Nearly a half-century after they last retired a jersey, the Steelers are taking another uniform number out of service.
The club will retire Joe Greene’s No. 75 jersey, the Steelers announced at a Wednesday press conference.
A Hall of Fame defensive tackle, Greene played on the Steelers’ first four Super Bowl-winning teams.
The Steelers haven’t retired a number since October 25, 1964, when officially took defensive lineman Ernie Stautner’s No. 70 out of service. Stautner, like Greene, is a Hall of Famer.
Steelers president Art Rooney II said Wednesday the organization had been reluctant “for a long time” about retiring more jerseys, given the franchise’s rich history and the number of players who might merit recognition.
“Look, we’ve been fortunate down through the years to have many players who could deserve to have their number retired,” Rooney said. “It really was a concern about ‘How many jerseys can you actually retire?'”
For now, though, the club has changed course, deciding to officially put No. 75 away for good.
As for other numbers the club may retire? The Steelers haven’t made those decisions yet.
“We came to the conclusion recently that look, we don’t have to make a decision on how many jerseys we retire,” Rooney said. “I think it’s the right thing to do to retire Joe’s number at this point, and we’ll make other decisions down the road as seems appropriate.”