PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Greg Lloyd has never been shy, about anything. When Steelers President Art Rooney called to inform he was voted into the Steelers Hall of Honor.
“’Bout time.” Lloyd said.
Lloyd said he wasn’t disrespectful, but he’s never lacked confidence. Maybe more than confidence, he’s never lacked a chip on his shoulder.
Drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round in 1987, Lloyd starred at HBCU Fort Valley State. He said people thought he came out of a military school.
“You are forever having to prove yourself and it’s like, why?” Lloyd said Sunday. “You are all in the same room with the same type of gear.”
What was different about Lloyd, he brought an intensity to practice few in the history of the game have matched. He thought he had to show it whenever he put on pads.
“Every day in practice was a game,” Lloyd said. “You had to play that way. You had to play at 100 miles an hour every day so that you got the reputation when someone lined up over here, you better buckle your chinstrap.”
Lloyd believes he was fortunate to end up with the Steelers under Chuck Noll. He mentioned the history of under-drafted HBCU players like LC Greenwood, Mel Blount and Donnie Shell who Noll gave equal opportunities to no matter where they played college ball.
“They don’t measure this,” Lloyd said pointing to his heart about pre-draft analysis. “Where I came from, if I could take your heart. I can make you quit football. When I came here, that was my thing.”
“My teammates would tell you, even in practice. You line up over me and tell me you’re a first-round draft choice. You better play like a first-round draft choice because I’m trying to make you quit.”
“People would go ‘Greg, that’s your teammate’. We better find out now than find out on Sunday. Now someone is upset because this guy is garbage. That’s not my problem, you drafted him, I didn’t. I’m just glad that we got a chance to call him out before he got out and hurt us in a game.”
Unlike most in the Steelers Hall of Honor, Lloyd never won a championship. He played for one in Super Bowl XXX, but feels he had a role in future titles.
“When I got there, the team wasn’t very good,” Lloyd said. “I didn’t know about losing. I didn’t come from a place that lost. We were that group of guys that started playing. We got the Steelers back on track to being recognized to be a championship team. A team that could win a Super Bowl. They kept putting the pieces together.”
Lloyd said there are other players he believes should have been inducted in front of him. It’s hard to make that case, there was a stretch for five years where Lloyd created havoc in the NFL. From 1991-95, Lloyd amassed 30.5 sacks, they didn’t keep tackles for loss or passes defended stats, but imagine they were huge. The sixth-round pick had six interceptions, but the incredible number is Lloyd forced 27 fumbles over those five seasons.
“I took it personally,” Lloyd said. “That’s how I played. You go from that to being captain and all the accolades that came after that.”
“I enjoyed the ride and being around these guys.”
Given the way he played and practiced, can’t imagine many others enjoyed that same ride.