LLT
01-22-2011, 06:17 PM
Steelers linebackers are best in the biz
By MIKE ZEISBERGER
Toronto Sun
January 22, 2011 6:45pm
PITTSBURGH — From the seething snarls to the bone-crunching tackles to the toothless sneers, the legacy of intimidation and stifling defence of the Steel Curtain, both past and present, has always started and ended with the linebackers.
On the field. And, for that matter, even on the ice.
Years ago, during celebrity charity hockey events in western Pennsylvania, the animalistic Jack Lambert, the growling face of the Steelers franchise, would lace up the blades to participate.
Was he a good skater? No.
No matter. No one wanted to mess with him, even in retirement.
“It was almost like Ogie Hoglethorpe of Slapshot was out there,” former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Bourque recalled on Saturday. “No one wanted any part of him. The puck would go into the corner and it would be like: “It’s all yours, Jack. No problem.”
“You’d look at him and see that image of him during his playing days, no teeth at the front, standing over fallen (running back), snot bubbles coming out of the poor guy’s nose.”
The image is well earned. In fact, starting with Lambert’s era of the 1970s, the Pittsburgh linebacking corps has provided the heart and the fangs of the Steelers franchise for four decades, featuring such prominent names like Jack Ham, Andy Russell, Kevin Greene, Jason Gildon, Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown and Joey Porter.
read more:
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/football/2011/01/22/16994961.html
By MIKE ZEISBERGER
Toronto Sun
January 22, 2011 6:45pm
PITTSBURGH — From the seething snarls to the bone-crunching tackles to the toothless sneers, the legacy of intimidation and stifling defence of the Steel Curtain, both past and present, has always started and ended with the linebackers.
On the field. And, for that matter, even on the ice.
Years ago, during celebrity charity hockey events in western Pennsylvania, the animalistic Jack Lambert, the growling face of the Steelers franchise, would lace up the blades to participate.
Was he a good skater? No.
No matter. No one wanted to mess with him, even in retirement.
“It was almost like Ogie Hoglethorpe of Slapshot was out there,” former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Bourque recalled on Saturday. “No one wanted any part of him. The puck would go into the corner and it would be like: “It’s all yours, Jack. No problem.”
“You’d look at him and see that image of him during his playing days, no teeth at the front, standing over fallen (running back), snot bubbles coming out of the poor guy’s nose.”
The image is well earned. In fact, starting with Lambert’s era of the 1970s, the Pittsburgh linebacking corps has provided the heart and the fangs of the Steelers franchise for four decades, featuring such prominent names like Jack Ham, Andy Russell, Kevin Greene, Jason Gildon, Levon Kirkland, Chad Brown and Joey Porter.
read more:
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/football/2011/01/22/16994961.html