Joe Greene
Joe Greene
Charles Edward Greene, known as "Mean Joe Greene,"is a former all-pro American football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. Throughout the early 1970s, Greene was one of the most dominant defensive players in the NFL. Winning two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, as well as earning five first-team All-Pro selections, Greene is widely considered one of the greatest defensive linemen to ever play in the NFL. He was the cornerstone of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth24 September 1946
CountryUnited States of America
The scary thing is that players have a one-upsmanship about money; they sign a contract and they like it until someone signs a bigger one and now they don't like it. I don't like that. I don't begrudge anyone money, but it disrupts the football team.
In all my years of being with Pittsburgh, I never encountered a player taking a contract dispute into the season and letting that dispute affect the way he played.
The Steelers have influenced everything I've done as an adult.
I came to the Steelers after four years of high school and four years of college, and now I look on my stay here as 13 years of postgraduate work; I think I'm ready for the world.
My first season with Pittsburgh was 1969. We were still in the old NFL. My second year, we moved to the AFC when the leagues merged. I went to the Pro Bowl that season, and there must have been nine Raiders and nine Chiefs. I got to know all those guys.
When you win and you don't have anyone to share it with, why win? You have to have someone to share it with.
A black man - I say a black man, we got no corner on the market, but every day in some form or fashion you got to prove you're a man. But you want to keep the life-and-death situations down. I can get beat. But there's getting beat and there's getting stomped.
Above all, there is Mother. She taught me how to love, how to have respect for other people.
The people that I was working with made it all good for me - made it important to me - made it special. I will miss everyone in the Steelers organization.
I never had a desire to hurt anybody. I have at certain times had violent urges, but I don't think I ever have hurt anybody. Tried to a couple times, but I don't think I have. Yeah, guess I have. In high school. I was dirty then. Kick 'em. I might not've hurt 'em, though, they might've just been afraid of me.
I don't think about becoming a head coach. I really don't. I'm not oblivious of people who mention it. When you are in any business, people expect to aspire to the top. I guess everyone is supposed to aspire to being the man at the top of the heap. But I never have.
If you're talking about nuclear physics, I have to defer to the next guy. But if you're talking about football, I don't have to take a back seat to anyone.
I'm not a theatrics guy who does things for effect. Whatever comes out is what I feel. It just comes out.
The kind of role I play is like an offensive lineman; doing a good job but not being noticed. I feel sorry for myself sometimes. But as long as the end result is there, I can dig it.