‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 51: James Farrior rejuvenated career after signing with Steelers
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.
No. 51: James Farrior
As an organization that constructs its roster by drafting and developing talent, the Pittsburgh Steelers historically have shied away from chasing top-tier players in free agency.
That philosophy already was in place when the current free agency system was instituted in 1993. The Steelers, however, made an exception in 2002, and it turned out to be one of the best investments in franchise history.
That offseason, they convinced a linebacker playing out of position with the New York Jets to change addresses. The contract was for three years and $5.125 million, a nice free-agent offer by Steelers standards at the time.
James Farrior not only outplayed that contract, he signed two more deals with the Steelers during his 10 seasons wearing black and gold.
Moved to inside linebacker, the position he played at Virginia with such success that he was the No. 8 overall pick of the Jets in 1997, Farrior excelled in the middle of the Steelers defense. He led the Steelers in tackles each season from 2003-09. He became a first-team All-Pro pick and Steelers MVP in 2004 — the year he finished second to Baltimore’s Ed Reed in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting — and he made the Pro Bowl twice.
“There may be some better pass rushers. There may be some better interceptors,” coach Bill Cowher said of Farrior in 2004, “but when you look at a guy who plays the run the way he plays the run, who plays the pass the way he plays the pass, who has the production that this guy does — and does the things we ask him to do — I don’t think there is a more productive defensive player in the National Football League.”
Farrior was chosen by the Tribune-Review sports staff as the best Pittsburgh athlete to wear No. 51.
Farrior’s second Pro Bowl selection came in 2008, the year he collected his second Super Bowl ring in four years. Farrior also played in the Super Bowl after the 2010 season, starting every game that season at age 35.
That was no surprise considering Farrior started all 16 games seven times with the Steelers and never started fewer than 14 in the other three years. Farrior played one more year with the Steelers before heading into retirement.
Farrior was considered underrated as a linebacker in the 2000s, and that tag could be applied to Loren Toews, who wore No. 51 in the 1970s. Toews spent 11 seasons with the Steelers and he had some memorable moments — he started in Super Bowls XIII and XIV — but he had difficulty finding playing time on a unit that included Hall of Famers Jack Ham and Jack Lambert, plus Andy Russell and, later, Robin Cole.
A four-time Super Bowl winner, Toews became a starter late in his career and started all 16 games in 1983, his final season.
Another Steelers player to wear No. 51 with distinction was Buzz Nutter, who made the Pro Bowl in 1962, one of his four seasons with the organization.
Other Pittsburgh athletes to don No. 51 include:
• Second baseman Tony Womack wore No. 5 when he won National League stolen base titles in each of his two full seasons with the Pirates, but he sported the higher digits while trying to crack the roster earlier in his career.
• Closer Rich Loiselle took over No. 51 in 1997 when he saved a career-high 29 games. Reliever Mike Gonzalez and outfielder/first baseman Steve Pearce also took turns wearing the jersey.
• Derrick Pouliot spent three seasons with the Penguins before his 2017 trade to Vancouver and was a member of the 2015-16 Stanley Cup champions.
• Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades was a first-team All-American in 2006 when he was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
He spent four seasons with the Washington Redskins. Jeff Pelusi, one of three brothers to play football at the university, was a starting linebacker in the 1977-78 seasons.
• Brian Generalovich, a forward on the Pitt basketball team from 1961-64, averaged 15.5 points in his three seasons and was the fifth-leading scorer in school history when he graduated.
Generalovich also played on the football team in 1964 and was drafted by the Boston Patriots of the AFL, the Steelers and the NBA’s New York Knicks. Generalovich opted to attend dental school and became an oral surgeon.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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