Jon Kolb
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Jon Kolb is a former offensive lineman with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he played for 13 seasons.
Born in Ponca City, Oklahoma on August 30, 1947, he attended Owasso High School, where he earned all-state honors during his senior year. He attended Oklahoma State University where he started at center. While at OSU he was named all Big 8 in 1967 and 1968 and was selected all-American in 1968. He currently resides in Grove City, Pennsylvania with his wife Deborah and is the father of three sons.
[edit] National Football League
Kolb was drafted by Pittsburgh out of OSU in 1969, and he played with the Steelers from 1969 to 1981. He started in 177 games and earned 4 Super Bowl rings. During his playing days, he was widely regarded as one of the strongest men in the NFL. He became a Strength & Conditioning coach with the Steelers after his playing career ended.
After his career rumors circulated about his probable steroid use while playing with the Steelers. Former coach and player Jim Haslett said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2005:
"It started, really, in Pittsburgh. They got an advantage on a lot of football teams. They were so much stronger [in the] '70s, late '70s, early '80s ... Steve [Courson], Jon [Kolb] and all those guys. They're the ones who kind of started it." [1]
Haslett apologized shortly after the comments were made. Allegations have cropped up from time to time, but no one has fingered Kolb as having taken any performance enhancing drugs. The Post-Gazette's Robert Dvorchak wrote on October 4, 2005:
"Offensive lineman Jon Kolb, who was part of the Steelers dynasty, said he never heard about steroids until the made-for-TV world's strongest man competition in 1980. He won four events but was blown away by other athletes who were bulked up on muscle-building substances. 'I think that was the first time I heard people talk about it. It was scary to me," Mr. Kolb said. "(Strength coach Lou) Riecke never brought it up. Never. Never. You can get pretty strong without [steroids]. When I was in college, there was a sign in the wrestling room at Oklahoma State that said if muscles were everything, a bull could catch a rabbit.'"[2]
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