Andy Russell, the former NFL linebacker who helped the Pittsburgh Steelers grow from a struggling franchise to a championship contender, has died, the team announced Saturday. He was 82 years old.
Russell’s cause of death was not immediately known.
Russell won two Super Bowls during his storied run with the Steelers. He was drafted in the 16th round in 1963 and played in the NFL for the next 12 years. However, he took a two-year hiatus from his football career after his rookie season to fulfill his mandatory military service as an ROTC member.
Russell was named to seven Pro Bowl teams and served as team captain for 10 years.
“Andy was a fundamental part of the great Steelers teams of the 1970s,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said in a statement. “He was one of the few players coach Chuck Noll retained on the team after he became head coach in 1969. was an important part of the Steelers’ development, paving the way to four Super Bowl championships. ”
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Andy Russell (age 34) of the Pittsburgh Steelers is photographed in 1975. The Steelers announced on Saturday, March 2, 2024, that Russell, a seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion over his 12-year career, has passed away at the age of 82. . (AP photo, file)
Russell’s greatness was on full display during the 1975 postseason, when he set a record for the longest fumble return in a playoff game. During a game against the Baltimore Colts, Russell picked up the ball and ran 93 yards for a touchdown.
Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Sam Hubbard broke Russell’s record earlier this year with a 98-yard return in a playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.
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Russell, a two-way star at the University of Missouri, was discouraged from playing in the NFL by his father, who said it would be a “disgrace to the Russell family” if Andy went to the NFL.
FILE – Steelers linebacker Andy Russell takes a break on the bench during the fourth quarter of a game against the Baltimore Colts on Dec. 27, 1975 in Pittsburgh. The Steelers announced on Saturday, March 2, 2024, that Russell, a seven-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl winner during his 12-year career, passed away at the age of 82. (AP photo, file)
Russell followed his father’s orders. When an NFL team sent Russell a questionnaire that included a question asking if he wanted to play professional football, Russell checked the box marked “No.”
The only team that did not mail him a questionnaire was the Steelers, who selected Russell with the 220th pick and offered him a $12,000 contract and a $3,000 signing bonus.
Russell’s original plan was to play one season for money and then get an MBA. Russell replaced linebacker John Reagor with an injury in the season opener against Philadelphia, and he remained in the lineup.
Former NFL player Andy Russell attends Party with a Purpose’s Taste of the NFL 28th Anniversary Celebration at Cobb Galleria Center on February 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images on NFL Taste)
Russell eventually achieved his goal, earning an MBA in finance in 1967 and starting a series of businesses, including founding an investment firm and investment bank with ties to Wall Street.
Russell retired after the Steelers lost to Oakland in the 1976 AFC Championship Game. He had two sacks in a blowout win against Baltimore in the divisional round.
Charles Andrew “Andy” Russell was born on October 29, 1941 in Detroit. He rose to prominence in the late 1950s at LaDue Horton Watkins High School outside St. Louis, Missouri, and then earned three letters at the University of Missouri from 1960-62, playing both running back and linebacker.
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Russell has written three books about his post-retirement career and is also an avid mountaineer, having climbed all 54 mountains in Colorado reaching over 14,000 feet. He remained active in the Pittsburgh community and started the Andy Russell Charitable Foundation, which supports a variety of local charities throughout Western Pennsylvania.
Russell, a member of the inaugural class of the Steelers Hall of Fame in 2017, is survived by his wife, Cindy, two children and seven grandchildren.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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