Former Missouri Tigers & Pittsburgh Steelers great Andy Russell dies at 82

Andy Russell, a former Missouri football star who went on to an All-Pro career with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, has died.

According to media reports in Pittsburgh, Russell died on Thursday. He was 82.

Russell played in high school in Ladue, Missouri, and elected to play at Missouri and for Dan Devine over Ivy League schools. Russell played linebacker and fullback for the Tigers. He led Mizzou in rushing in 1961, and returned an interception for a touchdown in a 10-0 victory over Oklahoma State that season.

He led the Tigers with six interceptions in 1962, and Russell’s three Missouri teams (1960-62) went 26-3-3.

Russell was selected by Pittsburgh in the 16th round of the 1963 NFL Draft, and he became the most notable player to span the eras between the downtrodden Steelers of the late 1960s and the Super Bowl champions of the 1970s, led by the “Steel Curtain” defense.

Russell started 13 games in his rookie season, spent the next two years in the Army, and returned to play 11 more seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and was a first-team All-Pro in 1975 by the Pro Football Writers of America along with fellow Steelers linebackers Jack Lambert and Jack Ham. Russell was a longtime Steelers captain.

Voted the Steelers team MVP in 1971, Russell appeared in 168 consecutive games with the team. That’s the fourth-longest streak in Steelers history.

He won Super Bowl rings with the Steelers in 1974 and 1975.

Russell was inducted in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and the University of Missouri Hall of Fame in 1993.