In the dog days of July, you see a lot of positional rankings, either current or all-time, trying to judge the best players at every position. These lists are subjective, but sometimes you see something that makes you just scratch your head. That’s the case with Ian Valentino’s all-time safety rankings for The 33rd Team, which has two former Pittsburgh Steelers on the list, with Donnie Shell ranked 10th and Troy Polamalu coming in at No. 8.
Now, The 33rd Team’s Elliott Kalb put together the same list last offseason, and Shell came in at No. 7 with Polamalu at No. 4. But on Valentino’s list this year, the two are much lower. Valentino did include some players who weren’t on Kalb’s list from the early days of the league like Emlen Tunnell, who came in at No. 6, and Paul Krause, who ranked No. 3. But he also had Brian Dawkins ahead of Polamalu, a decision that I don’t agree with but at least is debatable, and the same with Larry Wilson.
What baffles me is why a site would put out the same list a year apart but have such different results. Putting Polamalu at No. 8 and Shell at No. 10 also just feels way too low, especially when you consider that Dawkins is at No. 5. Polamalu made more All-Pro teams, won more Super Bowls, and has a Defensive Player of the Year award under his belt. Dawkins was an extremely talented safety, but there isn’t a three-player gap between him and Polamalu when looking at the greatest players at the position.
Even putting at Shell at No. 10 feels too low with his four Super Bowls, 51 career interceptions and 9.5 sacks. He was one of, if not the best, safety of his era, and he deserves to be higher up here too.
Obviously, everyone has different opinions, and this is the sort of topic that guys can sit in a basement or a bar and argue about for hours on end, although I don’t know if the average fan is going to be pounding the table for Larry Wilson in the top 10. I just don’t understand Polamalu and Shell’s placement, especially with pretty much the same list one year ago ranking the two of them much higher. If The 33rd Team is repeating the exercise, then the lists can’t be identical, but repeating the exercise a year later doesn’t make a lot of sense, either.
Regardless of where they rank on any list, Polamalu and Shell are legends, Hall of Famers and champions. They will go down in Steelers and NFL history as two of the best to ever do it.
