Gregory Lenard Lloyd Sr. (born May 26, 1965) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in 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), primarily with 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 ...

. He was named to five

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

s and three

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

teams.

College career

Lloyd attended

Fort Valley State University Fort Valley State University (FVSU; formerly Fort Valley State College and Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School) is a public land-grant historically black university in Fort Valley, Georgia, United States. It is part of the University Syste ...

, where he was a three-time All-

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black col ...

(SIAC) selection, a three-time team Defensive MVP, and as a senior, he was the SIAC Player of the Year, and a first-team Sheridan All-American selection. He was also a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity.

Professional career

Lloyd did not receive an invitation to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, but did play in the Heritage Bowl. Pittsburgh Steelers' scouts viewed a videotape of Lloyd in the historically black college All-Star Game and were impressed by his ability to play sideline-to-sideline as he exhibited a bit of a mean streak. Steelers' scout,

Tom Donahoe Tom Donahoe is an American former football executive in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers and the senior advisor and director of player personnel for the Philadelphia ...

, flew to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and drove hours to Fort Valley State to work out Lloyd and was further impressed. The

selected Lloyd in the sixth round (150th overall) of the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

. Lloyd was the 28th linebacker drafted in 1987 by then Steelers coach

Chuck Noll Charles Henry Noll (January 5, 1932 – June 13, 2014) was an American professional football player and head coach. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, his sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the ...

. On July 28, 1987, it was reported that Lloyd had suffered a sprained left knee in training camp, which sidelined him for his entire rookie season in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and most of the 1988 season. He was a starter during the 1989 season as an outside

and he excelled. He became the emotional and fiery leader of the Steelers defense after the retirement of inside linebacker David Little. Lloyd teamed with cornerback

Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football player for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Widely considered one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time, Woodson holds the NFL record fo ...

, whom he got drafted with, to give the Steelers two of the most dynamic and dominating defensive players in the game.

Later career

Lloyd once again missed the entire 1996 season due to another knee injury. He then returned as a starter in the 1997 season but missed several games due to a staph infection. He was named to five

s and three NFL All-Pro teams during this time. Lloyd left the Steelers in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

before retiring. A true leader and student of the game, Lloyd continued to impact the Steelers defense while injured from the sideline by teaching young linebackers Chad Brown and

Jason Gildon Jason Larue Gildon (born July 31, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1994 to 2003 and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2004. He was sel ...

the finer points of Steelers linebacking tradition. In 2020, the Steelers inducted him into their Hall of Honor.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

Lloyd was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised by his mother there until the age of two. In 1967, Lloyd's mother drove him and five of his eight siblings to

Fort Valley, Georgia Fort Valley is a city in and the county seat of Peach County, Georgia, Peach County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 8,780. The city is in the Warner R ...

, and left them with his Aunt Bertha Mae. He has never met his father and was raised in a two-bedroom apartment along with nine other children. Lloyd grew up in poverty and had two outfits to wear throughout the week. He began playing football at the age of six and played fullback and linebacker in high school. Lloyd has a black belt in

Tae Kwon Do Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In a ...

, which he currently teaches. He is also well known for using an expletive in a nationally televised interview with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's Jim Gray after Pittsburgh defeated 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 ...

in the 1995 AFC Championship. Lloyd's son Greg Lloyd Jr. was a linebacker for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

football team, and wore #95 like his father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Greg Sr. 1965 births Living people American football linebackers American male taekwondo practitioners Carolina Panthers players Fort Valley State Wildcats football players Pittsburgh Steelers players American Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Miami People from Fort Valley, Georgia Players of American football from Peach County, Georgia 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen