Russ Grimm

Russell Scott Grimm (born May 2, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL).

He has also served as an assistant coach for the Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans.

Grimm was the center for Pitt from 1977-1980.

He was part of an elite team that included future Hall of Fame linebacker Rickey Jackson, future Pro Bowl guard Mark May, and future Pro Bowl linebacker Hugh Green, who all joined the team in the same year, as well as future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who joined the Panthers in Grimm's final two seasons.

Those two years of 1979 and 1980 were among the best in school history, as the team posted a 22-2 record over that span and barely missed out on playing for the national championship both times.

Grimm played 11 seasons for the Redskins and was a first-team selection to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.

Grimm attended Southmoreland High School, playing both quarterback and linebacker there, while also serving as the team's punter.

After high school, Grimm accepted a scholarship to play college football at the University of Pittsburgh as a linebacker.

However, he found the team already had several linebackers on their roster.

Despite never playing on the offensive line before, Grimm decided to convert to center because the team was lacking sufficient players at that position.

"I wanted to play," he explained when asked why he made the change.

"We needed depth at center."

Over the span of his four years in college, Grimm would go from 205 to 270 pounds.

In 1980, the team added future five-time pro bowl defensive lineman Bill Maas, future NFL receiver Dwight Collins, and future NFL defensive back Tim Lewis.

In 1980, future Pro Bowl tackle Jimbo Covert joined Grimm on the offensive line, giving Pitt a total of three future Pro Bowl stars out of their five offensive line starters.

"There were games when my uniform never got dirty," recalled Marino.

"There were games when I never hit the ground. That's incredible."

Along with Jeff Bostic, Mark May, George Starke and Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm was a founding member of the Redskins' renowned "Hogs" offensive line of the 1980s and early 1990s (deemed one of the best front fives of NFL history), which was a mainstay of the Redskins' glory years during the first Joe Gibbs era.

He was drafted in the third round by the Redskins in the 1981 NFL draft.

During his 11 seasons as the Redskins' starting guard, Russ Grimm helped lead his team to four Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl victories (Super Bowl XVII in 1983, Super Bowl XXII in 1988, and Super Bowl XXVI in 1992).

Along the way, Grimm was selected to 4 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances (1983–1986).

He was named an All-Pro in each of those years as well.

Joe Bugel, Grimm's former offensive line coach and the Boss Hog, said that Grimm could play anywhere, "He was one of the most complete football players, and people, that I've ever coached. He could play all the positions – center, guard and tackle. He was the leader by example."

According to Mark May, a teammate both at Pittsburgh and on the Redskins, no one lived up to the "Hog" persona more than Grimm: "He was a blue collar stiff and proud of it."

After retiring as a player, Grimm returned to the Redskins as a tight end coach (from 1992 through 1996, and offensive line coach from 1997 through 2000, during which he was instrumental in the development of tackles Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen. After his coaching stint with the Redskins, Grimm joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as offensive line coach in September 2000. In 2004, he was promoted to assistant head coach (offensive line).

Grimm was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and a finalist in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

In 2004, after the Chicago Bears fired Dick Jauron, Bears management considered Grimm as a top candidate for the job.

The job eventually went to then St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith.

In his 2005 memoir, May recalled a Christmas party at his house in 1982: "I iced down a keg of beer and stationed it on the landing between the first floor and basement. Russ turned the landing into his headquarters for the evening. He grabbed a chair and a Hog shot glass (a 60-ounce pitcher) and parked his butt on the landing next to the keg. Except for an occasional trip to the bathroom, we didn't see Russ on the first level all night..."

Don Warren - the Washington tight end, and fellow Hog - once said about Grimm's congeniality, "Russ Grimm would swallow his dip by halftime and throw up on somebody's shoes."

In 2005, Grimm added another Super Bowl ring (totaling four) to his résumé as part of the Pittsburgh Steelers' coaching staff (offensive line coach).

Under Grimm's guidance in 2005, the Super Bowl champion Steelers averaged nearly 140 yards rushing per game during the regular season to rank fifth in the NFL while also grinding out 181 rushing yards in their Super Bowl XL victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

In 2006, the Steelers' offensive line helped pave the way for running back Willie Parker to gain 1,494 yards and 13 touchdowns on 337 carries with 4.4-yard avg.

and earn his first Pro Bowl selection.

The Pittsburgh offense finished the 2006 season with the 10th-best rushing attack in the NFL, helping to give the Steelers the seventh ranked total offense in the league.

Parker finished the season with the second and third top rushing performances of the year in the NFL with 223 rushing yards on 32 attempts and a TD against Cleveland Browns and 213 yards on 22 rushes and two TDs vs. New Orleans Saints.

On January 5, 2007, Bill Cowher resigned as head coach of the Steelers.

As a professional, Grimm had multiple selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010.

The bust of Grimm, sculpted by Scott Myers, was unveiled at the Enshrinement Ceremony on August 8, 2010.