‘Burgh’s Best to Wear it, No. 62: Tunch Ilkin was one of the Steelers' best in the 1980s

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. 62: Tunch Ilkin

Among athletes in Pittsburgh, Tunch Ilkin followed a unique path to the professional ranks.

Born as Tunc Ali Ilkin in Instanbul, he emigrated to the United States from Turkey — his mother was Miss Turkey in 1950 — at age 2 and settled in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. After high school, he got a scholarship to Indiana State — more renowned for producing NBA great Larry Bird than football players.

Still, the Steelers used a sixth-round pick on Ilkin in 1980, and he became one of their best and most consistent players in the decade following their Super Bowl success of the 1970s.

By 1983, he became a starter at right tackle and began protecting a wide range of quarterbacks, including Terry Bradshaw, Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, David Woodley, Scott Campbell, Bubby Brister, Todd Blackledge, Rick Strom and Neil O’Donnell.

His greatest success came in 1988 and ’89 when he earned Pro Bowl berths.

In 1993, Ilkin, the only Turkish-born player in NFL history, spent a season with the Green Bay Packers before retiring.

A broadcast journalism major at Indiana State, Ilkin began serving as a color commentator for NBC in 1995. By 1998, he became a part of the Steelers Radio Network, joining Bill Hillgrove and Myron Cope on broadcasts. When Cope retired in 2004, the affable Ilkin became the lead color commentator.

Other No. 62s of note in Pittsburgh:

• Mike Sandusky was a starter at left guard for mostly mediocre Steelers teams over parts of nine seasons from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. In 1960, Sandusky was selected to his only Pro Bowl.

• When the Penguins wanted to transform their team identity and become the fastest squad in the league, they traded for one of the NHL’s fastest skaters in January 2016. Five months later, Carl Hagelin became a vital component of the vaunted “HBK line” (along with Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel) that lifted the Penguins to the Stanley Cup title. One year later, Hagelin’s empty-net goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final secured another championship.

• Before becoming an All-Star as No. 5, Pirates utilityman Josh Harrison debuted in 2011 as No. 62, hitting .272 in 65 games as a rookie.

Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.