{"id":911751,"date":"2026-06-06T18:30:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T18:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/911751\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T18:30:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T18:30:43","slug":"steelers-2026-countdown-to-kickoff-no-99-history-behind-the-jersey-who-wore-it-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/911751\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers 2026 countdown to kickoff, No. 99: History behind the jersey, who wore it best"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 99 days until the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>‘ 2026 NFL season opener, the countdown to kickoff has officially begun.<\/p>\n

99 days from today, the Aaron Rodgers<\/a>-led Steelers<\/a> will host the Atlanta Falcons<\/a> at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. In the spirit of the countdown, we at Steelers Wire will take a look at the history of the No. 99 jersey and which players wore it best.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Steelers current No. 99 wearer: DL Derrick Harmon<\/a>\"PITTSBURGH,<\/p>\n

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA – AUGUST 16: Derrick Harmon #99 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates after sacking Teddy Bridgewater #16 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (not pictured) during the first quarter of the NFL Preseason 2025 at Acrisure Stadium on August 16, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Harmon showed a lot of promise during his rookie campaign with Pittsburgh. Selected by the Steelers with the 21st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Harmon appeared in 12 games and made eight starts, quickly cementing himself as a staple on the defensive line when healthy.<\/p>\n

Last five Steelers to wear No. 99<\/p>\n

Derrick Harmon, 2025-present<\/p>\n

Levon Kirkland, 1992-2000<\/p>\n

1 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 13, vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Brett Davis, Brett Davis-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

1 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 13, vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Brett Davis, Brett Davis-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, at New England Patriots, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Brian Fluharty, Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

3 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 4: Thursday Night Football, Oct. 1, at Cleveland Browns, 8:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Justin K. Aller, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11, vs. Indianapolis Colts, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Justin K. Aller, Getty Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 18, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Barry Reeger, Barry Reeger-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

7 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, at New Orleans Saints, 9:30 a.m. ET (Paris)<\/p>\n

(SCOTT CLAUSE\/USA TODAY Network, SCOTT CLAUSE\/USA TODAY Network)\"\"<\/p>\n

8 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 8: Sunday, Nov. 1, vs. Cleveland Browns, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Jeff Lange, Jeff Lange \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

9 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games (Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

10 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Takeaways from the Steelers 2026 regular-season schedule release<\/p>\n

Week 10: Sunday Night Football, Nov. 15, at Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Sam Greene\/The Enquirer, Sam Greene\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

11 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Bill Streicher, Bill Streicher-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

12 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 12: Friday, Nov. 27, vs. Denver Broncos, 3:00 p.m. ET (Black Friday Game)<\/p>\n

(Ron Chenoy, Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

13 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 13: Sunday Night Football, Dec. 6, vs. Houston Texans, 8:20 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

14 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 14: Monday Night Football, Dec. 14, at Jacksonville Jaguars, 8:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union)\"\"<\/p>\n

15 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

16 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 16: TBD, vs. Carolina Panthers, TBD<\/p>\n

(Allison Lawhon, Imagn Images)\"\"<\/p>\n

17 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 3, at Tennessee Titans, 1:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

(Philip G. Pavely, Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports)\"\"<\/p>\n

18 \/ 18<\/p>\n

Steelers’ 2026 schedule revealed: Opponents, dates, primetime games<\/p>\n

Week 18: TBD, at Baltimore Ravens, TBD<\/p>\n

(Charles LeClaire, Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)Best No. 99 in Steelers history: LB Levon Kirkland\"Jan<\/p>\n

Jan 11, 1998; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Levon Kirkland (99) reacts to Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway (7) during the 1998 AFC Championship Game where Denver defeated Pittsburgh 24-21 at Three Rivers Stadium. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Starting off the countdown to kickoff with a tough decision between Levon Kirkland and Brett Keisel, the advantage went to the former. Kirkland, selected by the Steelers with the 38th overall pick in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft, went on to appear in 144 games and make 124 starts for Pittsburgh. He recorded 1,026 combined tackles, 19.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, and 18 forced fumbles in his entire 11-year NFL career.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

One of the greatest inside linebackers of his era, Kirkland earned First-Team All-Pro (1997) and Second-Team All-Pro (1996) recognition, in addition to being named to two Pro Bowls (1996-1997) and the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.<\/p>\n

A mammoth of a linebacker at 6-foot-1, 270-plus pounds, Kirkland was a staple of Pittsburgh’s defense in the 90s and is the greatest to ever wear No. 99 in Steelers history.<\/p>\n

For up-to-date\u00a0Steelers\u00a0coverage, including any offseason moves, follow us on X\u00a0@TheSteelersWire<\/a>\u00a0and give our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0a like.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers 2026 season countdown: Top players to wear No. 99<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With 99 days until the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ 2026 NFL season opener, the countdown to kickoff has officially begun.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":911752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,8134,27103,340,224,7,122100,8662,122099,6,57],"class_list":["post-911751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlantafalcons","tag-brett-keisel","tag-countdown-to-kickoff","tag-derrick-harmon","tag-falcons","tag-football","tag-henry-mondeaux","tag-larry-ogunjobi","tag-levon-kirkland","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116704590588441617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/911752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}