Top 100 most influential people in Steelers history: Honorable Mention Part 1
I’ve had an idea flitting around in my brain ever since the NFL Top 100 popularity contest hit this year. It percolated in my brain for a bit, and finally, I decided to start it – the 100 most influential people in the history of the Steelers, or a Steelers Top 100 list. This wasn’t going to be an easy task. However, considering the announcement of the Steelers Hall of Honor, and the fun we all had talking about our “Steelers Mt. Rushmore”, I thought it could be an interesting exercise.
Let me start off by saying that I hate doing research. I want to do as little of it as I can, and so if I was going to do this list, I needed to be sure I could come up with 100 names, or pretty close to 100 names. I didn’t want to find myself only being able to remember 50 guys and have to look up 50 more – too much work! (However, I will say that I used pro-football-reference.com to verify some stats I wasn’t 100% sure I remembered.)
So, I started to list every Steeler-related individual I could who I felt was impactful. That could be coaches, owners, scouts, players, broadcasters, whomever. When I was done, to my surprise, I had a list of 122 names. After feeling rather proud of myself that I could come up with 122 people without resorting to Googling or internet browsing, I realize that meant I was going to have to eliminate people from the list – 22 of them in fact! Quantifying these guys was going to take some time! I mean, how do you rank between Ernie Holmes and L.C. Greenwood? Was there going to be a 25-way tie for #6 (The top five actually came to me pretty easily, although I did wonder if there was gonna be a five-way tie for #1)?
So I’ve spent the past few months wheedling the list down, and I thought to be fair, maybe the first entry in what clearly was going to have to be a series of articles would be an “Honorable Mention” edition.
Note: While I have a “good” knowledge of the historical players, my real experience with the Steelers begins from about 1969 and on. So, while there are guys who I conceptually “know” about, I have never seen them play other than on video, there are far more players who were probably good, solid, impactful players whom I simply don’t know. Since I am refraining from excessive research, I decided to stick to the original list I came up with, and if I left someone off who should absolutely be here, I’m sure someone will tell me!
I decided not to rank the honorable mention list, but rather just list each in no particular order. They all are important parts of Steelers history in one way or another, but for one reason or another, they didn’t make the cut. So I came up with a list of people who didn’t quite make the top 100, but, in my mind anyway, deserve “Honorable Mention” among the most impactful members of the Steelers organization.
For brevity, I’m going to highlight the first batch of honorable mentions here, then boomerang back for the remaining members.
Charlie Batch
Why is a perennial backup even being considered? This isn’t just about playing, it’s about impact, and Charlie Batch has had an impact. He might make it just for two games – September 26th, 2010 against the Buccaneers and of course December 2nd, 2012 against the Ravens. That Ravens game, in particular, is why fans continue to have rose-tinted glasses when they remember Charlie Batch. He was an advisor to Ben, and his community service in the Pittsburgh area with the Batch Foundation keeps him visible, as well as his work in the post-game shows on SNR (Steelers Nation Radio). I love Charlie, but he ends of up falling prey to the same thing that happens to the kickers and punters – it’s just hard to put a backup ahead of any of the players in the top 100, so he slipped out.
Craig Wolfley
Craig Wolfley played 10 seasons for the Steelers primarily as a tackle, but he also played a little guard as well. He was serviceable, but never made a Pro Bowl, nor do I think he was ever seriously in consideration. He was a solid player. Since the end of his playing days, Wolf has become a mainstay of all things Steelers. With his partner, Tunch Ilkin, they host the Inside the Locker Room radio show, Steelers Men’s Fantasy Camp, the Steelers Cruise, and take part in the local broadcasts of every Steelers game. Wolf makes us laugh, and is an artist in the mispronunciation of words. Still, despite his charitable work, his on field service and all he still does in the world of the Steelers, it’s not quite enough to keep him in the top 100.
Kimo Von Oelhoffen
The first two iterations of this list had Kimo in the top 100, but eventually, it came down to Kimo or someone else, and he fell off into Honorable Mention status. We all remember Kimo because he took out Carson Palmer, and you may think that’s the primary contribution he made in his time in Pittsburgh. He was a tough, solid contributor. And while I couldn’t get him on the list just because his name is Kimo (I couldn’t do it, I wanted to so bad, but I couldn’t put Chris Fuamatu-Ma?afala on the list. The name alone should have gotten him on, but I just couldn’t ) I have to admit, I like saying Kimo von Oelhoffen. Say it with me von Oelhoffen – von Oelhoffen. It’s fun!
Tommy Maddox
Tommy Gun! 2002 was Tommy’s year, and in fact what I think maybe he can be best known for is romancing Coach Cowher into throwing too much, and getting away from ground and pound (which is really nuts considering who the running back was – future HOF’er Jerome Bettis!). No matter how it turned out, no matter that in the long run, Maddox really was who we thought he was, the 2002 season was a lot of fun, and if Tommy hadn’t gone down the tubes in 03, we wouldn’t have been in a position to draft who we drafted in 2004! (C’mon, you know who I’m talking about!) I almost stuck Tommy in there in the 90’s, but in the end, I couldn’t fit him along with the guys I felt deserved it more.
Jeff Reed, Norm Johnson, Shaun Suisham, Chris Boswell
There is only one kicker who made my list and he was a 4x Pro Bowler, 2x First Team All-Pro Winner and a member of the Steelers All-Time Team. That doesn’t mean these guys shouldn’t be considered. Jeff “Quadzilla” Reed was a guy who continues to have kind of a love/hate relationship with Steelers Nation, but man, when he was in his prime, that guy could kick in the worst situations! Norm Johnson was a solid kicker who bridged the gap between the guy who made the list and Kris Brown (and then on to Reed). Shaun Suisham has been one of the best kickers in Steelers history, and if it were not for a bit of over-aggressive play (which of course is part of his charm) on a ridiculously poor playing field, he would likely still be the kicker (and yes I’m still bitter about those missed field goals by Scobee in that Ravens game). Chris “Money” Boswell, “The Wizard of Boz”, will forever be a favorite of mine no matter where it goes from here because he rode in on a white horse to save our kicking situation! I almost put him at 100 just for the 6 FG game against KC last season. The man is clutch, but still too recent.
Max Starks
Max wasn’t the best tackle in Steelers history, but he was solid. He never went to the Pro-bowl, he didn’t win a lot of individual awards, but he has two rings, and for a lot of years when the O-line was only so-so, he was watching Ben’s blind side. I always liked Max, and wish he had been able to retire without those false re-starts in Arizona, San Diego and St. Louis. Still, in my mind, he’ll always be a Steeler for Life! Just not quite good enough to make the final 100.
Kordell Stewart
I know some of you Kordell fans are screaming at me right now! How can I leave a guy who simply seemed like he could do everything, who ignited the franchise for a few years and who got us to an AFC Championship game not make the list? It wasn’t easy to leave Kordell off, but again, that just speaks to the depth and quality of individuals who have been a part of the Steelers organization.
Slash was Slash and he brought excitement back to the Steelers after a down time. I don’t know if any of us thought he could really be a franchise QB long term, but he did make the Pro Bowl as a QB once, and was AFC Offensive Player of the Year that same year (2001). He was a part of the resurgence or at least the minor resurgence. Still, he had more INT’s (84) than TD’s (77) and his overall QB rating for his career was only 70.7, so when push came to shove, I had to drop him out of the list.
Next
10 more honorable mentions and then the Top 100 begins!
