``That's when I decided to straighten the finger myself,'' Lambert said.

If Lambert felt pain, he never let on and he never gave in.

A player who can stand alongside the game's all-time great linebackers - Dick Butkus, Sam Huff and Ray Nitschke, his boyhood heroes - Lambert was the essence of commitment and toughness. In many people's eyes, he was the Steelers of the '70s. A man who had uncanny physical attributes, but who brought to the team a dimension that was felt, not measured.

Jack Lambert was known for his sometimes scary intensity on the field.(AP)

``Jack Lambert demanded total effort from everybody in the organization,'' owner Dan Rooney once said. ``He took us to greatness. He was the symbol of our success in the 1970s.''

Lambert played at Kent State as a scrawny 202-pound defensive end. The Steelers were enamored with his potential, however, and took him with their second pick in the 1974 draft.

"I've seen guys come in with physical ability, big guys, strong guys, fast guys, and they didn't make it," Lambert said. "Maybe they couldn't handle it mentally or they didn't have heart. Give me 22 guys with a lot of heart and I'll win. I'll take 22 guys with heart over 22 guys with ability any day of the week."

Lambert had heart and ability, and he was the player who completed the amazing building of the Steel Curtain defense. Though he was the unit's youngest member, Lambert was a starter from Day One and was not afraid to speak his mind. His enthusiasm, intensity and leadership pushed Pittsburgh's defense from good to dominating, and he soon had a fan club -- ``Lambert's Lunatics.''

It is no coincidence that in Lambert's rookie season, when he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, the Steelers led the NFL in total defense and takeaways on the way to winning the first of their four Super Bowls.

``Jack didn't have to psych himself to play,'' teammate Joe Greene once observed. ``He lived to play.''

At 6-4, 220, Lambert blocked a lot of passing lanes, but was about 20 pounds lighter than his linebacking peers. He made up for it with upper-body strength, instincts and quickness, his 28 career interceptions a testament to that. Mostly, Lambert lived to hit, especially quarterbacks, whom he despised. ``They ought to put quarterbacks in dresses,'' he said in a quote that became famous.

Jim Murray, the late great columnist of the Los Angeles Times, took one look at Lambert's evil gap-toothed grin and referred to him as "the pro from Pittsburgh, Transylvania." He was once dubbed "Count Dracula in Cleats" in a Steelers highlight video. He had a crazed way about him, and he often went a bit overboard, but it was part of his aura.

"You have to want to be the best," he said. "I'm not quite so sure that everybody feels that way. A lot of people are just happy to be here."

Despite the viciousness of his position, Lambert missed only six games due to injuries his first 10 seasons. He was NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1976, made the Pro Bowl in nine of his 11 seasons, then, in 1990, joined his boyhood heroes, Butkus, Huff and Nitschke, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.