Former Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey is a legend in the Steel City. Despite not being a Super Bowl winner, he is held in high regard for his elite level of play throughout his ten-year career that saw the Steelers’ offensive line turn from shoddy to incredible. Despite playing for one of the most popular teams in pro sports and being highly successful, Elliott Kalb of The 33rd Team thinks Pouncey is underrated because he played in Pittsburgh. Pouncey was one of several players included on his list of most underrated players since 2000.
“Yes, he was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and still is underrated,” wrote Kalb. “As good as he was, he’ll never be considered the best Pittsburgh center of all time. Not even close. He won’t be considered the second-best Pittsburgh center of all time either. Hall of Famers Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson played the position at a Hall of Fame level for teams that won Super Bowls. Pouncey never played in a Super Bowl (he was on injured reserve in Super Bowl XLV).”
Putting aside the fact that of the Steelers three best centers only Mike Webster won a Super Bowl (Dermontti Dawson and the Steelers lost Super Bowl XXX) it is true Pouncey is the worst of the bunch. It is hard to live up to the best center of all time and then arguably the second best, but Pouncey did his best and is going to be a borderline Hall of Fame candidate.
When Pouncey was drafted in 2010, the Steelers offensive line was awful and while he alone did not fix it, he certainly helped make it a less disastrous in 2010. In 2009, before the arrival of Pouncey, the Steelers allowed 50 sacks on the year, second-worst in the NFL. The next year Pouncey was drafted, won the starting job and the Steelers finished eighth-worst in sacks allowed with 43. While not great, and there are multiple reasons for decline in sacks Pouncey certainly played a big part. If Pouncey did not injure his ankle in the 2010 AFC Championship Game causing him to miss the Super Bowl I’d like to think the Steelers would have Lombardi Trophies.
Pouncey was the leader of the Steelers offensive line that was consistently a top five unit from 2014-2018. He helped running back Le’Veon Bell explode into stardom with his patient running style that was only effective because of the time Pouncey and the rest of the offensive line afforded him.
Calling Pouncey underrated is surprising. Every year he played close to a full season he was selected to the Pro Bowl, even if his play declined towards the end of his career. Pouncey gave Pittsburgh a lot of great seasons though and there is a reason he is a borderline Hall of Famer. If Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XLV he would have a much better chance of getting a gold jacket.
Pouncey is perfectly rated. He is a member of the All-2010’s Decade Team, which he deserves but is also correctly recognized as the third best center in Steelers history. While no Webster or Dawson, many people, including Steeles fans talk every highly of Pouncey and even argue for him to be in the Hall of Fame. If you have a decent amount of people arguing for you to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, you aren’t underrated.
