though.
11:32His post-retirement years were sadly a slow, downward spiral, and by the time he died at
11:38the age of 50, things were so bad that he needed to use a taser on himself to fall asleep.
11:44At the time of his autopsy, pathologist Bennett Omalu suspected that he was going to find
11:48something that had been previously called Punch-Drunk Syndrome, which referred to a
11:53condition seen in boxers who had suffered the symptoms of severe dementia after being
11:57hit so many times.
11:59When Omalu analyzed slices of Webster's brain, he found proof of just this sort of brain
12:05damage, and it was the kind that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.
12:09It was only diagnosed by a pathologist intrigued by Webster's bizarre behavior leading up to
12:13his death.
12:15This behavior includes supergluing his teeth back in, wrapping his hands with duct tape,
12:20and tasing himself into unconsciousness.
12:23Today, the condition is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
12:28In 2021, the New York Times reported that since Webster's autopsy, more than 315 players
12:35have been diagnosed with CTE, and it's led to a major reckoning about the NFL and traumatic
12:41brain injuries.
12:43If Webster's brain had not been examined, I don't honestly think that we would be where
12:47we're at today.