PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Heading into Sunday’s Super Bowl and this season being the anniversary of the Steelers first championship, a look at the Steelers all-time starting Super Bowl team.
This is not who are the best players of all-time you want to assemble as your roster necessarily, rather who performed best in the six Super Bowl victories. Some of those legends are here, but there are a few greats who are not.
Quarterback—TERRY BRADSHAW
· 4-0, the two numbers that really separate him not just from Ben Roethlisberger, but all others but Joe Montana in terms of that many wins with no losses. The pinnacle is Super Bowl XIII, Bradshaw named MVP after 17-30 for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns. Overall, Bradshaw threw 9 TD to 4 INT in Super Bowls compared to 3 TD to 5 INT for Roethlisberger in three.
Running back—FRANCO HARRIS and WILLIE PARKER
· Franco is easy, Super Bowl IX MVP (158 yards, TD) and in four games ran for 354 yards and 4 TD
· Jerome Bettis had a great Super Bowl story, but rushed for 43 yards in Super Bowl XL.
It’s always difficult to not include Rocky Bleier who had the second-most yards overall & a big receiving touchdown, but in terms of the moment, Willie Parker had the single biggest run, the 75 yarder early in the third quarter against Seattle.
Wide receivers—LYNN SWANN, HINES WARD, SANTONIO HOLMES, JOHN STALLWORTH
· We are going with a four-wide formation for this list as it’s impossible to leave out three receivers who were MVPs in the game and Stallworth who had three receptions for 115 yards in Super Bowl XIII and three receptions for 121 yards in Super Bowl XIV.
Left tackle—JON KOLB
· One of just 34 players to win 4 Super Bowls. He was the third-ever draft pick by Chuck Noll and their staff. He started 177 games over 13 years and held down Bradshaw’s blind side.
Left guard—ALAN FANECA
· He played in only one, the Super Bowl XL title, and while Sam Davis was a great player as well winning a pair of titles, Faneca also had the big kickout block that sprung Parker for the TD. This one could have gone either way.
Center—MIKE WEBSTER
· In most organizations Ran Mansfield would be the greatest center ever, Mansfield was a rock in a pair of wins, but Webster was dominant, and like Faneca, a Hall of Famer.
Right guard—GERRY MULLINS
· ‘Moon’ Mullins was a fixture on four winning offensive lines and worked with three different right tackles. Mullins could also play tackle and was a blocking tight end early in his career.
Right tackle—LARRY BROWN
· Several options here, couldn’t go wrong with any of them, with Gordon Gravelle winning a pair, Ray Pinney, Max Starks, Willie Colon, but Brown, a converted tight end, was dominant in his appearance as part of an offensive line that didn’t allow a sack against the Rams.
Tight end—we went four-wide
· Heath Miller had five catches, 57 yards against the Cardinals and are the most by a Steelers TE in a Super Bowl (Miller caught no passes against Seattle), Randy Grossman had the only Super Bowl TD by a tight end (4 catches, 36 yards in 4 games).
Defensive end—LC GREENWOOD
· 4 sacks in Super Bowl X alone against Roger Staubach and the Cowboys. Should be in the Hall of Fame, but certainly would be in one for Super Bowl ends.
Defensive Tackle—JOE GREENE
· It’s Joe Greene
Defensive Tackle—ERNIE HOLMES
· Holmes was the leading tackler with linebacker Andy Russell in Super Bowl IX and had four tackles in Super Bowl X. John Banaszak had a sack and fumble recovery in Super Bowl XIII and another sack in Super Bowl XIV, but Holmes gets the nod over he and Steve Furness.
Defensive End—DWIGHT WHITE
· Had 2 sacks against Dallas in Super Bowl X, a sack in XIII and multiple tackles in each of the 4 victories
Linebacker—JACK HAM
· Was the leading tackler in Super Bowl XIII with eight playing in four wins.
Linebacker—JACK LAMBERT
· Leading tackler in Super Bowl XIV with eight including an interception, Lambert set the tone knocking down Cliff Harris in Super Bowl X after he taunted Roy Gerela following a field goal miss.
Linebacker—JAMES HARRISON
· Maybe the greatest play in Super Bowl history, at least by a defender, when Harrison read the play and intercepted Kurt Warner and returned it 100 yards for a critical score in Super Bowl XLIII.
Cornerback—MEL BLOUNT
· Had a pair of interceptions off Hall of Fame QBs, Fran Tarkenton and Staubach. Helped limit Rams to 212 passing yards in Super Bowl XIV
Safety—JT THOMAS
· This is a bit of a cheat because JT played both corner and safety, but he had a pair of interceptions, a fumble recovery and a sack in three Super Bowls.
Safety—MIKE WAGNER
· He had interceptions in each of the first two Steelers Super Bowl wins.
Cornerback—IKE TAYLOR
· One of the most underappreciated Steelers defensive players Taylor had an interception in Super Bowl XL along with being the leading tackler. He was also the leading tackler in Super Bowl XLIII.