The Pittsburgh Steelers 3-4 defense has changed over the years. One of the ways is giving the defensive end more freedom with their technique, as guys like Cameron Heyward have been able to play looser and as a result put up gaudier individual numbers than a guy like Aaron Smith, who was just inducted into the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor. In a media session after his induction, Smith talked about the changes and how, while he wouldn’t give up his Super Bowls, it “would have been nice” to be able to play with the technique Heyward does these days.
“I love what we had, don’t get me wrong. Like, we had a lot of success and we have Super Bowls and I’ll take those any days over Pro Bowls, to be honest with you,” he said. “You give me the Super Bowl championships and most guys in the league will tell you they want the Super Bowls, but yeah, it would’ve been nice to be loose and get in a wide-3 or a 4i [technique] and just go or get in a wide-5. And yeah, it would’ve been nice. I mean, I did it in college, but you know, the reality is, this system we had worked for us and the group we had, we were pretty good at what we did.”
Obviously, Pittsburgh had a ton of success in Smith’s tenure with the team, winning two Super Bowls. But Smith’s individual stats and accolades aren’t close to Heyward’s, as Smith made just one Pro Bowl in 2004 and finished his career with 481 tackles and 44 sacks. But his role wasn’t to be the guy who went out and got all the sacks and made plays. One of his main roles was to free things up for the guys behind him and let them clean up.
His strength and ability to play in multiple gaps let guys like James Farrior and Larry Foote get downhill and make plays, especially in the run game. It’s one of the things that made Pittsburgh’s defense so special, and Smith was one of the best in the game when it came to taking on blocks, and that’s one of the big reasons why he’s going to be inducted in the Hall of Honor.
He’s one of the more underrated players of his time because he wasn’t someone who was flashy or had really good individual statistics. But on a team defense, and some of the best defenses of all time, Smith was an incredibly key cog.
He was also incredibly durable for most of his career. From 2000-2008, he played in 139 of 144 games, starting 137 of them. Injuries caught up to him as he got older, but he was a stalwart of Pittsburgh’s defense and without him, they might not have two Super Bowl titles. He’s a Steelers legend, and now he’ll always be remembered as such in the Hall of Honor.
