In one of his final interviews before his . He made nine straight Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team and finished his career as the leading rusher in team history and No. All of that, plus the fact Bettis averaged over 1,000 yards per season with the Steelers (10,571) and scored 78 touchdowns, puts him on the All-Modern Era team, and his partner in the backfield is Le'Veon Bell. This is a list of National Football League running backs by total career rushing yards, and includes the 31 running backs who have rushed for at least 10,000 yards, for which sixteen of them have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bleier believed the doctors were wrong and reported to Steelers training camp a year after he left the war. In his first three seasons, Ingram ran for more than 600 yards in a season just once. When a running back like Jerome Bettis, Franco Harris, or John Henry Johnson tramples linebackers and safeties all game, it grinds opponents down and destroys their will to compete. Parker had a shot to lead the NFL in rushing in 2007, but he broke his leg in the regular season's penultimate game and finished with 1,316 yards. | Greatest Power Backs in NFL History | Stadium Talk 1. Bell rushed for 1,361 yards in 2014, but what turned that into first-team All-Pro recognition were his 83 catches for 854 yards. Dudley also served his country during World War II as a member of the Army and played for that team while away from the NFL. John Fuqua ( 1970-76) Before Franco Harris, there was John "Frenchy" Fuqua. All-time Scoring Leader: Gary Anderson 1,343 points Starters per season [ edit] These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the Pittsburgh Steelers . CHARLESTON, W.Va. . Born Byron Morris, drafted in the third round of the 1994 draft, Morris immediately made an impact with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming to them from Texas Tech University. That couldn't have been further from the truth. The controversy surrounds what is called by many as the Greatest play in NFL history. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Dick Hoak: The running backs coach for the Steelers for an incredible 35 years, Hoak was also an excellent player at the position he would spend so many years coaching up. Fuqua would have to be the most colorful player in Steelers history as well as the most controversial. The mid-'80s were a tough time for Steeler Nation. 2. The role of the fullback changed dramatically when the I-formation came into vogue in the 1980s. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. That changed over the last decade or so, due to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's emergence as an elite . He's another back who never led the league in rushing and never made All-Pro. Barry Foster: Unfortunately for Barry Foster, his career was short in the Burgh. This was the age of the feature back, when one superstar halfback got most of the carries. Fullback Franco Harris came to the Steelers in the 1972 draft and made an immediate impact. Both backs had to run well with the ball and have the skills to block for the other. Bell will pay the price this season with a three-game suspension to start the 2015 season. Meanwhile, at No. Dudley also scored on a lateraled pass and has kicked point-after-touchdowns as well as making successful field goals. Power Ranking AFC North Running Backs | Steelers Now A fullback is not required in this type of offensive game plan. Jamaal Williams Dynasty Profile: Fantasy Outlook, Value, Projections He ended his career with only 1,512 rushing yards, but with two Super Bowl rings. The first requirement is an intimidating defense that dominates opponents and makes it tough for them to put points on the board. Hunt offers some stability in the pass-game as he had 44 . February 27, 2023 3 min Watch. What those teams dont have is a legacy of bullying and dominating opponents, and that is what brought the Steelers six Super Bowl championships. Bullet Bill Dudley is also in the record books for the National Football League as the only man to run for a touchdown, catch a touchdown pass, return a punt for a score, run to the end zone on a kickoff return, intercept a pass for a pick-six, pick up a fumble and reach pay dirt, and throw a touchdown pass. The Best Pittsburgh Steelers Tight Ends Of All Time, Vote up the players who had the most success playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers. 2. LeVeon Bell made his mark with the Steelers running in this kind of offense. Landry Jones (2015-2017) Tommy Maddox (2002-2005) Terry Bradshaw (1970-1983) The number of games they started during the season is listed to the right of their name: Season. Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers coach understands the symmetry between Saturday night's 13-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders and a playoff victory over the same franchise 50 years ago, the one that ended with Steelers running back Franco Harris snagging a deflected . Jerome Bettis is the latest Steelers running back to become a member in Canton, Ohio. He spent much of 2019 injured, and team injuries across the board made it difficult to judge his performance fairly. Teams run RPOs, or run-pass option plays, where the quarterback decides after the snap whether he will hand the ball off or throw a pass. Who the heck is this guy, we all wondered aloud, but in much more colorful language. The 25 best running backs of the 2010s | Yardbarker Players active with the Pittsburgh . The Steelers had a reputation of big bruising backs but Parker spelled that philosophy with speed and elusiveness. Fuqua to this day refuses to give his take on what actually took place. He's averaged 101.2 rushing yards per game during his career and led the NFL in that category each of the last three years. They got a lot of carries in an era when both the fullback and halfback needed to contribute to the running game. