View source for Greg Lloyd

{{Short description|American football player (born 1965)}}
{{about|the American football linebacker|his son and defensive end|Greg Lloyd Jr.}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2009}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Greg Lloyd 
| number      = 95
| position    = [[Linebacker]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1965|5|26}}
| birth_place = [[Miami, Florida]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 2
| weight_lb   = 228
| high_school = [[Peach County High School|Peach County]] {{nowrap|([[Fort Valley, Georgia]])}}
| college     = [[Fort Valley State Wildcats|Fort Valley State]]
| draftyear   = 1987
| draftround  = 6
| draftpick   = 150
| pastteams   =
* [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] ({{NFL Year|1987|1997}})
* [[Carolina Panthers]] ({{NFL Year|1998}})
| highlights  =
* 3× First-team [[All-Pro]]  ([[1993 All-Pro Team|1993]]–[[1995 All-Pro Team|1995]])
* 5× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1992 Pro Bowl|1991]]–[[1996 Pro Bowl|1995]])
* 2× [[NFL forced fumbles leader|NFL forced fumbles co-leader]] (1994, 1995)
* [[Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team]]
* [[Pittsburgh Steelers#Hall of Honor|Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor]]
* [[Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame]]
| statlabel1  = [[Tackle (football move)|Total tackles]]
| statvalue1  = 791
| statlabel2  = [[Quarterback sacks|Sacks]]
| statvalue2  = 54.5
| statlabel3  = Forced [[fumble]]s
| statvalue3  = 35
| statlabel4  = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue4  = 16
| statlabel5  = [[Interceptions]]
| statvalue5  = 11
| pfr         = L/LloyGr00 
}}

'''Gregory Lenard Lloyd Sr.''' (born May 26, 1965) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[linebacker]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL), primarily with the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]]. He was named to five [[Pro Bowl]]s and three [[All-Pro]] teams.

==College career==
Lloyd attended [[Fort Valley State University]], where he was a three-time All-[[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]] (SIAC) selection, a three-time team Defensive MVP, and as a senior, he was the SIAC Player of the Year, and a first-team Sheridan All-American selection.  He was also a member of [[Kappa Alpha Psi]] fraternity.

==Professional career==
Lloyd did not receive an invitation to the [[NFL Scouting Combine]], but did play in the [[Heritage Bowl]]. Pittsburgh Steelers' scouts viewed a videotape of Lloyd in the historically black college All-Star Game and were impressed by his ability to play sideline-to-sideline as he exhibited a bit of a mean streak. Steelers' scout, [[Tom Donahoe]], flew to [[Atlanta]] and drove {{frac|2|1|2}} hours to [[Fort Valley State]] to work out Lloyd and was further impressed.<ref name="si"/> 

The [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] selected Lloyd in the sixth round (150th overall) of the [[1987 NFL draft]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1987 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1987/draft.htm |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> Lloyd was the 28th linebacker drafted in 1987 by then Steelers coach [[Chuck Noll]].

On July 28, 1987, it was reported that Lloyd had suffered a sprained left knee in training camp, which sidelined him for his entire rookie season in [[1987 NFL season|1987]] and most of the [[1988 NFL season|1988 season]]. He was a starter during the [[1989 NFL season|1989 season]] as an outside [[linebacker]] and he excelled. He became the emotional and fiery leader of the Steelers defense after the retirement of inside linebacker [[David Little (linebacker)|David Little]]. Lloyd teamed with cornerback [[Rod Woodson]], whom he got drafted with, to give the Steelers two of the most dynamic and dominating defensive players in the game.

===Later career===
Lloyd once again missed the entire [[1996 NFL season|1996 season]] due to another knee injury. He then returned as a starter in the [[1997 NFL season|1997 season]] but missed several games due to a staph infection. He was named to five [[Pro Bowl]]s and three NFL All-Pro teams during this time. Lloyd left the Steelers in [[1998 NFL season|1998]] and played for the [[Carolina Panthers]] before retiring. A true leader and student of the game, Lloyd continued to impact the Steelers defense while injured from the sideline by teaching young linebackers [[Chad Brown (linebacker)|Chad Brown]] and [[Jason Gildon]] the finer points of Steelers linebacking tradition. 

In 2020, the Steelers inducted him into their [[Pittsburgh Steelers#Hall of Honor|Hall of Honor]].

