I decided to fool around with iMovie a bit so here's a tribute-type video I made for Jack Lambert, my idol and one of the best football players of all time. Enjoy.
It's too bad that final quote from Andy Russell was cut short. For all of his physical gifts, for all of his football prowess, his intensity - Lambert's greatest asset was his mind. He was SMART. He KNEW the game, knew his opponent, came prepared, and executed with precision. THAT is why he was great.
Lambert and Butkus are my two favorite linebackers of all time. Both men could literally scare the crap out of an entire offensive team. Both men played their hearts out simply for the game. I agree that football is nothing compared to what it was.
"He had no teeth, and he was slobbering all over himself. I'm thinking, 'You can have your money back, just get me out of here. Let me go be an accountant." I can't tell you how badly I wanted out of there." Denver rookie QB John Elway, on Jack Lambert, after Lambert and the Steelers knocked Elway out of his first game as a pro (1983). Pretty much says it all. Loved watching him play.
I am now 54 and this was my era as a kid who loved the NFL in those days! Jack was right there with Dick Butkus in my opinion! He was the SOUL of those great Steelers defense's in his 10 years he got 4 RINGS! Everyone who played with him and vs him RESPECTED HIM! * and I was a Viking fan for 40 years!! ( 69'-2009) I just took too much heartbreak loving that team! I don't watch these jive ass players today's NFL who would have gotten eat'n alive by this man!!
As a native of Western Pa. who was starting my first year of college the very summer the Steelers drafted Jack Lambert.......1974.......allow me to say that it was a TOTAL PLEASURE watching #58 completely terrorize the NFL from the very beginning of his career to his final play. Jack was a fire-breathing Dragon.......with NO FUCKING TEETH........simply flames & smoke. In other words: a complete inspiration. I absolutely loved watching this man play Football.
A Dolphin fan since I was a little kid just introduced to football. I saw Jack Lambert play and never saw anyone better at MLB period !!! Jack was the ultimate force and feared no one.
YES! I am now 54 and those were the days 4 sure! It ALL seems like a dream now at this age! I wish I could go back somehow and stay there! I was 14 in 1977, that's where I would like to go back and do it ALL over again! That was the year my parents divorced and looking back, I would have done a few things different!....like KO' Nick Sr. for all the times he slapped me and my mother around! I would have STOPPED that like Jack Lambert!!
Waco Johnny Dean That's what Bradshaw, and Deadwood Henderson said about him. Flip to modern times, I'd like Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott to get eaten by sharks.
Of all of the jerseys of Steelers I own. There is only one that I will never wear. And that is #58. That one is behind glass in my den. My all time favorite, not only Steeler, but, all time player. Best instincts in the game.
Bad Mo Fo ! Yep ! But , Mean Joe , L.C. , Ernie , and Dwight ! We're making them holes . Don't forget Russell , Blount and , Ham. What a awesome bunch of talent and meanness put together to play Foot Ball ! 🏈
Grandpa bill I was a huge Steelers fan in the seventies. You I have to mention Donnie torpedo shell in that list. What did that team produce 9 Hall of Famers I believe. The best football team ever and there's no comparison
Jeff Zaborowski - Yes, I meant at 6'4" and around 215lbs he would be a very small linebacker in todays game. He is also one of my favorite players of all time. A true Steeler!!
@@ianalan4367 you really don't know what you're talking about do you. Ryan Shazier is/was only 6'1" 225-230lbs and before his injury was considered among the best in the NFL and he isn't the only linebacker that size in the league. Ray Lewis was 6'1" 235lbs Zach Thomas was only 5'11" 235lbs just to name a few. What you don't know and understand is we are not talking about just any old linebacker, we are talking about the GREATEST LINEBACKER EVER.... JACK FUCKING LAMBERT!!! Lambert was 6'4" and RANGED between 215 lbs in his Rookie season to a average weight of 225 lbs in his prime and later years, another thing you don't realize is WHATEVER Lambert's weight was when he hit it was with the force of someone weighing 300 pounds. The only and ONLY reason Lambert wouldn't be as good as he was in the 70s is because of all the rule changes, if the same rules were in place as they were when Lambert played he would be WITHOUT QUESTION THE MOST DOMINANT DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN THE NFL, PERIOD!! Here's something else you don't know 95% of today's players wouldn't last more than a year or two in the 70s, and that's a fact JACK!
For me, Lambert's biggest play was when he intercepted Vince Ferragamo in Super Bowl 14, when the Rams looked like they were going to retake the lead in the 4th quarter.
