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Ernest Lee “Fats” Holmes joined the Steel Curtain in 1972 from Texas Southern University. Holmes described himself as “stone crazy,” especially after receiving five years probation for firing a gun at trucks and a police helicopter. Fats, who had been released from the team for weight problems, weighed 260 lbss during his career with the Steelers but weighed around 400 lbs. after retirement. Holmes was an intimidator on the field, but a giving and spiritual person out of uniform. He later became an ordained minister with his own church. Holmes passed away in 2008 in a fatal car accident in Houston, Texas, in which his vehicle rolled several times. He was 59 years old.

Dwight “Mad Dog” White, was drafted from Texas A&M University in 1971. White was in a hospital bed shortly before the 1975 Superbowl match against the Minnesota Vikings. He suffered from pneumonia and a lung infection, but left the hospital in order to win against the Vikings 16-6. During the game, White, eighteen pounds lighter from illness, made three tackles for zero yards. The Associated Press chose White as a first team All-AFC player in 1973. He passed away from a blood clot in his lung in 2008 at 58 years old.

The Steel Curtain players led the team to a total of four Superbowl wins for the Steelers, endorsements, magazine covers and the famous 1979 Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola commercial, where he tosses a jersey to a young boy.

Sadly, L.C. Greenwood passed away days ago from kidney failure. Joe Greene is the final remaining member of the original Steel Curtain Four.

Little Known Black History Fact: The Steel Curtain Four  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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