When it comes to the greatest centers in NFL history, it’s quite clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers are heavily represented at the top of that list.
Names like Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson and Maurkice Pouncey come to mind. Heck, even Ray Mansfield is up there, too.
Though he’s just three years into his career, Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey appears well on the way to going down as one of the best centers in the NFL. In a short video posted to YouTube by Arrowhead Addicts during Super Bowl media day, Humphrey listed the Steelers’ trio of centers among the greatest of all time at the position and included the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jason Kelce in that discussion.
“GOAT center. Ooh, that’s tough. Obviously, Jason comes to mind. You got Pouncey out there, you got Mike Webster. He was a stud. Dermontti Dawson was a stud,” Humphrey said when asked who is the greatest center of all-time, according to video via Arrowhead Addict’s YouTube page. “Ah, I can’t really boil it down to just one person to be honest.”
Boiling down the best center of all-time is certainly difficult.
That said, it is undoubtedly one of Webster or Dawson. Both are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and both transformed the position. Webster stepped in as a rookie in 1974 and helped set the Steelers on the path of a dynasty in the ’70s. Meanwhile, Dawson unlocked a new level to the position from an athleticism standpoint, becoming the first center to be able to pull in the run game, giving the Steelers a trump card offensively in the trenches.
Webster was previously named ESPN’s GOAT center in the summer of 2022.
A fifth-round pick out of Wisconsin in 1974, Webster went on to start in 217 career games with the Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, playing in 245 total from 1974-90. During that 17-year stretch, Webster was a monumental figure in four Super Bowl championships for the Steelers, earning six first-team All-Pro accolades, two second-team All-Pro nods, and nine trips to the Pro Bowl.
Along with his accomplishments on the field, Webster racked them up off the field, landing spots on the NFL’s All-Decade teams for the 1970s and 1980s. He also earned spots on the NFL’s 75th and 100th Anniversary teams, as well as the Steelers’ all-time team, and was inducted into the Steelers’ Ring of Honor in the inaugural class of 2017. Prior to that, Webster was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, five years before his death at age 50 from a heart attack in 2002.
Dawson played 13 seasons with the Steelers and was named to seven Pro Bowls and earned six first-team All-Pro accolades. Dawson was also named to the 1990s All-Decade Team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 2012.
Pouncey retired following the 2020 season after playing 10 seasons, starting 134 games for the Steelers. He earned five All-Pro selections and was named to the Pro Bowl in nine of his 10 NFL seasons.
Humphrey is spot on when it comes to his view of the all-time greats at the center position. Pouncey and Kelce are the most recent centers to join that group.
What makes it painful though is that Humphrey, while well on his way to joining that group, should be a Steeler.
Pittsburgh had a need at the position following the retirement of Pouncey. Instead of addressing the position early in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected running back Najee Harris and tight end Pat Freiermuth in the first and second rounds, passing on Humphrey on both occasions. The Chiefs jumped at the opportunity to land Humphrey, and he’s rewarded them in a major way.
Three years later, the center position remains a major need for the Steelers. The Kendrick Green experiment was a disaster, and the free agency signing of Mason Cole has been hit or miss over the last two years. Cole was one of the worst centers in football last season.
Meanwhile, Humphrey has played a critical role for the Chiefs in reaching the Super Bowl in back-to-back years and winning it last season. He’s a stalwart in the trenches and already has two Pro Bowl nods and an All-Pro selection to his name.
