An NFL team doesn’t win four Super Bowls in a six-year span without great players.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had more than their share in the 1970s. Ten players from that era — five on offense, five on defense — have been selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It took some players longer than others to establish themselves as stars. For instance, Franco Harris rushed for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns — in 14 games — his rookie year, which included his famed “Immaculate Reception” in 1972.

On the other hand, quarterback Terry Bradshaw endured growing pains. In his first five seasons, he passed for 48 touchdowns and 81 interceptions. He was actually benched for a few games in 1974 in favor of Joe Gilliam. The former regained the starting position, however, and threw a touchdown pass in Super Bowl IX against Minnesota.

Up to that point, Bradshaw had been counted on to simply not make the big mistake. It was in 1975 that he took a huge step forward.

That year, he was named to the Pro Bowl after passing for 18 touchdowns — only five quarterbacks in the entire league threw for more.

This was back when defenses could still hit a quarterback and be physical in the secondary. Bradshaw’s final game of the season was Super Bowl X, when his right arm contributed to Lynn Swann winning MVP honors.

Swann, in just his second year in ‘75, had become Bradshaw’s favorite target, catching 11 touchdown passes while another young receiver waited for the spotlight.

Of course, that would be John Stallworth, who tallied just over 800 yards and seven touchdowns combined in his first three seasons (1974-76).

Rules loosening the grip that defenses had on the passing game went into effect in 1978 and it was just a matter of time before the tall, lanky wideout exploded through NFL secondaries.

In 1979, the final of Pittsburgh’s four Super Bowl-runs in the decade, Stallworth caught 70 passes for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns. He could have won the MVP award in Super Bowls XIII and XIV, when he totaled 236 receiving yards and three touchdowns, but Bradshaw got the nod in both cases.

Swann and Stallworth were part of Pittsburgh’s famed 1974 draft class, which included two other hall of famers in center Mike Webster and linebacker Jack Lambert. Safety Donnie Shell was not drafted that year, but instead was brought in as a free agent. He will be enshrined in Canton later this summer.

In Shell’s first few years, Glen Edwards and Mike Wagner were entrenched as starters at the back end of the defense, but Shell got his chance in earnest in 1977 and became one of the most feared hitters in the league.

In a 1978 game against the Oilers in the Astrodome, Shell hit Earl Campbell so hard, the running back suffered several fractured ribs. No flag was thrown and no fine was levied. It was a legal hit.

Playing behind Ray Mansfield, Webster started one game in each of his first two seasons, then became the anchor of an offensive line that helped the Steelers rise to unprecedented heights in the late 1970s.

Bradshaw, Stallworth, Shell and Webster each proved that greatness sometimes needs a chance to blossom ... or a chance, period.

Derek Pyda is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.