Enjoy it while you can, Steelers fans because it promises to be years before we see this again.
The Steelers winning a division title? Well, maybe that too, but we’re talking about the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There will be five from the franchise inducted in Canton in August after the election of Bill Nunn and Alan Faneca to the Class of 2021.
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That makes 29 the organization claims in Canton, including nine over the past 10 years and 13 in this century alone. Nunn and Faneca will be joined in Canton in August by Bill Cowher and Donnie Shell, who were chosen for the special Centennial Class, and Troy Polamalu, voted to the Class of 2020. The pandemic postponed last year’s induction ceremony so that will be held Aug. 7, the day before the 2021 class is inducted.
No franchise has had five representatives inducted on the same weekend in Canton. It could be years before the Steelers celebrate another induction.
Since I have been the Pittsburgh selector starting with the 1994 class on what is now a panel of 48 voters for the Hall of Fame, there have been only four years in which there were no candidates among the finalists representing the Steelers. That’s four out of 28 years in which no one from the Steelers franchise was either a finalist of 15 or a senior finalist. The longest stretch without one during my tenure lasted just two years, 2003 and 2004.
Those were heady times for the Steelers and the Hall of Fame. One made it in each of three straight years starting in 2000: Dan Rooney, Lynn Swann and John Stallworth.
So, they will go out with a bang this August but prepare for a long period of silence when it comes to the Steelers making any advances toward Canton.
I’ve put together a list of those who possibly could attract attention for election, or have been eligible, and my opinion on their chances of ultimately making it. Not included are young players such as T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick because their resumes are too brief, albeit strong. Players and coaches become eligible five years after their retirements. Where applicable, I include the Pro Football Hall of Fame Monitor from Pro Football Reference. It is a metric (devised from stats, awards, and other milestones) designed to estimate a player’s chance at making the Hall of Fame.
Eligible players
Hines Ward
He would be the next logical finalist but he hasn’t moved beyond the semifinal 25, of which he’s made it all five years in which he’s been eligible. There are many reasons for him to be elected that go beyond his 1,000 receptions for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns, including his Super Bowl MVP, his blocking and the fact that unlike many of the modern receivers getting elected, he played outdoors in a northern climate on a team that, for most of his career, preferred to run than pass.
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Ward might be getting hurt by the fact so many Steelers have been candidates and inducted lately. For example, Torry Holt has been a finalist the past two years even though he caught 80 fewer passes for 11 fewer TDs than Ward while playing for the most part with the Greatest Show on Turf pass-happy Rams. And he never was a Super Bowl MVP. Nevertheless, the voters have spoken, and unless Ward reaches the final 15, there’s little chance to debate his attributes with other selectors. After five years of eligibility, his candidacy does not seem to have wings. His HOF monitor of 73.40 ranks 35th among wide receivers all time.
L.C. Greenwood
The biggest omission, in my opinion, from those who delivered the 1970s dynasty to Pittsburgh. Only one player from maybe the greatest defensive line ever, the Steel Curtain, has been elected: Joe Greene. Greenwood was a terror at end, a phenomenal pass rusher who played all over the field in their 4-3 and regularly batted down passes.
He sacked Roger Staubach four times in Super Bowl X. He finished with 73.5 sacks although the stat was not officially recognized until 1982, the year after his retirement. He was a modern-day finalist six times before he moved to the senior candidate consideration. I was somewhat surprised he did not make the Centennial Class. Shell likely beat him out for that spot. His HOF Monitor of 80.38 ranks 16th among defensive ends all time. He has a chance to make it even though there are so many Steelers from the 1970s in the Hall.
Andy Russell
The linebacker’s candidacy returned to prominence a few years ago when a friend devoted much time and effort to pushing him for election. However, the Centennial Class may have been his last best chance. He never was a modern-day finalist and has been in the senior category for years.
Russell was one player who bridged the pre-Chuck Noll years and the first two Super Bowl teams. He and Hall of Famers Jack Ham and Jack Lambert were their three starting linebackers before Russell retired after the 1976 season. He made seven Pro Bowls over his 12-season career. His HOF Monitor of 55.80 ranks 30th among outside linebackers all time.
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Gary Anderson
Selectors have put just two pure kickers in the Hall of Fame, Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen.
Gary Anderson might have made it had he kicked a little longer. He was the NFL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,434 points when he retired after the 2004 season. Morten Andersen, who entered the league the same season as Gary Anderson in 1982, kicked three more seasons through 2007 and passed him by with 2,544 points. The main point Morten Andersen’s supporters made for his election was that he was the all-time NFL scoring leader and how could we keep the all-time NFL scoring leader out of the Hall of Fame? That same case would have been made for Gary Anderson if he had been that person. Now it will be made for Adam Vinatieri when he becomes a candidate in four years because, with 2,673 points, he is the career scoring leader.
