Mean Joe Greene’s name is etched into the Black and Gold heart as the fierce cornerstone of the Steel Curtain defense. The man who defined defensive dominance in the 1970s, leading the Steelers defense to four Super Bowl titles, has a legacy that runs deep through the Steel City.

But there’s a rumor flying around that the legend Joe Greene has passed away. Let’s clear the fog surrounding this recent death hoax that took the internet by storm.

Fact check: Mean Green is alive and well. The rumor about his death is flat-out false.

This confusion happened due to another Joe Greene who died, and the internet jumped the gun. The Steel Curtain icon, Mean Greene, Hall of Famer since 1987, is very much alive. 

He’s the man who changed the Steelers’ identity from losers to legends in the 1970s. The defensive tackle was drafted in 1969, and initially was bummed about joining a struggling team. But ultimately went on to make every Steeler after him proud to wear black and gold. And why wouldn’t they? Greene’s career reads like a Blitzburgh dream.

Greene has 10 Pro Bowls, two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, and five-time first-team All-Pro. He also had the honor of his No. 75 jersey being retired, the second ever in Steelers history. But his pinnacle moment came in 1974, guiding his crew to their first Super Bowl win, a trophy he helped earn four times in total.

After hanging up his cleats, the defensive tackle spent over a decade coaching. From 1987 to 1991, he was the defensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then he moved on to the Miami Dolphins, coaching their defensive line from 1991 to 1995. His coaching journey wrapped up with the Arizona Cardinals, where he served as an assistant coach from 1996 to 2003.

There’s no denying his influence shaped the franchise, and amidst the chaos of rumors, one truth stands tall: Mean Joe Greene remains a living icon of the Steel City. With that settled, let’s find out what Mean Joe Greene’s personal life and net worth look like.

Joe Greene’s personal life and net worth

Joe Greene’s real name is Charles Edward Greene. Born on September 24, 1946, in Temple, Texas. Off the gridiron, Joe led a life rooted in family and community. He married Agnes Craft, his college sweetheart, in 1968. They raised three kids before Agnes passed away in 2015. 

In her memory, Joe and his family created the Agnes Lucille Craft Greene Memorial Scholarship. It supports Texas students whose parents battled cancer. However, later, Greene did find love again and married Charlotte.

Greene’s life outside football includes a brief stint on the silver screen with cameos in films like Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). He also penned an autobiography titled Mean Joe Greene: Built by Football in 2017. 

Financially, Greene has maintained a modest lifestyle compared to today’s sports stars, with an estimated net worth of around $2 million. This wealth was built through his NFL career, coaching tenures, and various endorsements. He owns a spacious home in Flower Mound, Texas, where he enjoys a quiet life far from the stadium lights.