Andy Russell deserved better.
The former Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker passed away last weekend at the age of 82, dropping the curtain on a life … and a pro football career … well-lived and well-played. I don’t know much about Russell off the field, but I do know what he did on it. And what he did was so exemplary that he merited more from the game he served than what he received.
He merited the attention of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 12 seasons with the Steelers, he was a seven-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro, team MVP and two-time Super Bowl winner. What he wasn’t … and never has been … was a finalist or semifinalist for Canton, and that’s more than a shame.
It’s a disgrace.
Several years ago – I’m guessing seven or eight – a group of Andy Russell supporters drove one August morning from Pittsburgh to Canton to meet with a coterie of Hall-of-Fame voters, there for the annual enshrinement. They made the trip to gauge Russell’s chances of election as a senior candidate, and they got their answer.
Not good.
It wasn’t because Russell wasn’t qualified. He was. And still is. But his name seemed to provoke little interest within the senior committee, though it had been discussed. And that was then. But now? Well, now you never hear of him … until, sadly, last weekend.
“The guy went to seven Pro Bowls,” said Hall-of-Fame voter Rick Gosselin, a member of the seniors committee, “was a team captain and basically taught (former Steelers’ linebacker) Jack Ham to play the position – and Jack would tell you that. Plus, he won two rings and missed two years of his career (1964-65) because of a military commitment. Andy Russell was a truly great player.”
A 16th-round draft pick in 1963, Russell spent his rookie season with the Steelers when they weren’t competing for league championships. In fact, from 1963-71, they only had one winning season (Russell’s rookie year) and never reached the playoffs. Nevertheless, Russell was a two-time All-Pro (1968 and 1970) and three time Pro Bowler (1968, 1970-71) during that time. So while the team floundered, Russel did anything but.
Then, of course, Chuck Noll arrived, the Steel Curtain was built and the rest you know.
“A VERY SPECIAL LEADER”
What you may not, however, is the respect Andy Russell had within his locker room. As Gosselin pointed out, Ham is on record praising Russell as his mentor. In fact, in a 2016 interview with the Talk of Fame Network, he was so supportive of his ex-teammate that he pushed him for Hall-of-Fame consideration.
“Probably one of the biggest games of our careers,” said Ham, who joined the Steelers in 1971, “was against the Raiders out in Oakland (in 1974) to go to our first Super Bowl … and they ran the ball for a total of 26 yards in the entire game.
“When you play well in the biggest games, I think that’s what sets you apart from just a good player – and you become a great player. His technique play in and play out and the way he was able to adapt from an era of Jim Brown to an era of Tony Dorsett … that’s what has made him such an outstanding linebacker. And that’s why I’m touting him for the Hall of Fame.”
But Ham wasn’t alone. Two years later, Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene echoed Ham’s comments, telling the Talk of Fame Network that Russell’s greatness went beyond Al-Pro and Pro Bowl nominations and wasn’t measured by numbers. According to Greene, it encompassed his leadership, with Russell so highly regarded that he was a team captain for 10 years.
“Andy showed us how to win, how to enjoy practice, how to prepare for the weekend,” Greene said. “(He was) a very special leader.”
So why hasn’t the Hall budged on him? A couple of possible reasons, both of which are speculative. First, Steeler Fatigue. There are 10 players from the 1970s’ Steelers in Canton — five on offense, five on defense …a figure that once provoked a former Hall selector to ask, “Are we going to put the water boy from the Steelers in, too?” Second, there are two linebackers from the Steel Curtain in Canton – Ham and Jack Lambert, both first-ballot inductees – with voters possibly shy about choosing a third.
The first I don’t buy. If that were the case, why are there 11 members of the 1970s’ Raiders (12 counting coach John Madden) in the Hall? That team won one Super Bowl. The Steelers won four in six years.
But the second is more plausible, though I don’t subscribe to it. Nevertheless, I know voters who are high on linebacker Carl Banks of the N.Y. Giants, believing he’s Hall-of-Fame worthy … which he is. But I also know voters who wonder why they should enshrine three linebackers from a championship team.
“A GUY WHO LEGITIMATELY SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS”
But the 1970s’ Steelers were more than a championship team. They were a dynasty that won back-to-back Super Bowls twice, and tell me the last time that happened. It hasn’t. Plus, look at the 1976 Steelers, Russell’s last season with the club. After a 1-4 start, they ran the table —winning every game as their defense held opponents to 28 points.
No, that is not a misprint. The Steelers pitched five shutouts and allowed just 28 points in nine weeks … or seven fewer than Denver allowed (35) in one quarter of Super Bowl XXII.
The 1969 Kansas City Chiefs were a decorated defense, ranking first vs. the run and pass and first in total yardage. But they didn’t win four league championships in six seasons, either. Yet that team has six defensive starters in Canton. The Steelers have five, with Russell and defensive lineman L.C. Greenwood on the outside looking in.
“The problem,” said former Hall voter Vito Stellino, who covered the Steelers for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the 1970s, “is that Andy Russell retired after the 1976 season. So he only had two rings. All those other guys had four. If he plays two more years, he wins a third. If he plays three more, he has four … and he’d automatically be in.
“One other problem: He played at the end of his career with Lambert and Ham, and they overshadowed him. But people forget: He was making Pro Bowls when they actually meant something, and he was doing it with terrible teams.”
Maybe now they know. I can only hope. Andy Russell wasn’t a good player on a great defense. He was a great one, and, I know, that adjective is thrown around liberally today. But check the record. Check with teammates. Check with opponents. All will tell you what you should already know.
Andy Russell deserved better.
“He’s a guy who legitimately slipped through the cracks,” said Gosselin. “You go to seven Pro Bowls and win two Super Bowl rings, you’re a Hall of Famer.”