His HOF Monitor of 65.90 ranks third among kickers all time. Anderson, unfortunately, has little chance of ever getting elected.
Art Rooney Jr.
Bill Nunn’s selection prompted stories to be told about his involvement in the greatest draft in history, the Steelers’ of 1974 in which they chose four players and signed a fifth who would be elected to the Hall of Fame, unprecedented in history. Art Rooney Jr. headed the team’s personnel department that ran that draft, not to mention other great ones starting with Joe Greene in 1969 and the earlier 1970s.
Nine players drafted under Rooney’s watch plus a 10th, Donnie Shell, signed as a rookie after the draft, have been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Steelers won four Super Bowls with him as the head of their personnel department. That record compares more favorably to other personnel executives elected to the Hall of Fame such as Bill Polian and George Young.
But there are roadblocks for Rooney. His father, his brother and now one of his scouts are Hall of Famers, as is his coach, Noll. And as even Art Rooney Jr. has said, his father gave Noll the final say in the draft. Voters might be reluctant to recognize yet another member of the Steelers front office of the 1970s despite his success.
Active players
Will Ben Roethlisberger be the next Steeler to be inducted into the Hall of Fame? (Tim Heitman / USA Today)
Ben Roethlisberger
He could very well be the next one inducted from the Steelers, five years after his retirement. He has surpassed virtually every team record owned by Terry Bradshaw and ranks highly among quarterbacks in many categories in NFL history: seventh with 60,348 passing yards, eighth with 396 touchdown passes, fourth with 522 passing yards in a game, and fourth with 35 fourth-quarter comeback victories.
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His HOF Monitor of 95.38 ranks 15th among quarterbacks all time.
Antonio Brown
He scored his first Super Bowl touchdown and earned his first ring Sunday after returning from an eight-game NFL suspension and missing all but one game in 2019. In 11 seasons, he has 886 receptions for 11,746 yards and 79 touchdowns, all fewer than Hines Ward. At 33 in July, he can add to those totals. His suspension and walking out on the Steelers before the last game of the 2018 season will not enhance his candidacy.
He made seven Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pros. His HOF monitor of 94.20 ranks 18th among wide receivers all-time with 15 Hall of Fame receivers behind him, including John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. Nevertheless, he will have to add to his numbers to strengthen his candidacy.
Le’Veon Bell
Bell was certainly on course for Hall of Fame consideration with the Steelers but since then, not so much. He did not play in 2018; he rushed for only 789 yards with the Jets in 2019 and only 328 yards with the Jets and Chiefs this past season. He has 6,543 career yards rushing and 3,259 yards receiving. He was active but did not play in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Bell turns 29 next week and may be at the end of the road, or close to it. He made two first-team All-Pros and three Pro Bowls. His HOF Monitor is 38.00, 71st among running backs. It’s highly unlikely he will be considered a Hall of Fame candidate without a resurrection of his career.
Maurkice Pouncey
Pouncey made nine Pro Bowls in 10 seasons (he missed 2015 with an injury) and two All-Pro teams.
Those awards make him Hall of Fame worthy. He also made the All-Decade team of 2010-2019, an honor that is weighted heavily by Hall of Fame voters. Unlike previous all-decade teams, several players were listed at each position on the most recent one with no first-team designation. Pouncey shared the all-decade nod at center with Alex Mack.
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Pouncey’s HOF Monitor of 73.78 ranks eight among all-time centers. All seven ranked ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame, including Dermontti Dawson, ranked No. 1 at 128.23, and Mike Webster, third at 117.60.
David DeCastro
He made the past six Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pros. At 31, he likely would have to put together a few more outstanding seasons to be considered. His HOF Monitor of 44.33 ranks 47th all-time among guards. As a comparison, Faneca, who waited six years as a finalist before his election, made six first-team All-Pros and his 140.23 HOF monitor ranked fourth.
Mike Tomlin
Tomlin’s 145 victories are more than anyone in NFL history in his first 14 seasons as a head coach. His record of 145-78-1 in the regular season ranks 11th all-time with a winning percentage of .650. He needs four more victories to tie Bill Cowher for second in Steelers history. Like Cowher, elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year, his teams went to two Super Bowls with one victory.
Tomlin, who has never had a losing season in 14 as a head coach, is on track for the Hall of Fame. One more Super Bowl win would assure it. He turns 49 next month.
(Photo of Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
