Hall of Fame Thoughts

The nominees for induction in the 2005 class of the NFL hall of Fame were announced today and of the 112 names, three caught my eye: Donnie Shell and L.C Greenwood, two member of the "Steel Curtain" defense of the 70's, and Dermontti Dawson, a perennial All-Pro at center for the Steelers of the 90's.

Much has been made by anyone who isn't a Steeler fan about how many of the Steelers of the 70's are in the Hall of Fame(9) as opposed other players.

You don't argue with four rings in six years with what basically was the same team. The team was a remarkable collection of exceptional talent...the best at their position at the time, which speaks to the what the traditional criteria of making the hall of fame.

As much as the Steeler fan in me would love to see it, I don't imagine Donnie Shell will make the Hall of Fame, even though he epitomized the Steel Curtain. Almost thirty years later i still remember him catching Earl Campbell right between the 3 and the 4 on a hit that jarred the ball loose and flattened a man who was thought to be unstoppable by only one man.

L.C. Greenwood was a finalist last year, but with the esteemed class of this year(Troy Aikman and Reggie White are almost sure first ballot entries) makes his vote a little less sure.

And then there is the case for Dermontti Dawson. Dawson is the first Steeler with no ties to the glory years of the 70s with a realistic chance for enshrinement. At first, I thought he was a longshot, and then I did some homework. This is what I realized.

In my LIFETIME as a Steeler Fan there have been essentially four centers There was Ray Mansfield, Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson and now Jeff Hartings.

In the NFL...there was Mike Webster, then Dwight Stephenson, and then Dermontti Dawson.

A cursory examination of HOF Dwight Stephenson's career reveals an uncanny resemblence to Dawson's except for the fact that Dawson's career was longer and was highlighted by a rushing attack that consistently was in the top 10 in the NFL for the entirety of his career, while Stephenson spent the latter part of his career pass blocking for Dan Marino.

Let's not even jot down a list of the Quarterbacks Dawson hiked to over those years. Suffice it to say the transition from Terry Bradshaw to Big Ben has not been especially noteworthy.

A savvy and informed voting block would put Dermontti Dawson in the HOF on the first ballot, a fact that would NEVER sit well for the people who think there are already too many Steelers in the HOF.