Kevin Greene obit

Kevin Greene, NFL legend, dead at 58

 

 He was not on the list.

Kevin Greene, one of the most terrorizing pass-rushers of all time, died Monday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced.



The former Steelers star linebacker was 58.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

“The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Kevin Greene,” Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker said in a statement. “I regarded him as a personal friend and a true Hall of Famer in every sense. He possessed the most incredible can-do attitude of anyone I ever met. He was a great player, but more than that, he was a great man. Our thoughts and prayers are with Kevin’s wife, Tara, and their entire family.”

Before he hunted NFL quarterbacks and tallied 160 career sacks, the third-highest total in league history, Greene walked on and starred at Auburn.

The Schenectady, NY, native also known for his blond locks was drafted in the fifth round of the 1985 draft by the Los Angeles Rams, where he would spend more than half of his 15-year career.

But “the time of my life and for my family was our three years in Pittsburgh,” Greene said in 2016 before being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Greene signed as a free agent with the Steelers in 1993 following eight years with the Rams.

He was a two-time Pro Bowler in three seasons with the Steelers and led the league with 14 sacks in 1994.

Pittsburgh’s defense was nicknamed “Blitzburgh” during that time.

“We lost an amazing player and person this morning,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “Kevin’s energy and enthusiasm were inspiring for our team as well as our fans.”

After the Steelers lost in the Super Bowl following the 1995 season, Greene signed with the Carolina Panthers, where he would lead the league in sacks again with 14.5 in 1996.

The five-time Pro Bowler also spent one season in San Francisco.

Following his playing days, Greene served as an outside linebackers coach for the Packers (2009-13) and Jets (2017-18).

He had 160 sacks in his career, which ranks third among NFL career sack leaders, and he was voted to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Greene played college football for the Auburn Tigers. He was a three-time All-Pro during his NFL playing career and was twice the league leader in sacks. He was later an outside linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers from 2009 through 2013 and the New York Jets from 2017 through 2018.

The Birmingham Stallions selected Greene in the 1985 United States Football League Territorial Draft. He was later selected by the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League in the fifth round (113th overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft.

Greene made several appearances with the professional wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during the late-1990s. He was one of several celebrities brought in by WCW president Eric Bischoff to help generate mainstream publicity for the company.

Greene made his first appearance with WCW at the TBS television special Clash of the Champions XXXII in January 1996, accompanying Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage to ringside for their match against Ric Flair and The Giant. Following the match, Greene helped Hogan fight off an attempted ambush by Brian Pillman and The Zodiac.

In June 1996, Greene wrestled his first match for WCW at its Great American Bash pay-per-view. Greene teamed with his fellow NFL alumnus Steve McMichael - who had joined WCW as a color commentator the prior year - to face Four Horsemen members Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, who in the storyline had incurred McMichael's ire after Flair repeatedly flirted with his wife Debra, leading McMichael to bring in Greene to help defend her honor. McMichael and Greene were accompanied to ringside by their wives along with wrestler Randy Savage, who was presented as their coach. The match ended when Debra and Tara Greene were chased backstage by Flair's valets Miss Elizabeth and Woman, only for Debra to return carrying a briefcase containing a large amount of money (implicitly a bribe from Flair) and a Four Horsemen t-shirt. After Debra showed McMichael the contents of the briefcase, he took the briefcase and hit Greene with it, enabling Flair to pin Greene. McMichael then donned the t-shirt, marking the beginning of his membership in the Four Horsemen

Greene is survived by his wife, Tara, and children, Gavin and Gabrielle.

 Some of his former teammates, coaches, managers, and team owners include: John Robinson, Georgia Frontiere, Dale Hatcher, Jerry Gray, Norv Turner, Jeff Kemp, Steve Dils, Kent Hill, Charles White, Eric Dickerson, Dieter Brock, Henry Ellard, Dieter Brock, Lynn Cain, Jackie Slater, Barry Redden, Mike Lansford, Tony Hunter, Gary Jeter, Irv Pankey, Nolan Cromwell, LeRoy Irvin, Tom Newberry, Marcus Dupree, Alvin Wright, Steve Bartkowski, Jim Everett, Hugh Millen, Kevin House, Johnnie Johnson, Vince Newsome, Doug Smith, Carl Ekern, Dennis Harrah, David Hill, Ron Brown, Fritz Shurmur, Greg Bell, Buford McGee, Jim Collins, Mark Hermann, Gaston Green, Pete Holohan, Cleveland Gary, Willie Flipper Anderson, Chuck Long, Curt Warner, Todd Lyght, Mike Pagel, Mosi Tatupu, Tony Zendejas, Chuck Knox, Sean Gilbert, Ernie Zampese, Mike Martz, Jeff Chadwick, Blair Bush, Bill Cowher, Gary Anderson, Chad Brown, Rod Woodson, Eric Green, Barry Foster, Greg Lloyd, Gary Anderson, Dermontti Dawson, Art Rooney, Dan Rooney, Tom Donahoe, Chuck Knoll, Dom Capers, Dick LeBeau, Mike Tomczak, Neil O'Donnell, Yancey Thigpen, Jeff Graham, Merril Hoge, Carnell Lake, Duval Love, Bam Morris, Jason Gildon, Marvin Lewis, John L. Williams, Leon Searcy, Kordell Stewart, Fred McAfee, Erric Pegram, Levon Kirkland, Jerome Bettis, Jerry Richardson, Bill Polian, Wesley Walls, Kerry Collins, Michael Bates, Sam Mills, Kevin Greene, Lamar Lathon, Eric Davis, John Kasay, Steve Beuerlein, Muhsin Muhammad, Raghib Ismail, Rohn Stark, Steve Young, Merton Hanks, Dana Stubblefield, Ken Norton Jr., Kevin Gogan, Lee Woodall, Jim Druckenmiller, Jim Mora, Tom Rathman, Steve Mariucci, William Floyd, Garrison Hearst, Terry Kirby, Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, J. J. Stokes, Bryant Young, Junior Bryant, Chris Doleman, Brent Jones, Tim McDonald, Gary Plummer, Marquez Pope, Blake Brockermeyer, George Seifert, Bill Musgrave, Steve Bonoe, Eric Metcalf, Richie Cunningham and Mike Rucker.