Canton Talk

Now before all you anonymous geniuses jump all over me and declare me an idiot, I want you to know that the following article is inspired by something I just read by CBS writer Clark Judge...

This year, I've probably spent about 70 hours in a vehicle with our resident swami, JD McNugent, going to and from Heinz Field. Despite my continued attempts to drown out my portly pal with XM radio, we actually spent numerous hours deep in Steeler discussions,...discussions raging from banter to all out arguments. One of our favorite topics this year was the NFL Hall of Fame, and whom off of this current Northshore roster is Canton bound.

With only 247 actual enshrinees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is clearly the most exclusive of all sports meccas. Check out the list of members, and you may be surprised at how many good players just aren't hall of famers. Getting into Canton is less probable than A Dawg fitting into his circa 1991 All American Rathskeller staff t-shirt.

In my personal opinion, this current roster contains no true HOF locks, although there are three players somewhere along the road to Canton, in different stages of their journey:

1) Hines Ward. With career numbers that will eventually close in on 1,000 receptions and 100 touchdowns, an accomplished post season resume, a highlight reel of bone crushing blocks and clutch plays, and the media visibility of being the "complete" player and leader makes him a more likely choice every season. In the era of the "diva receiva", Ward will be remembered as a guy who unified his team, not divided it. A big game and another Lombardi trophy on Sunday would start curing the cement.

2) Troy Polamalu. Only in his sixth year, but clearly one of the most recognizable faces in the NFL and basically regarded as the icon of a tremendous Steeler defense. Without pissing off some of the old 49er die hards, I'd say #43 is like our Ronnie Lott, just a lot better. A few more All Pro years and five or so more solid seasons with some more post season heroics and I think you'll be seeing a few thousand of those $11 Troy wigs on the Hall of Fame grounds some Sunday, circa, let's say 2021. Like Ward, his chances are only aided by the fact that the Steelers are constantly on national TV and one of the most identifial sports teams in America.

3) Ben Roethlisberger. "WTF??!!" you're all screaming. Well, ok, so the Large One is only in his fifth season, but the numbers don't lie. A Lombardi on Sunday would put Ben in some extremely rare company, all at the ripe age of 26. Consider the list of multiple Superbowl winning (as starters) QB's: Starr, Bradshaw, Staubach, Aikman, Montana, Elway, and Brady. All Hall of Famers except Brady, who is a virtual lock. Add in the .720 + career win percentage, and the 18 fourth quarter or overtime game winning drives, and start prorating that over a 15+ year season, and yeah, it makes sense. Consider that on Sunday, Ben will have made more Superbowl starts than Dan Marino, Warren Moon, Dan Fouts, Donovan McNabb, every QB named Manning, Drew Brees, Joe Namath, and Steve Young. Now, hold on to your cheeseheads on this comment: in a game where excellence is judged by quantity of championships, Big Ben has already accomplished as much as the ALMIGHTY BRETT FAVRE, while taking a lot less snaps and a lot less vicodin.

Once again, don't take my word for it, read the words of Clark Judge, who wrote a nice piece about the Large One's future HOF bust.

Suggesting any other Steeler is a future hall member would be far too speculative at this point. The intriguing factor about the three candidates I mentioned is the impact that this Sunday plays on their legacy. Winning a second Superbowl in four years, and some folks will start to regard this as a great Steeler team. Being remembered as key leaders on great teams is what helps guys into the Hall. Let's face it, guys like Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour are going to get a lot more votes due to their role in the Patriots mini-dynasty.

With a quarterback as young and proven as Ben, it's safe to think that this team could make a few more trips back to the big game over the next several years. Time will only tell how this Steeler team will be regarded, but on Sunday it could take a huge step forward, and three men could take some additional steps towards Canton.