Jack Lambert

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Lambert lost his four upper front teeth during high school basketball practice when a teammate’s head collided with Lambert's mouth. Although he had a removable partial denture he wore in public, he did not wear it during games, and later pictures of Lambert's toothless snarl became an iconic image of the famous Pittsburgh Steeler defense of the 1970s. In 1975, future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene suffered from groin and nerve injuries and missed all or part of five regular season games. In the AFC Championship Game against the Oakland Raiders, Lambert compensated for Greene's absence by moving all over the field, recovering a record three fumbles in the Steelers' victory. The Steelers then went on to win Super Bowl X in a hard-fought game against the Dallas Cowboys. Lambert's intensity was a key factor in the Steelers coming back to win against the Cowboys. The Steelers were behind in the third quarter (10–7) and not playing with their usual confidence, when Lambert inspired the team by standing up for kicker Roy Gerela, who was being taunted by Cowboys safety Cliff Harris after missing a field goal; slamming Harris to the ground. The Steelers outscored the Cowboys 14–7 after that point and won the game. Lambert had 14 tackles in the game.

In Their Own Story

In 1976, after quarterback Terry Bradshaw, receiver Lynn Swann and several other starters went down with injuries, the Steelers struggled to a 1–4 record early in the season. At a "players only" meeting, Lambert made it clear that "the only way we are going to the playoffs to defend our title is to win them all from here out." In a remarkable nine-game span, the Steelers defense allowed only two touchdowns and a total of 28 points, including five shutouts. The Steelers won all of these games and finished at 10–4. The defense gave up only a league leading 138 points for the entire season, and allowed the fewest yards. This was the least points allowed per game in AFC history at that time (9.9), and third least in NFL history, behind the 1969 Minnesota Vikings (9.5) and the 1975 Los Angeles Rams (9.6). Eight of the eleven defensive starters on the Steelers made the Pro Bowl that year. In a first, all three of the Steelers starting linebackers (Lambert, Jack Ham and Andy Russell), were named Pro Bowl starters. Lambert was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1976.

Reader's Guide

Lambert was the prototypical middle linebacker for what became the Tampa Two defense. Popularized by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Tony Dungy, this defense was originated by Bud Carson, the Steelers defensive coordinator from 1972-1977. In Carson's "Double-Rotating Zone"/Cover-2 defense, the safeties played back in a two-deep zone and the cornerbacks played in two shallow zones, or in bump-and-run coverage. Along with that, the middle linebacker dropped back into a middle zone to cover the space between the safeties. Middle linebackers had not been positioned in such a way previously (Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke were the epitomes of the run-support middle linebacker playing close to the line). But Lambert's size, speed, and talents facilitated the new role. Early on, Carson had Lambert covering tight ends and the first back out of the backfield (unique at the time for a middle linebacker), and calling defensive play changes to match what the offense would call. Lambert amassed 28 career interceptions, 1,479 career tackles (1,045 solo), and (unofficially) 23.5 sacks. In a nine-year span, Jack Lambert was named to nine straight Pro Bowls and was NFL Defensive Player of the Year once. He was named All-Pro eight times, and was a defensive team captain in eight seasons.

Did You Know?

• Lambert lost his four upper front teeth during high school basketball practice when a teammate’s head collided with Lambert's mouth.
• He wore the jersey number 00 while playing at Crestwood High School, which retired the number and named its football field Jack Lambert Stadium on October 10, 1980.
• Lambert was originally a quarterback at Kent State, then moved to defensive end, and in 1972 was moved to middle linebacker.
• In the 1975 AFC Championship Game, Lambert recovered a record three fumbles in the Steelers' victory over the Oakland Raiders.
• Lambert married his wife, Lisa Harbison, a former volleyball player for Clemson University, in 1988.