Pittsburgh Hall of Famers Wearing the Same Number

Between the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins, these three teams have collectively seen 59 former players inducted into the respective halls of fame for each sport. Of those 59 only nine athletes wore the same jersey number while representing Pittsburgh. That’s only 15% of these honored hall of fame members who can say an athlete from a different sport in Pittsburgh wore the same jersey number.

Ahead, each player sharing a uniform number with another Pittsburgh athlete from a different sport will be profiled. The spotlight will go from the lowest shared number to the highest. Of those 11 players sharing a number there has been just three numbers that were not limited to just one team. There are some great players in this bunch and several numbers that have been retired permanently. The profiling starts with the lowest jersey numbers first and goes up from there.

Jersey Number 3

“Bullet” Bill Dudley, Steelers

In 1942 at the NFL collegiate draft, “Bullet” Bill Dudley was the league’s first overall pick and the Pittsburgh Steelers held that position and used it to draft the running back from the University of Virginia. Dudley played his rookie season at Forbes Field but then because of World War II he was in the service for the next two seasons coming back to play for Pittsburgh for two more seasons before playing several seasons in Detroit and completing his NFL career with the Washington Redskins.

In that rookie season with the Steelers had a great season leading the NFL in rushing yards with 696 and in attempts with 162. He scored five touchdowns and played in all 11 games. Pittsburgh finished the season 7-4 and in second place in the NFL East Division. Walt Kiesling was the head coach. In his three seasons with the Steelers, Dudley rushed for 1,504 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. 

Bill Dudley is not just in the Pro Football Hall of Fame but also the College Football Hall of Fame. He was born in Bluefield, Virginia and in his post-football life he became a scout for the Steelers and Lions and then went into the insurance business. The state of Virginia also placed the Bullet into their state Sports Hall of Fame in 1972. Since 1990 the state of Virginia’s top college football player is presented with the “Bill Dudley Award.”

Bill Dudley also got involved in politics serving four terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. After suffering a massive stroke on January 30, 2010, Bill Dudley died at home on February 4, 2010.

Tim Horton, Penguins

his former National Hockey League player was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame posthumously in 1977 and while a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Horton also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and the Buffalo Sabres. Born on January 12, 1930, Horton who was born with the given name Miles Gilbert Horton, was tragically killed in a car accident on February 21, 1974, in Ontario after losing control of his sports car and he was just 44 years of age. 

While he wore jersey number 3 for the Penguins, when with Buffalo the number 2 was on his back and the Sabres retired it. The Toronto Maple Leafs did the same thing retiring Hortons #7. In 2017 Horton was named to the list of 100 greatest NHL Players in history. Horton’s stay in Pittsburgh was brief as he lasted one season. In the 1971-72 season he scored two goals and added nine assists. 

On a personal basis Horton married a Pittsburgher, one Lori Michalek and together they had four children. 
Sergei Zubov, Penguins. Like Horton before him, Zubov also wore #3 in Pittsburgh and just as Horton’s career had played out, Zubov was a Penguin for just one season in 1995. He did fair a bit better than his predecessor, scoring 11 goals and dishing out 55 assists. A defenseman on the ice, Zubov hails from his motherland Russia and was on two Stanley Cup championship teams (Rangers in 1994 and Dallas 1999). Now 55 years of age and these days is a coach in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia on the bench for the HC Sochi.

Jersey Number 12

Terry Bradshaw, Steelers

No player for the Pittsburgh Steelers will ever wear #12 again. That was worn by Terry Bradshaw, and he will be the last player to come onto the field with a jersey sporting the number 12. An owner of four Super Bowl rings, Bradshaw’s speech on his induction day to the Football Hall of Fame was memorable as he gave tributes to the men who made his career successful. His arrival in Pittsburgh is infamous because it was the result of a coin toss between the then owner of the Steelers Art Rooney Sr. and George Halas of the Bears to determine who would get the league’s first overall pick in 1969. Obviously, Rooney won that coin toss. Bradshaw would go on to an extraordinarily successful television analyst career.

Al Lopez, Pirates

On the baseball diamond, former catcher Al Lopez called home plate home. That is where he was the battery mate of many Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers and his career as a Bucco lasted from 1940-1946. A career .261 hitter, Lopez was known more for his defensive prowess than his bat. In 1942 and 1943 he led the majors in percentage of throwing out base runners trying to steal with a 65.8 and 65 percent mark in those two seasons. He led the league again in 1944 this time throwing out potential base stealers 51.1% of the time.

As a manager for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, Lopez led these two teams to a won/loss record of 1,410-1,004. Al Lopez had a long life living until he reached the age of 97 when he died from a heart attack while visiting his son in 2005. His passing came four days after his former team, the White Sox, had won the World Series. Lopez as their manager led the Chisox to the World Series in 1959 where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Freddie Lindstrom, Pirates

Another Pittsburgh Pirate wearing #12 was Lindstrom whose career dates back to 1924. But upon arrival in Pittsburgh in 1933, the same year the Steelers joined the NFL, Lindstrom spent two years playing baseball at Forbes Field. In those two season his batting average was a cool .302. Originally from Chicago he did get to play one season for his hometown team, the Cubs in 1935. 

Following his baseball career, Lindstrom would be hired for several minor league baseball managerial positions and was later appointed postmaster in Evanston, Illinois where he remained until 1972. Nine years later he would pass away at the age of 75.

Jerome Iginia, Penguins

Wearing number 12 on the ice for the Pittsburgh Penguins for just one season was Iginia who would spend 20 years playing in the NHL for five teams. But for that one season in 2012-2013 this hall of fame skater played in just five games with the Pens, but he shared Terry Bradshaw’s jersey number, but his career came on ice and not grass.

Jersey Number 22

Bobby Layne, Steelers

One of the most colorful and outspoken players in the history of the National Football League would be Bobby Layne. After nearly nine seasons with the Detroit Lions, where he found much success to his surprise, he was traded in 1958 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Upon his departure he was reportedly so angered by the trade he was quoted as saying “the Lions won’t win another playoff game for the next 50 years.” Sure enough, they did not. 

Layne would go on to play five season with the Steelers starting in 52 of 55 games he played. In those five years he averaged a little over 1,800 yards per season passing. Layne added 66 touchdowns but threw 81 interceptions. Bobby Layne is a member of the Steelers Hall of Honor and Legends Team. He was also named to the Detroit Lions All-time team. 

A little-known fact about Bobby Layne is that he was also an exceptionally good amateur baseball player. His drinking habits led to his death at the age of 60 in 1986. Before he passed, he is quoted as saying, “My only request is that I draw my last dollar and my last breath at precisely that same instant.”

Bert Blyleven, Pirates

Wearing Bobby Layne’s jersey number on baseball’s diamonds was Blyleven who became the first Dutch born player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. This once Pirates pitcher was born in Zeist located in Utrecht which is a town of the Netherlands. His family came to the United States in 1957 settling in Garden Grove, California. 

Growing up Blyleven’s baseball hero was the great Sandy Koufax. Eventually he made it to Major League Baseball debuting with the Minnesota Twins in 1970. His career would last a long 22 years where he would win 287 games and during his stay in The Bigs he played for the Twins, Indians, Angels, Rangers, and three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Blyleven was on the staff of the world champion Pirates in 1979 winning 12 games that season and losing just five. In three seasons with Pittsburgh, he won 34 games and lost 28. Today he is 75 years old and living in Florida.

There you have it. Not a lot of occurrences of two players from different sports wearing the same jersey number and being inducted into their respective hall of fames but as you can see there have been some.