Thoughts on the NFL Network Steelers All-Time Top 10

Christmas Eve night, the NFL Network started a team-by-team series of all-time Top 10 lists. Naturally, as is fitting, the network in its infinite wisdom led off with the clubhouse leader in the Lombardi Open, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, this got me thinking of the guys I thought would be or should be included on such a list. At around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon, I had posted this list on a friends' Facebook:

10) Jerome Bettis
9) Jack Ham
8) Mel Blount
7) Lynn Swann
6) Hines Ward
5) "Mean" Joe Greene
4) Mike Webster
3) Franco Harris
2) Terry Bradshaw
1) Jack Lambert

Naturally, that was a pretty solid list by any objective measure. Now, let's compare that with NFL Network's list:

10. Jerome Bettis
9. Lynn Swann
8. Hines Ward
7. Troy Polamalu
6. Mel Blount
5. Jack Lambert
4. Rod Woodson
3. Franco Harris
2. Terry Bradshaw
1. "Mean" Joe Greene

So, I didn't do too badly with my projections, as 8 of the 10 guys on my list made it to the NFL Network list. Here are a few observations:

I figured all the players on the list would meet two criteria: one, that they would all be Hall Of Famers or will be once they become eligible and, two, that they would all have Steelers Super Bowl rings. Eventually, I will be proven right on the first count and, with the exception of Woodson, the second count proved to be true.

I figured Hines Ward would be on the list above Swann and that they would be the only two wide receivers on the list. Ward has already eclipsed Swann's and Stallworth's numbers and has his own cache of SB jewelry. That's also the criteria they will look at when he is inducted into the Hall Of Fame.

If there was going to be a Steelers player who never won a Super Bowl with the team on the list, it might have been nice to add Ernie Stautner. Don't get me wrong, Woodson deserves the honor for his complete body of work (although, I don't know if I put him higher than Mel Blount). But, if you are going to put a token player in there who never got a Steelers Super Bowl ring, a tip of the cap to the pre-Super Bowl Steelers would have been nice, especially when there was a player, like Stautner, who labored in virtual obscurity his entire career and still managed to receive Hall Of Fame induction.

All things considered, I had "Mean" Joe Greene way too low on my list. He was the first player drafted in the Chuck Noll era, so he was the one player who can be pointed to as starting it all. That said, how come Jack Lambert appeared as low as he did on the list? What position, above all others, are the Steelers noted for in their history? Jack, almost assuredly, deserved to be in the Top 3 on this list.

In retrospect, I am a little surprised that Bettis made the list over Ben Roethlisberger. Now, perhaps it's because Ben's body of work still needs to be rounded out before we can really put him on such an elite list. But, as more than one of the interviewees pointed out (Scotty Ferrall, most notably) he came within a shoestring tackle (by none other than Ben, of course) of being the goat in that 2005 playoff game vs. Indianapolis. Had that ended differently, there would have been no way Bettis makes the list, despite numbers that will one day include him in the Steelers Wing in Canton.

I am also surprised that Lambert was the ONLY linebacker to make the list and that 3 defensive backs made the list. That, as someone who holds Steeler linebackers in higher regard than the Pope himself, just shocked me. Not that perhaps one day Troy Polamalu wouldn't warrant inclusion on such a list. But, between you and me, I think it might have been slightly premature to have included him, for many of the same reasons that Ben was excluded, on this list at this time.

And, if Terry Bradshaw had seen this list prior to its airing, I suspect he would have been more than a little upset that Webster wasn't included. Iron Mike was EVERYTHING a Pittsburgh Steeler should ever aspire to be: tough as nails, fierce as hell with a non-stop will to win. Iron Mike fit that criteria as well as anyone who has ever donned the Black and Gold. His exclusion from this list puzzles me.

All that said, the folks who put together this list had to have been beating their heads against the wall trying to round it out.

Brent Musberger, a football broadcaster who, personally, has never done great things to endear himself to me, made a pretty astute, if not obvious, statement when he suggested that putting together a Steelers Top 10 list was impossible. Tough thing was, those were the rules. On balance, their effort was and is praiseworthy, even if not perfect.

Kudos to the gang at NFL Network. Might not have been a walk off homer. But, it was certainly a ground-rule double in the bottom of the 9th, at least. We'll be looking forward to seeing some of the other Top 10 lists as they are rolled out.