{"id":22244,"date":"2025-02-20T23:19:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T23:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=22244"},"modified":"2025-02-20T23:19:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T23:19:31","slug":"former-pittsburgh-steelers-super-bowl-champion-running-back-has-tragically-passed-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=22244","title":{"rendered":"Former Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Champion Running Back Has Tragically Passed Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Former\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>\u00a0running back Mike Collier has reportedly passed away.<\/p>\n<p>Collier played two seasons with the Steelers (1975-67) and spent three with the\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/buffalo-bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buffalo Bills<\/a>\u00a0from 1977-79. He died at the age of 71 in Maryland on Sunday, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>The former RB, who played his college football at Morgan State, is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rsthvn.com\/obituaries\/michael-collier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported to have died<\/a>\u00a0at the Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sad news as former <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Steelers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Steelers<\/a> RB Mike Collier recently passed away<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believed in myself \u2013 that was the most important thing. I just needed opportunities. They used me a lot in short yardage \u2013 I was powerful and determined and was able to get those yards.\u201d\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5mUPiCNpEJ\">pic.twitter.com\/5mUPiCNpEJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steelers Takeaways \ud83c\udf17 (@PittsburghSport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PittsburghSport\/status\/1892575952300872113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Collier told the Baltimore Sun 12 years ago that his time in the\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a>\u00a0felt like a dream, and he expressed gratitude for the opportunity.<\/p>\n<div id=\"incontent-ad-1\" class=\"pw-incontent\" data-label=\"Advertisement\"><\/div>\n<p><em>\u201cIt used to seem like a dream,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>he told the outlet.\u00a0<em>\u201cI realize that a lot of people would love to have been in my position. I thank God that He gave me the opportunity to be there.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Collier, drafted in the 14th round in 1975, just wanted an opportunity to prove himself in the pros. He ended up becoming a\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/tag\/super-bowl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Super Bowl<\/a>\u00a0Champion with the Steelers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cAll I asked for was a chance,\u201d he said in 2014. \u201cBeing in the NFL and having that chance was the greatest thing. Luckily, there were six preseason games then. A couple guys got hurt \u2013 nothing too serious but it gave me a chance to play and prove myself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He rushed for a total of 370 yards on 86 carries, adding 11 receptions for another 73 yards.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-mike-collier-had-one-gripe-about-coaches-in-the-nfl\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mike Collier Had One Gripe About Coaches In The NFL<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2261824\" src=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-1024x599.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-150x88.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-595x348.jpg 595w, https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-768x449.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-1024x599.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-1536x899.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/USATSI_25460551-2048x1199.jpg 2048w\" alt=\"Mike Collier signing autographs\" width=\"1024\" height=\"599\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Collier (Photo via Imagn Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Maryland native also famously claimed that he played for the best NFL coach in Chuck Noll, stating that the former HC never got the credit he deserved.<\/p>\n<div id=\"incontent-ad-3\" class=\"pw-incontent\" data-label=\"Advertisement\"><\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cYou always hear people talking about [Bill] Belichick and other guys as the greatest coaches. You rarely hear about Noll,\u201d he declared. \u201cThat upsets me greatly. He was one of the greatest coaches ever in that timeframe.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Collier lived with his wife, Lisa, their three children, and six grandchildren in Hagerstown, where he worked as the manager of a local grocery store until 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Our hearts go out to his family.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Rest in Peace, Mike Collier \u2013 1953-2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Former\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0running back Mike Collier has reportedly passed away. Collier played two seasons with the Steelers (1975-67) and spent three with the\u00a0Buffalo Bills\u00a0from 1977-79. He died at the &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22246,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22244\/revisions\/22246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}