You might not know it and you might not even care, but the NFL Network is now almost halfway through with their annual Top 100 Player series. If you do care, you’ll be glad to know that the Pittsburgh Steelers will have at least one player represented this year in the rankings after going 8-8 once again in 2013.
After barely cracking the list last year at No. 91 due to him being hampered by a calf injury during the 2012 season, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu jumped up 30 spots this year thanks to his play in 2013.
“Troy’s one of a kind. He’s not Greek, but he can read Greek,” said veteran Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor of Polamalu during the video ranking vignette of the safety . “If you want to talk about going in caves and chilling with monks, that’s what he do.”
I’m not totally sure that the 61st ranked Polamalu can read Greek or that he hangs out in caves with monks, but I do know that a healthy version of the eight-time Pro Bowler can still make an impact on the field.
Last season, Polamalu set a career-high in forced fumbles as he was responsible for causing five of them in 2013 even though he was required to play quite a bit at linebacker out of necessity.
While we have already discovered over the years that the Top 100 Player series isn’t really voted on by as many players as the network would like you to believe, the ranking of any Steelers player that winds up making the list is always worth highlighting and fun to debate.
With 59 more players yet to be ranked, one would think that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will once again make the list. Wide receiver Antonio Brown should also finally make his debut on the list this year as well.
