As I wrote about yesterday, it was revealed on Thanksgiving that Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Joe Greene would be a member of the NFL 100 All-Time team, his position being officially announced yesterday. While he would not be joined by Ernie Stautner along the defensive line, he still had plenty of company.
In addition to Greene being named as one of seven defensive tackles, Pittsburgh was also honored with a pair of linebackers among the 14 who were named, and I’m sure you can figurer out who they are. Among the most essential players of the dynasty era, both Jack Ham and Jack Lambert now represent the Steelers for the league’s centennial anniversary celebration.
And their coach, who unfortunately would not live to see the day, was named along with them. Chuck Noll was the first coach to win three Super Bowls, and then the first two win four. He presided over arguably what remains the most dominant team over a six-year period in NFL history, or at least modern NFL history, and so rightly was chosen as one of 10 coaches to represent the league.
While these are some of the most iconic players in the team’s history, they have a very storied past, and there’s a good chance that they will continue to find good company on the NFL 100 All-Time team as the wheels keep turning.
It was somewhat of a surprise that neither Jerome Bettis nor Franco Harris received the distinction of joining the 12 running backs named to the team, but they have ample opportunity to be honored at other positions. Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger will be considered at quarterback, for example.
There’s Mel Blount, Rod Woodson, and Troy Polamalu in the secondary. Dare I say it, Antonio Brown may be in consideration at wide receiver, along with, of course, John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. Oh, and they’ve had some pretty good linemen, too, like Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, and Alan Faneca.
For a franchise who has as many Super Bowl trophies as any other in the history of the game, it shouldn’t be particularly surprising to see the Steelers so far pretty well-represented in the league’s centennial All-Time team. They had plenty of representation on the 75-year team as well.
Of the positions not already revealed (running back, defensive line, and linebacker are already done), which Steeler do you feel absolutely must be on this list?
