Before he became a defining cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s iconic Steel Curtain defense, Andy Russell was a St. Louis standout who starred at Mizzou.
The seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion died Friday at age 82, the Steelers confirmed Saturday. A cause of death was not provided. Russell’s rise, which carried him from Ladue to NFL stardom with a prominent stop in CoMo in between, should live on as one of the most successful STL-to-MU sports success stories.
Before Luther Burden, Jeremy Maclin, Sheldon Richardson and so many other talented football stars to suit up for the Tigers from the football-rich talent pool in and around St. Louis repopulated the STL-to-MU pipeline, Russell, who was born in Detroit before relocating to St. Louis, became a two-way standout for Dan Devine’s Tigers teams that still stand among the best to ever wear black and gold.
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“Andy Russell of Ladue,†Devine once told a meeting of the Greater St. Louis MU Alumni Association while recruiting Russell in 1958, “is a fine student, is a fine boy and also is a good football player. Seriously now, this is the caliber of boy we want.â€
Russell, as Devine knew that night according to a Post-Dispatch report from the event, was in the crowd, and when his time came, Russell did indeed pick the Tigers over his other offers.
Playing fullback on offense and linebacker on defense, Russell became an MU team captain, a role he later also would fill for the Steelers for a decade during Pittsburgh’s rise from downtrodden to defiant following the hiring of coach Chuck Noll, who thought enough of Russell to make him one of few players he kept around.
Russell lettered on MU teams from 1960-62 that totaled a combined record of 25-3-3. He intercepted two passes in MU’s Orange Bowl win against Navy in January 1961 and the following season led the Tigers in rushing. As a senior in 1962, he led the Tigers with six interceptions.
Same as he did at Ladue, he never missed a game at Mizzou, an ironman trend that only continued during his NFL days.
“It is obviously a lot of luck to avoid all those injuries,†Russell once said, as quoted by the Missouri ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Hall of Fame, in which he was inducted in 2015. “I played hurt a lot with broken fingers and thumbs and things like that. But you played. In those days, the badge of honor was to play hurt. That is not so anymore.â€
After his college days ended, Russell didn’t let becoming a 16th-round draft pick — or a two-year break to serve as an Army lieutenant in Germany after his rookie season — stop him from becoming one third of one of the NFL’s most feared linebacker units ever. Along with Jack Lambert and Jack Ham, Russell helped form the Steel Curtain linebacker room that spearheaded the Steelers to Super Bowl IX and X victories in a 12-season career that included 38 sacks, 18 interceptions, 10 fumbles recovered and one touchdown in 168 games. He started 162 of them.
“If you want to be a great linebacker, you also have to be smart out there, and he taught me the mental part of the game,†Hall of Famer Ham told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I think that’s what set him apart and made his career such a great career here in Pittsburgh.â€
In 1971, Russell was voted by teammates as the Steelers’ MVP, an honor he earned over future Hall of Famers like Joe Greene and Terry Bradshaw. His playoff record for the league’s longest fumble return (93 yards) stood until just last season. The Steelers named him to their 50th and 75th anniversary teams and included him in their Hall of Honor.
Joined by Chiefs backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert and former Tigers linebacker turned Kansas City star linebacker Nick Bolton just this past Super Bowl, Russell is one of just five Missouri Tigers who went on to win multiple Super Bowls. He entered Mizzou’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
Perhaps motivated by a father who initially did not approve of his professional football career, Russell found post-playing success as an author of multiple books, an investor, businessman and philanthropist who earned an avalanche of awards for his charitable work to combat hunger, help children’s hospitals and more.
When Mizzou-made STL success stories are told, don’t forget to rank Russell’s high on the list.