GREATEST linebacker ever played this game, just intimidated everyone PLAYING against him, people say he wouldn't survive in today's game, wrong today's players wouldn't survive in that Era, where real players were PLAYING the true game of football
For anyone to say Jack Lambert was a dirty football player is to say Dick Butkis, Lawrence Taylor, and Ronnie Lott were also dirty...but ALL 4 ARE IN THE HALL OF FAME
SHARK MAN well Taylor and Lewis we all know what they did so I'm not defending them, but Ronnie on the other hand to my best of knowledge was the rare exception to separate on field psychopath to off the field normal life. He was ferocious yet clam when he has to.
I hated the Steelers, but TO ME, HE'S STILL THE BEST MIDGE LINEBACKER I'VE EVER SEEN. Quickest, Toughest Middle Linebacker, and he weighed only 205 pounds!!! One in a million...
rick fedorick since the merger 44 years ago which team has the most regular season wins, most post season wins, most division titles, most appearances in the conference championship, most appearances in the Super Bowl and the most wins and done so with 3 head coaches.........Suck on those stats
No doubt one of the top three MLBs ever to stare at a QB, up until this day. Butkus probably hit harder, being up to 40lbs. heavier. But with Lambert's height, he used leverage against runners and was able to turn them around. Never be one like him again!
I dont know what it is...but something about football players from the 70s is what makes the sport so legendary to this day. Just the look and feel of the players and the game back then really no other era even comes close (except for the goal posts being at the goalline, that looks stupid). And Lambert, imo, is the most iconic football player ever.
50GAR Did you not watch the biography?? No such thing as "pound for pound" Jack Lambart was the best in the history of the game. Nobody better even if their where 500 lbs and had the speed of lightning.
I remember super bowl 10. I had to go to some kind of Renaissance festival with my family and I was listening the game and they were giving me a hard time about listening to the game. Trying to make me have fun at this stupid festival.
As a cowboy fan Lambert an great players great players as Tommy no bis nbutkus an out great were true players not like todayswhinners a true player or favorite cowboy Bob Lilly number 1 cowboy
At Kent State University, his favorite pastime, aside from the usual things that now get college players imprisoned, was eating live goldfish and chewing light bulbs.
rick fedorick I guess in your blindness you missed him shoving the center Fitzgerald out of the way, who weighed about 260.. By the way, Cliff Harris was a 200lb DB. About 4 or 5 lb's less than Lambert.
I'd pay anything to see a current NFL player celebrate in front of Jack Lambert on the field, just to see Jack put him in the dirt. "That'll cool your ass off!"
The key to Lamberts game was there wasn't a player in the NFL at the time (Running Back,Corner Back,Safely,DB) who could accelerate at a lightning quick pace in a 5-7 yard space quicker than Jack..Plus as opposed to his off field preparation or testing he was *Pure* field strength..you just can't defend against guy's like that if they have balance,football smarts and those long mangy arms even if he was only 220 lbs..For him weight wasn't an issue,i believe if he was 180 he would have been almost as effective.
Tom Brady would not even be a starting qb back in this day. Premadonnas didnt play football back then. especially at qb. Nothing personal against brady I just saying
Every one of these tackles on this highlight would have drawn a penalty in today’s game. Would have been Some kind of personal foul, unnecessary roughness, targeting, etc. I think the rules are better now. Back then it was three yards and a cloud of dust. Not very exciting to watch. Plus, when you play like this on defense the superstars on offense get hurt then you end up watching the backups and scrubs. Not optimal. That said, I like the old school toughness grit and nastiness. But in the big picture it’s better today in my opinion.
Yea he gets a lot of attention and he does deserve it but he wasn't better than Jack ham,or Andy Russell for that matter.That's what made the Steelers great,that dude wasn't the best defensive player on their team.I think if there had not been a couple other great teams of that era like the Cowboys,Raiders and Dolphins,hell the Steelers may have run the table because they were the best team of that decade.
DaveAllenSpeaks You're comparing two different positions. Was Jack Ham the BEST outside linebacker EVER, MAYBE. He could do more then Lawrence Taylor and never came out. But what Lambert did at 205 pounds is beyond amazing. I met Lambert his rookie year and thought he was a punter he was so lean. Those pads may have made him look big but he was way tooooo thin to be in the Middle of Everything. Both were amazing and I'm not even a Steelers fan. But, I'm HONEST when it comes to greatness, and both Jack's were the GREATEST EVER.
This is when football was real and the guys that suited up to play were men and some were beast. It’s pathetic today you got to challenge everything they have to review everything if somebody farts on the field they got to review it to see who farted you can’t get close to anyone definitely can’t get close to the quarterback. I mean they should be wearing ballerina dresses with flags on a belt dancing around playing flag football. And what makes it even worse is the money that these guys make nowadays compared to The old-school guys.
The thing that made Lambert so great was his quickness. He was able to elude blockers and still make tackles. He was, however, as much of a cheap shot artist if there ever was one.
