"The Baddest Man in Football" was about as effective as a MAC second string LB after his knee injury. Witness his production (and quick release) in Carolina ....
Bud, get a clue - It was not a knee injury that ended Lloyd's career it was a staph infection!! brought on by a dirty Steelers needle when Lloyd rolled his ankle in week 10 or 11 in 97 (a full year and a half after the knee injury you speak of) -
And of course while Lloyd wasn't having a typical "Lloyd" like year much of 97.....he was just voted team defense player of the month (and like sporting news def player of the month) for his 3 performances just prior to his ankle injury (for which he took a pain killer shot from the Steelers medical staff and tried to return to the game) - I think it was Vs Phila?
From this routine ankle injury Lloyd developed a life threatening staph infection which kept him in the hospital for over two weeks! He lost close to 40 pounds!
Of course Lloyd never made any excuses he simply tried to over come it. But the damage done to the muscle (atrophied..sp) was too severe for him to ever return to old #95 true form.
However the Steelers ASKED him to return if possible. Once he worked his as$ off to get back into shape and into 70% of himself he passed the "team medical exam" (and thus, saved the Steelers over $3 million had his injury not allowed him to return / pass a team exam) -
What did the Steelers give Lloyd for his efforts - They cut him! Once he passed their exam and they were off the hook for the $3 million.
That is dirty pool. Plain and simple.
It all comes back to that '95 preseason hit on Brett Favre...
I can think of only one other Steeler LB who played every single down of his career (preseason or otherwise) with the same unbridled intensity as Greg Lloyd... I suspect we ALL know to whom I'm referring. Turf toe of all things finally brought down the mighty Jack Lambert, so there's certainly no shame in the probable demise of Lloyd's NFL career coming at the hands of a life-threatening staff infection. Still, it was hard to let go of Lambert... it will be difficult to say goodbye to Lloyd.
Five Pro Bowls. Two Steelers Team MVP awards. Not to mention the less formal, completely unofficial title of the ''Nastiest Man in Pro Football''.
Intimidation. Domination. Power. Leadership. The heart and soul of the greatest defense of the last decade. An uncompromising love of the game. An unrelenting hatred of the enemy, and in particular, the quarterback. The never-ending barrage of "Mutha-F#&%er". Blood & sweat... but never tears. All of these things describe what Greg Lloyd has symbolized to me as a fan. And all of these attributes were perfectly summed up in one fleeting moment during a meaningless ball game... the '95 preseason hit in which Lloyd absolutely leveled Brett Favre, knocking him out of the game.
''The hit'' earned Greg Lloyd a healthy fine handed down by the powers that be in the league office. Nevermind that the hit was clean. Nevermind that the hit epitomized what NFL football is supposed to be about. Nevermind that the victim himself (Favre) said it was a great hit. Greg Lloyd's style of play was examined and labeled as ''to rough'' for the roughest game on the planet, so Paul Taglibue deemed it necessary to make an example of Lloyd. True to his legend, Lloyd didn't give a shit. It just made him even nastier. This, more than anything else, is why I'll miss him.