Stephen Robert Furness (December 5, 1950 – February 9, 2000) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), and a member of the Steelers' famed

Steel Curtain The Steel Curtain was the nickname, first for the defensive line, but soon for the entire defensive unit of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers football team of the National Football League (NFL). The line was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, whi ...

defense. He earned four

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

rings as a member of the Steelers. He was of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent. Furness grew up in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States, and is the third-largest city in the state, with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Warwick is located approximately south of downtown Pr ...

, where he attended

Bishop Hendricken High School Bishop Hendricken High School (or Hendricken) is a Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school located in Warwick, Rhode Island, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. Founded by the Brothers of the Holy Cross in 1959, and named ...

before accepting a football scholarship to the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

. In addition to being a star football player for URI, he excelled at the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

and turned down an invitation to the 1972 Olympic Trials to attend the Steelers' training camp. Furness was selected in the fifth round of the

1972 NFL draft The 1972 NFL draft was the 37th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft was held on February 1 and 2 at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overal ...

and initially served as a backup to

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1981. A ...

and

Ernie Holmes Earnest Lee Holmes (July 11, 1948 – January 17, 2008) was an American professional football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "Fats", he was s ...

before replacing Holmes as defensive tackle in 1977. He started in

Super Bowl XIII Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1978 Dallas Cowboys season, Dallas Cow ...

and was primarily known for his skills as a pass rusher, leading the team in

quarterback sacks In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the ...

during several seasons with the Steelers. He collected 32 sacks over the course of his Steelers career. He was also an avid weight lifter and placed fourth in the 1980 'Strongest Man in Football' competition, which aired on CBS. Furness was released by Pittsburgh after playing all 16 games in the 1980 season and he ended his playing career in 1981 with the

. After retiring from the NFL he became the defensive line coach for

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

from 1982 to 1990, where he worked under his former Steelers defensive coordinator

George Perles George Julius Perles (July 16, 1934 – January 7, 2020) was an American football player and coach. He was a defensive line coach, defensive coordinator, and assistant head coach for the National Football League (NFL)'s Pittsburgh Steelers from ...

and helped lead the team to two Big 10 Conference titles, a victory in the

1988 Rose Bowl The 1988 Rose Bowl was the 74th edition of the college football bowl game, played on January 1, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Michigan State Spartans defeated the USC Trojans 20–17 in a bowl rematch that was much closer than ...

and appearances in five additional bowl games. During this period he earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Athletic Administration from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and was inducted to the University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He rejoined the NFL in 1991 as an assistant coach for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

before returning to the

Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in 1933, the Steeler ...

for his final two years as a defensive line coach (1992–1993). In 1999, he was named as one of the "50 Greatest Rhode Island Sports Figures" of the 20th Century by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' magazine, earning the 14th spot on the list. Furness died unexpectedly of a heart attack on February 9, 2000. His son

Zack Furness Zachary Mooradian Furness (born 1977) is an American cultural studies scholar, punk musician and author. Biography Born in 1977 in Pittsburgh, Furness earned a bachelor's degree in English from Pennsylvania State University, a master's degree a ...

is a professor at Penn State University.

References

External links

*
University of Rhode Island Official Athletic Site
*

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furness, Steve 1950 births 2000 deaths Bishop Hendricken High School alumni Sportspeople from Warwick, Rhode Island University of Rhode Island alumni American football defensive tackles Pittsburgh Steelers players Detroit Lions players Indianapolis Colts coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches American sportspeople of Armenian descent Sportspeople of Armenian descent American people of English descent Players of American football from Providence, Rhode Island Rhode Island Rams football players