5 Best Wide Receivers in Pittsburgh Steelers History
Rare is the team list of greatest players that holds two Hall of Famers ranked below two non-Hall of Famers. Rarer, still, is the impact those two non-HOFers could have made on any team.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' list of five greatest wide receivers in history carries plenty of star power. Four of the five names are common to everyday football fans. The fifth might have been had injuries not slowed him. Between the lot, we're talking 11 Super Bowl wins, though one, granted, came with another organization.
Without further ado, here's a list of the five best to ever lace ‘em up out wide in the Steel City.
Honorable mentions: Buddy Dial (1959-1963), Santonio Holmes (2006-2009), Dionate Johnson (2019-2023)
5. Louis Lipps (1984-1991)
How good was Lipps in his prime? The man was a second-team All-Pro as a rookie despite starting just eight games. Talent extraordinaire.
Taken in the first round of the 1984 draft, Lipps won Rookie of the Year with the Steelers after catching 48 passes for 860 yards and nine touchdowns. His second season was even better (59 receptions, 1,134 yards, 12 touchdowns) as he was again named second-team All-Pro.
Lipps would spend six more seasons with the Steelers and though his touchdown total over those seasons didn't combine to outnumber his first two seasons, he remained a reliable wideout into the early 1990s, catching 50 balls or more in each of his last five seasons with the team. He ranks fourth in Steelers history in yards receiving for a wide receiver.
4. Lynn Swann (1974-1982)
It's fitting that Swann and Lipps rank side-by-side as the latter was just beginning his career a year after the former's ended. Swann was the Steelers' No. 1 wideout for the back half of the 1970s - when Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls - and made three Pro Bowls in his nine seasons.
Swann led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 1975 with 11 and played his best season in 1978, catching 61 passes for 880 with another 11 touchdowns en route to first-team All-Pro honors.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001 as even generations of fans who didn't see him play knew him as a football icon: he worked as a sports reporter for ABC from 1983 to 2006.
3. John Stallworth (1974-1987)
Even more fitting than Swann and Lipps going side-by-side is Stallworth and Swann going side-by-side. After all, the duo played together in Pittsburgh as the Steelers' No. 1 and No. 2 wideouts from 1974 to 1982, when Swann retired.
Stallworth played second-fiddle to Swann until about 1979, when, at age 27, he caught 70 passes for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns, earning first-team All-Pro honors. Injuries limited him to playing just 31 out of 64 possible regular-season games the next four seasons, though in his only fully healthy one, he caught 63 passes for another 1,000-plus yards.
Stallworth would make his final Pro Bowl in 1984 with a career season (80 catches, 1,395 yards, 11 touchdowns) and still go on to play three more years productively in Pittsburgh.
2. Antonio Brown (2010-2018)
If you want to set the standard for this list by ranking players at the height of their powers, Brown is the unquestioned No. 1. A four-time first-team All-Pro who finished top three in Offensive Player of the Year voting three times, he is the most talented wide receiver to ever put on the black and gold.
One of the most controversial players to put on the black and gold, too, Brown caught 100 or more passes six times in his nine seasons in Pittsburgh, leading the NFL twice with 129 and 136 in 2014 and 2015. He registered six straight 1,200-yard seasons and totaled four years with at least 10 receiving touchdowns.
By 2018, though, his welcome was worn and he and the franchise parted ways. Brown left as the franchise's No. 2 player in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, all behind one man.
1. Hines Ward (1998-2011)
The face of the franchise in the 2000s has only three possible answers when it comes to the Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu or Hines Ward. Our vote is for the Georgia quarterback-turned-wide receiver.
Ward caught 1,000 passes exactly for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns over his 14-year career, all of which came with the Steelers. He made four Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams. He caught 80 balls or more six times and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark six, as well.
Most importantly, he was the heart of Pittsburgh during its most successful stint since the 1970s.
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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 3:49 AM.