Steelers Announce Four Member 2019 Hall Of Honor Class

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced their 2019 Hall Of Honor Class on Saturday in Latrobe and this year’s four additions span a large number of generations. Now joining the 32 members already enshrined in the Steelers Hall of Honor are tight end Elbie Nickel, tight end/tackle Larry Brown, head coach Bill Cowher, and wide receiver Hines Ward.

According to the team site, for a player to qualify for the Hall of Honor, he must: played for at least three seasons as a Steeler, been retired for at least three seasons, and have a noteworthy career. For coaches, only the latter criteria needs to apply.

Nickel played eleven seasons for the Steelers from 1947–1957 after being drafted in the 15th round in 1947. He finished his career with 329 receptions for 5,131 yards, both of which still are seventh on the team’s all-time receiving lists. He also hauled in 37 career touchdowns, which is the eighth-highest total in team history. Nickel was considered one of the great tight ends of his time and held Steelers’ team records at the position long before Heath Miller finally came along and rewrote them. He was a three-time Pro Bowler who led the Steelers in receiving four times throughout his career.

Brown, who was selected by the Steelers as a tight end in the fifth-round of the 1971 NFL draft out of Kansas, played 14 seasons in the NFL and all with Pittsburgh. His first six seasons with the Steelers he wore No. 87 as a tight end and caught 47 passes for 635 yards and 4 touchdowns during that span of years. A knee injury resulted in Brown being asked to switch to tackle in 1977 and he did just that. That position switch included a number switch as he then wore No. 79. He would go on to make three Pro Bowls as a tackle. A four-time Super Bowl champion with the Steelers, Brown caught 3 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl IX against the Minnesota Vikings.

Cowher was the Steelers head coach for 15 seasons from 1992-2006. During that time he compiled a record of 161–99–1 and led the Steelers to two Super Bowls, winning one of them against the Seattle Seahawks in the 2005-2006 season. The Steelers won eight division titles, made the playoffs 10 times during which they participated in 21 playoff games in those 15 seasons that Cowher was the head coach in Pittsburgh. Of those 21 playoff games, 13 were played in Pittsburgh, six were road games, and the two Super Bowls were at neutral sites.

Ward spent all of his 14 seasons in the NFL with the Steelers after they originally drafted him in the third-round of the 1998 NFL Draft out of Georgia. He played in 217 regular season games for the black and gold and recorded 1,000 receptions for 12,083 receiving yards. He also totaled 85 career regular season receiving touchdowns for the Steelers. He was voted to the Pro Bowl four times during his time in Pittsburgh and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XL. He was part of two Super Bowl championship teams.