{"id":1855,"date":"2013-04-24T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2015-01-05T22:09:55","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T22:09:55","slug":"mean-joe-greene-and-bennie-cunningham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/04\/24\/mean-joe-greene-and-bennie-cunningham\/","title":{"rendered":"Mean Joe Greene and Bennie Cunningham"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Thursday night, the NFL\u2019s annual player selection meeting \u2014 a.k.a. the draft \u2014 will commence at 8 p.m. in New York City and probably before the 10 p.m., the Steelers will have added their newest member \u2014 a young man who, not only will the team have high hopes for, but so will Steelers fans from Ross Township to Rome, Italy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And sometime within the next week or so, this newly minted Steeler (and soon-to-be millionaire) will be trotted out before the local media at the team\u2019s headquarters on the South Side for a news conference.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be introduced by Art Rooney, Kevin Colbert or Mike Tomlin, answer the perfunctory questions, and pose for a picture holding a Steelers jersey with his last name on it and the No. 1 in honor of his draft position. And if the last 10 to 20 years are any guide, he will likely be wearing some kind of a conservative suit, blazer or at the very least a polo shirt with the team logo on it.<\/p>\n

He will almost certainly not, however, be wearing anything nearly as garish as what 1976 Steelers first-round pick, tight end Bennie Cunningham of Clemson, wore on his inaugural visit to the Pittsburgh: puka shell necklace, half buttoned, patchwork denim butterfly-collared shirt with matching bell bottoms (with flares so wide they could envelop a small dog). And to boot, an Afro that would make Questlove envious.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s nothing compared to Mean Joe Greene\u2019s sportcoat. Thankfully, this picture is black and white because that jacket is so dizzying that in full color it might induce a seizure to an unsuspecting epileptic.<\/p>\n

In this picture, Greene welcomes Cunningham to town, one No. 1 pick to another.<\/p>\n

Writing in the April 24, 1976, Post-Gazette<\/a>, Vito Stellino said of Cunningham, \u201cA 6-5, 255-pounder \u2026 Cunningham seemed eager and almost awed at the thought of joining the Steelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cunningham said: \u201cIt\u2019s a little tougher to make it at Pittsburgh than with any other team. There\u2019s not much room for improvement. I know even the first-round pick doesn\u2019t even always make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though never a superstar \u2014 few tight ends were in that era \u2014 Cunningham would go on to have a solid 10-year career with the Steelers and was named to the franchise\u2019s 75th anniversary All-Time Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thankfully, this picture is black and white because that jacket is so dizzying that in full color it might induce a seizure to an unsuspecting epileptic.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesMean Joe Greene and Bennie Cunningham<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[963,976,1030,1035,1047],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-17-at-12.34.00-AM.png?fit=1692%2C992&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2066,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/11\/steelers-fans-high-on-their-football-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":0},"title":"Steelers fans high on their football team","date":"February 11, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Steelers fans always have been a colorful bunch.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mi18pbiHaX1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C902&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2161,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/07\/steelers-tight-end-elbie-nickel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1855,"position":1},"title":"Steelers tight end Elbie Nickel","date":"January 7, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"He played for the Steelers from 1947-57 and was for years considered the best tight end in Steelers history. 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