by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

February 2, 2023

Pittsburgh Steelers Mourn Death of Super Bowl-Winning Running Back Sidney Thornton

A two-time Super Bowl-winning running back who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers has recently passed away, according to the team.

The NFL team made the announcement that former running back Sidney Thornton died this week via its Twitter account on Wednesday.

“We are saddened by the loss of former Steelers RB Sidney Thornton.”

According to Sports Illustrated, Thornton was 68 when he died. No cause of death was revealed.

Thornton played his whole NFL career with the Steelers for six seasons. He was active on the team from the years 1977 to 1982. He won two Super Bowl championships with the team in consecutive years in 1979 and the following year, 1980.

He appeared in 74 regular season games and started 21 of them. The running back finished his career with a total of 1,512 rushing yards on 356 carries and rushed for 18 touchdowns. He also caught 46 passes for 515 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Before he officially retired from football, he did a one-year stint with the USFL in 1984 after he retired from the NFL. He accumulated 288 rushing yards and four touchdowns while carrying the ball 101 times. He also caught 175 receiving yards and scored one touchdown on 25 catches.

Heavy reported that the running back attended Northwestern State University from 1973-76. He started for the school’s football team and got himself into the record book at the university. He rushed for 2,336 yards and scored 25 rushing touchdowns. For his last semester at the school, he averaged 100.1 rushing yards per game and went on to win the Most Valuable Player award in the 1976 Blue-Gray Classic. In that game, he ran for a game-record 151 yards while scoring two touchdowns.

The school also acknowledged his death on its Twitter feed.

“The Demon family mourns the loss of Sidney Thornton, an N-Club Hall of Famer and a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers. There was only one “Thundering Bull,” and he will be missed greatly.”


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