==NFL career statistics==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}

===Regular season===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="2"| Games
! colspan="4"| Tackles
! colspan="3"| Interceptions
! colspan="2"| Fumbles
|-
! GP !! GS !! Cmb !! Solo !! Ast !! Sck !! Int !! Yds !! TD !! FF !! FR
|-
! [[1988 NFL season|1988]] !! [[1988 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 9 || 4 || 33 || – || – || 0.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1
|-
! [[1989 NFL season|1989]] !! [[1989 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 16 || 16 || 92 || – || – || 7.0 || '''3''' || 49 || 0 || 1 || 3
|-
! [[1990 NFL season|1990]] !! [[1990 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 15 || 14 || 62 || – || – || 4.5 || 1 || 9 || 0 || 1 || 0
|-
! [[1991 NFL season|1991]] !! [[1991 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 16 || 16 || 76 || – || – || 8.0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || '''6''' || 2
|-
! [[1992 NFL season|1992]] !! [[1992 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 16 || 16 || 96 || – || – || 6.5 || 1 || 35 || 0 || 5 || '''4'''
|-
! [[1993 NFL season|1993]] !! [[1993 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 15 || 15 || 111 || – || – || 6.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 5 || 1
|-
! [[1994 NFL season|1994]] !! [[1994 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 15 || 15 || 87 || 69 || 18 || '''10.0''' || 1 || 8 || 0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|5 || 1
|-
! [[1995 NFL season|1995]] !! [[1995 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 16 || 16 || '''116''' || '''88''' || '''28''' || 6.5 || '''3''' || '''85''' || 0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''6''' || 0
|-
! [[1996 NFL season|1996]] !! [[1996 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 0 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! [[1997 NFL season|1997]] !! [[1997 Pittsburgh Steelers season|PIT]]
| 12 || 12 || 52 || 30 || 22 || 3.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 3
|-
! [[1998 NFL season|1998]] !! [[1998 Carolina Panthers season|CAR]]
| 16 || 14 || 64 || 48 || 16 || 1.0 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
! colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LloyGr00.htm Career] || 147 || 139 || 791 || 237 || 84 || 54.5 || 11 || 189 || 0 || 35 || 16
|}

==Personal life==
Lloyd was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised by his mother there until the age of two. In 1967, Lloyd's mother drove him and five of his eight siblings to [[Fort Valley, Georgia]], and left them with his Aunt Bertha Mae. He has never met his father and was raised in a two-bedroom apartment along with nine other children. Lloyd grew up in poverty and had two outfits to wear throughout the week. He began playing football at the age of six and played fullback and linebacker in high school.<ref name="si">{{cite web |title=Spittin' Venom When Steelers Linebacker Greg Lloyd Isn't Leveling his Foes with Direct Hits, He's Flooring Somebody With His Tongue  |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1996/01/29/209541/spittin-venom-when-steelers-linebacker-greg-lloyd-isnt-leveling-his-foes-with-direct-hits-hes-flooring-somebody-with-his-tongue |access-date=November 22, 2018 |website=SI.com |date=January 29, 1996 |last=Murphy |first=Austin}}</ref>

Lloyd has a black belt in [[Tae Kwon Do]], which he currently teaches.<ref>[http://news.steelers.com/article/84657/ Official site of the Pittsburgh Steelers – Article<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203081705/http://news.steelers.com/article/84657/ |date=December 3, 2007 }}</ref> He is also well known for using an expletive in a nationally televised interview with [[NFL on NBC|NBC]]'s [[Jim Gray (sportscaster)|Jim Gray]] after Pittsburgh defeated the [[Indianapolis Colts]] in the [[1995 AFC Championship]].

Lloyd's son [[Greg Lloyd Jr.]] was a linebacker for the [[University of Connecticut]] football team, and wore #95 like his father.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/lloyd_greg01.html |title=95 Greg Lloyd |access-date=December 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819010451/http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/lloyd_greg01.html|archive-date=August 19, 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Steelers1987DraftPicks}}
{{Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team}}
{{Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor}}
{{NFL forced fumbles annual leaders}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Greg Sr.}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American football linebackers]]
[[Category:American male taekwondo practitioners]]
[[Category:Carolina Panthers players]]
[[Category:Fort Valley State Wildcats football players]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players]]
[[Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Miami]]
[[Category:People from Fort Valley, Georgia]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Peach County, Georgia]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]