While we haven’t heard a lot from the Pittsburgh Steelers so far this offseason, we did get general manager Kevin Colbert showing up for a short segment on the WDVE Morning Show on Tuesday, largely to discuss the news of the new Hall of Fame additions in Bill Nunn and Alan Faneca, but also about T.J. Watt and the Super Bowl, with a number of Steelers alumni in participation.
Sadly, they never go around to asking him about his status. Colbert is only under contract through the end of the 2021 NFL Draft, and hasn’t said whether or not he intends to return for the 2021-22 cycle. But he did talk about the expectations that precede you when you walk into the building.
The standard was set long, long ago, and it is remarkable. I mean, this summer you’ll have five. You mentioned Bill Cowher and Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell, of course, Bill [Nunn] and Alan Faneca that we just talked about, but that’s a unique class, because it talks about the personnel folks, of course, great players and a great coach, all who were Super Bowl champions.
That standard was set a long time ago. It’s our obligation to try to uphold that, and trust, me every day, we recognize that when we walk into this building and we walk past six trophies and you understand your job’s to try to get the seventh and nothing else.
Unfortunately, the Steelers have tried and failed for a dozen years to get that seventh Lombardi so far, which is the second-longest drought in team history. They won their first Super bowl in their ninth go-around, going back to back, then three seasons later repeated once again.
But they wouldn’t win again between 1980 and 2004 before finally breaking back into the title mode in 2005 with a young Ben Roethlisberger. They won again in 2008, and returned to the Super Bowl in 2010, but fell short.
Since then, they have only reached the AFC Championship game once more, in 2016. They have lost each of their past three postseason games, beginning with that conference championship loss, then a divisional round loss the following year, and leading up to this past season’s wildcard loss to the Cleveland Browns.
If this is it for Colbert, then the 2021 NFL Draft will be the last piece of his legacy, and whatever this roster does once he’s gone will be it. Can his players bring another title to his resume—possibly one that might bring him into the Hall of Fame when all is said and done?
