Kendrick Green eager to take Maurkice Pouncey's '53' as he strives to replace him for Steelers

May 14—Kendrick Green knows the task is tough. The Pittsburgh Steelers rookie seems to understand the comparisons inevitably will come.

He isn't backing down from them.

The Steelers' third-round pick, Green requested and was granted the same number he wore as an all-Big Ten interior offensive lineman at Illinois: No. 53.

No matter to him that "53" is what was worn by the man he's being tasked to replace for the Steelers: nine-time Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey.

"They didn't hand it to me," Green said Friday of his first uniform number for a professional team. "I wore '53' since high school... so I kind of requested it.

"Knowing that (Pouncey) had (recently) retired, I thought maybe (the Steelers would deny his request). ... I was fully prepared to keep it off, but they let me have it."

The Steelers have only officially retired two numbers, but there are other uniform numbers they haven't given out in decades in a silent deference to some stars of the past.

Sometimes, at least, teams will wait a year or two before handing out a recently-retired former star player's number. At some positions, though, that's impossible because of number scarcity.

It probably, though, could have worked on the offensive line. But Green's personality seems a lot like Pouncey's — confident and unafraid.

"I've got big shoes to fill," Green said during a video conference call with media, "so I am going to work toward that."

Though Green mostly played guard in college after arriving on campus as a defensive lineman, the Steelers view him as their center of the future. As a rookie, he will compete against veteran B.J. Finney and second-year former undrafted lineman J.C. Hassenauer as the man who will directly replace Pouncey as the Steelers' center.

Pouncey held the job for 11 seasons (when healthy) and will get consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Steelers already boast two players at that position in the Hall — Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson — and had two others each be named NFL All Pro center twice, Ray Mansfield and Jeff Hartings.

Since the mid-1960s, with little interruption, those five men — Mansfield, Webster, Dawson, Hartings and Pouncey — have combined to play the vast majority of snaps for the Steelers at center.

Webster's No. 52 is one of the Steelers' "unofficial" retired numbers.

Friday was the opening of Steelers rookie minicamp, Green's first official on-field work for his NFL club.

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at cadamski@triblive.com or via Twitter .