By the late 1970s, Joe Greene was the most intimidating defender in football. Then, in October 1979, a sixty-second commercial flipped that image on its head and made him one of the most beloved athletes in the country.
The premise was simple. A battered, limping Greene heads up the tunnel after a game when a young fan offers him his bottle of Coke. Greene drinks it, the boy turns to leave, and then comes the line that outlived everyone involved: 'Hey, kid... catch.' He tosses the boy his jersey, and the kid lights up.
The spot won a Clio Award and gained even more fame when it re-aired during Super Bowl XIV, a game the Steelers won. It has been parodied and paid homage to for decades and still appears on lists of the greatest commercials ever made.
Greene has said the ad changed his life. Fans began approaching him with bottles of Coke and warm smiles instead of fear, and a man known for being mean on Sundays became, off the field, one of the game's most approachable ambassadors - a role he has carried with grace ever since.
It remains a perfect snapshot of why he endures: dominant enough to be feared, human enough to be loved.