A Hall of Honor is different for the Steelers than it is for say the Cardinals.
A lot different.
And that is not a shot at the franchise that came damn close to denying the Steelers their sixth and most recent Lombardi Trophy.
Because the Steelers are tied with the Patriots with the most Super Bowl titles it has to be incredibly difficult for the voting committee to decide who belongs in the organization’s Hall of Honor.
And that task isn’t made any easier by the fact that the Steelers Hall of Honor isn’t much older than Bill Belichick’s girlfriend.
The Steelers started their version of franchise immortality in 2017 with an inaugural 27-member class. Eight of them were players or coaches who made their mark before the Steelers’ 1970s dynasty.
Since then, 30 former players or coaches have been inducted into the Steelers Hall of Honor. Only three – Buddy Dial, Elbie Nickel, and Ray Mathews – came before the 70s.
The Steelers are accepting nominations for their 2025 Hall of Honor, which will be announced this summer. Fans can submit up to three nominations and with each entry there is a drop-down list of suggested nominees. Of the 30, only one, WR Roy Jefferson, came before the 1970s.
Look, I can’t comprehend how difficult it is for the voting committee, especially since no Hall of Honor class since the first one has exceeded five people.
And full disclosure: I advocated for Val Jansante’s inclusion last year. Nothing has changed on that front. Jansante, a two-way player for the Steelers from 1946-51, led the team in receiving five seasons in a row. No Steeler eclipsed that until Hines Ward in 2006. Oh, and Jansante had 8.5 sacks in 1950. That would have led the NFL had it been an official statistic.
Bigger picture: there are plenty of others like Val Jansante who need to be in the Steelers Hall of Honor to tell the history of the franchise that Art Rooney Sr. founded in 1933.
The easiest way to do that is follow what the Pro Football Hall of Fame does with senior inductees, those who were overlooked through the years for one reason or another. Each class reserve one spot in the Steelers Hall of Honor for a player, coach, or contributor who came before the 1970s.
That glorious, glorious time transformed the Steelers, and what they did for Pittsburgh transcended football. But the Steelers didn’t start with the late, great Franco Harris snatching defeat inches from rock-hard Three Rivers Stadium turf and ultimately ushering in an era excellence.
And their Hall of Honor should reflect that.