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Steelers Record By Season Over Last 10 Years | StatMuse Drafted by the Steelers in 1942 and in his rookie season led the NFL in rushing with 696 yards. Players were considered based on having careers with the Steelers from 1992 until the present. Parker never regained his starting job and was released only to make on attempt at staying in the NFL with the Washington Redskins in 2010 where he spent his time on the practice squad before retiring. Greatest Power Backs in NFL History. The days of Jim Brown or John Riggins getting 40 carries a game are gone. Preston Pearson: Pearson wore Rocky Bleiers college number of 26 and was a solid football player who was a member of the Steelers first Super Bowl winning team in 1975 when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 16-6 in Super Bowl IX. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 Stats | NFL.com Williams had his first 1,000-yard season and averaged 13.3 ppg. The Steelers have always had great defensive playersand that hasn't changedbut the Steelers of today have fallen into the trendy traps of modern offenses with little use for a fullback. Barry Foster first came to the attention of Steeler Nation in 1990 when he treated a kickoff as a punt, stood aside, and watched the ball bounce along the ground until the opposing team recovered it. Draft criticism still fuels Steelers' Najee Harris - New York Post 2022 Fantasy Football - Top 10 RBs - Faceoff Sports Network From 1974 to 1979, Harris topped the 1,000-yard milestone every season and carried the Steelers to four Super Bowl victories. The Pittsburgh Steelers have had some great tight ends throughout the franchises history. Lynch was an underrated pass-catcher in his prime too. Bettis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. That one instance came in 1956 when Art Rooney Sr. uncharacteristically was frustrated with a head coach and instructed the then Head Coach Walt Kiesling to negate the opening Rogel rush and throw the ball instead. Fran Rogel was also a local product having grown up in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. In 2012 he was just a mere few yards away from the single-season rushing record with 2,097 yards. Ranking the Top 10 Steelers running backs of the Mike Tomlin era Keep in mind that accomplishments made only during this decade were considered for these rankings. Outside linebacker Joey Porter came to Pittsburgh in 1999. In Pittsburgh, he was everything but. He joins Franco Harris and John Henry Johnson. Harris played 980 offensive snaps during the regular season . Today he is 68 and still colorful. Having gone through a tough contract negotiation in 1995, the Steelers instead of trying to settle traded Foster over to the Carolina Panthers who then cut the running back in training camp due to a failed physical. Find out more. Looking at an NFL game today, something seems to be missing. But you cant throw just any ball carrier out there and hope to have success; it takes a certain kind of player to fit into a power running offensive scheme. It wasn't too long ago that Freeman was regarded as a top-five back in the league. With the 2019 season, there is still time to influence who lands where among a list of the best running backs of the decade. (Note: The Steelers signed Derek Watt during the 2020 offseason and released Nix, who signed with Indianapolis. Instagram Twitter Facebook Snapchat Shop Icon Profile Overlay Avatar Add Airplay Arrow Left Arrow Right Arrow Up Arrow Down Audio Back 5s Back 10s Back 30s Calendar Chart Check Down Left . His career ended on a sad note in Minnesota, but Peterson regained his form with another 1,000-yard season with Washington in 2018. Tackles. 6:02; See All. Follow Holcomb on Twitter at @dmholcomb. 22. Mendenhall provided the following reason for retiring so young: Football was pretty cool, but I dont want to play anymore. Franco Harris was the man during The Renaissance, and Jerome Bettis was the man in The Modern Era. The top photos of RB Le'Veon Bell throughout 2014 season. With the Redskins, Cowboys and 49ers, Morris has 5,931 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in the 2010s. does st martin parish have school tomorrow. 2013 Steelers 2014 Steelers 2015 Steelers 2016 Steelers 2017 Steelers 2018 Steelers 2019 Steelers 2020 Steelers 2021 Steelers 2022 Steelers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 8-8 11-5 10-6 11-5 13-3 9-6-1 8-8 12-4 9-7-1 9-8. Bleier was injured during his tour of duty and told he would never play football again, but he returned to the Steelers and fought his way back into football shape, eventually playing 10 more seasons in the NFL. As a Steeler running back, Hoak would spend his entire career with Pittsburgh that began in 1961 as a seventh round draft pick after running for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Lists that rank the greatest players and coaches in the history of the NFL franchise. Steelers Stats | Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers.com Jerome Bettis (1996-2005). Today we ranked the Pittsburgh Steeler Running Backs throughout their franchise! The 33rd Team. Pollard played most of his career at a time when the Steelers struggled. Morris peaked as a rookie, rushing for 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2012. Other teams (like the Steelers) have one but rarely use him. Everything in the NFL goes in cycles. Steelers Great Franco Harris, In One Of His Last Interviews, Recalled In 1944 he led Army to an undefeated record with 12 victories and was named the teams Most Valuable Player.