Jack Lambert. “The Man Of Steel.” The original. Gregory Lloyd. Between 1974 to 1984, he was a snarky, cruel, and aggressive linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played without his top three teeth, which resulted in Dracula-like fangs. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility. When asked at a public presentation what he would do with drug traffickers, he replied, “Hang them by their feet in Market Square till the wind whistles through their bones.”
I’m a hermit now. Mountain man. As a volunteer deputy game warden, he packs a rifle and pursues poachers. He wants to be the captain of a celebrity hockey team. Imagine being checked into the boards by Jack Lambert. He drives a red pickup and has erected a log cottage for his family on 125 distant acres. Almost every day, you can find him at the Hardware Store on Main Street in Walnut Grove, er, Worthington. “I’ve seen him around town a lot, but they say he’s not very social,” explained Fred Clark of Clark’s Barber Shop. “So, I never pushed it.”
Ridiculous. Push it. Who better to speak to than Jack Lambert? If the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl for the first time since winning four trophies, if the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl for a repeat performance against the Cowboys, and if the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl with Greg Lloyd as their emotional leader who does not give interviews, what does Jack Lambert have to say about it all?
Jack Ham, Lambert’s linebacking partner during the Steelers’ glory years, is laughing so hard he can’t speak. “You will not find him. The guy is a recluse. Why, I haven’t spoken to him in I’m not sure how long.”
Rocky Bleier is also chuckling. “Do you want to talk to Jack?” That is funny. He was supposed to be here today, right? “He’s going to blow us off; that’s just Jack.”
Bleier, the Steelers’ heyday running back, along with Franco Harris, wide receiver Lynn Swann, Coach Chuck Noll, and just about all of the great personalities of note, gathered in the Steelers’ headquarters last week to sit in front of the NFL Films cameras and reminisce about their four Super Bowl championships.
“Look at the old films,” Bleier suggested. “Jack was the only one who refused to hold hands during the defensive huddle. Jack believed that only sissies held hands. “Everyone else did, but not Jack.”
The Steelers will face the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, exactly like they did in Super Bowls XIII and X. Yes, Super Bowl X, when Steeler kicker Roy Gerela missed a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Dallas cornerback Cliff Harris tapped him on the helmet and said, “Way to go.” Remember when Lambert scooped up Harris and slammed him to the ground? The Cowboys were leading 10-7, but when the Steelers on the sideline saw Lambert rush to Gerela’s help, they went crazy. And on the following series, Lambert begins pumping his legs, which would later become a Lambert signature, and the Steelers go on a rampage, winning 21-17. After the game, Noll told reporters, “Jack Lambert is a defender of what is right.”
