Football
Defense has been the Pittsburgh Steelers’ calling card for most of their successful years. However, they’ve also had some fantastic offensive players. In particular, they’ve been fortunate enough to have some legendary offensive linemen. Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, and Alan Faneca are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Maurkice Pouncey might find himself inducted alongside them one day, too. However, Sam Monson of The 33rd Team isn’t sure that Pouncey and Faneca were as good as their resumés would indicate.
“The Maurkice Pouncy-Steelers dynamic, the publicity machine there, that’s what makes me just a little bit twitchy about Alan Faneca,” Monson said Monday on his podcast, Check the Mic. “I think both of them were good players, but I think they were immediately anointed by the Steelers’ PR-offensive-line machine because they’d had this run of incredible players on the offensive line.
“They were very good at, ‘Oh, this guy’s the next one’ right out of the can. They got this reputation, and the reputation sustained them even when the play wasn’t there. And for Pouncey’s career, at least all the way along, you had a PFF to at least provide another perspective. For Faneca, that wasn’t there. So, that got allowed to go completely unchecked with nobody actually testing out whether he was playing at that level or not. Again, I think he was a good player, but I don’t know if he was one of the best two guards over the last 25 years.”
The Steelers have had some great offensive linemen, but when Faneca got to Pittsburgh in 1998, that unit wasn’t amazing. They had Dawson, but no one else was particularly notable. That was the case for several years prior to that year, too, with Duval Love and Carlton Haselrig being the only other Steelers’ offensive linemen to make a Pro Bowl between 1990 and 1998.
The same could be said about when Pouncey was drafted in 2010. At that time, they had some quality starters, such as Trai Essex, but no one who had been to a Pro Bowl with the Steelers. That was why they spent a first-round pick on Pouncey.
Both Faneca and Pouncey helped turn things around for the Steelers’ offensive line. In the 2000s, Faneca helped Pittsburgh build one of the best rushing attacks in the league. His block in Super Bowl XL helped spring Willie Parker for a sensational touchdown. That play helped catapult the Steelers to victory, and it wouldn’t have happened without Faneca.
It’s unclear what PR machine for offensive linemen Monson thinks the Steelers had. Do some players make it to the Pro Bowl because of their reputation, and not their play? Yes, but that’s a league-wide problem. It doesn’t just happen with the Steelers.
Faneca made nine Pro Bowls, but he was also named First-team All-Pro six times. Additionally, he was a Second-team All-Pro twice, with one of those coming after he left Pittsburgh. Also, in 2003, Faneca was named a First-team All-Pro at offensive tackle. He switched positions because of injuries, and he was still incredible.
Pouncey’s career took a slight hit due to injuries, but he was still one of the best centers of his generation. He made nine Pro Bowls while also being named a First-team All-Pro twice. Also, he was a Second-team All-Pro three times. He’s not as decorated as Faneca, but he was still excellent.
There are flaws in the system that decides who wins awards. However, that doesn’t mean players like Faneca or Pouncey weren’t all-time greats. Webster played in a completely different era of football, but that shouldn’t discount him as one of the best centers ever. It’s fair to criticize players, but when they’re as accomplished as Pouncey or Faneca, it’s hard to say they aren’t among the best ever.
Read More Troy Montgomery