Indholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 34 - Number 2 i Steelers Digest

They are not a finished product, and it would be foolish to hint that they’re even close to being anything more than a team in development. But the Steelers are developing, and in some significant ways they’re developing into what they’ll need to become. The penultimate game of a team’s preseason often is considered to be the dress rehearsal for the upcoming regular season, mostly because of where it falls on the NFL calendar. Coaches are loathe to take risks on the eve of a regular season after putting so much time and effort into nurturing a roster through an entire offseason, and so preseason finales have become the embodiment of going through the motions. It’s 60 minutes of “don’t get anyone hurt,” and then it’s onto the games that…

He didn’t give birth to Steelers Nation. The man who fathered Steelers Nation was Chuck Noll, who raised a corpse of a franchise to unmatched success with four Super Bowl championships over a six-season span and, in the process, restored a sense of pride into a populace beaten down by the loss of the steel industry and the accompanying bodyblow to the region’s economy. What Bill Cowher did was resuscitate Steelers Nation. Following a legend, and a beloved legend in the case of Chuck Noll, is the most difficult task in the profession Cowher chose as his life’s work, and while no coach can or should be expected to duplicate Chuck Noll’s accomplishments, what can be said about Bill Cowher is that in terms of the love affair between the…

Bill Nunn, the legendary Steelers scout, officially became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame after being enshrined, along with eight others, posthumously during a special ceremony, “Hall of Famer Forever,” in Canton, Ohio, in April. While Nunn was months before the rest of the Class of 2021, he still was recognized during the Hall of Fame’s Enshrinement Ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 8. “It’s still a little bit surreal for Bill to get recognized like this,” said General Manager Kevin Colbert. “Bill meant everything to the Steelers organization. It’s been documented, the players he was instrumental in bringing to the Steelers and the success they had. We as young scouts were fortunate to be around Bill and try to learn things they implemented when they put those teams…

He didn’t play a lot, but you couldn’t help but notice him when he was on the field. Capping a fine first week of practice in pads during this 2021 training camp, Alex Highsmith carried it over into the Steelers’ 16-3 win over Dallas in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton. Highsmith finished with three tackles, including two for loss, plus a sack that came on a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line early in the first quarter. Highsmith’s sack helped force the Cowboys to settle for a field goal after an early Steelers turnover, and it set a tone for the game in which the defense allowed 347 net yards but mitigated the damage with four sacks and three takeaways. Highsmith is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.…

It’s the nature of the position. An offensive lineman is taught and drilled to be a facilitator for his teammates. He is taught and drilled to use his body to plow a path for his running backs, just as he is taught and drilled to use his body as a human shield to keep defenders with bad intentions from getting to his quarterback. Football is known as the ultimate team sport, and within the ultimate team sport, its offensive linemen are the most anonymous and selfless of all. It’s fitting Alan Faneca was an offensive lineman, and it’s only proper that he be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of the best ever in his line of work. A six-time finalist before finally getting the news…

With the Steelers rich history and tradition, it’s never easy to narrow down the list of legends who belong in the team’s Hall of Honor. And once again, the men chosen truly represent what it meant to be Steelers, both on and off the field. The Class of 2021 includes Tunch Ilkin, Jon Kolb, Carnell Lake and Louis Lipps. “It’s a great time in Steelers’ football,” said Steelers President Art Rooney II. “We have some great Steelers going into the Hall of Honor and some great Steelers going into Canton. “Our selection committee, as well as our fans, come up with names every year and as we start to sort through everybody it does become difficult. There have been so many great players and people who made great contributions to…

It remains to be seen what Dwayne Haskins is going to be once the depth chart at quarterback is finalized for the opening of the 2021 regular season, but what he was during his stint on the field in the Steelers’ second preseason game, against the Eagles in Philadelphia, was a quarterback “very much in command of his performance,” according to Coach Mike Tomlin. Haskins followed starter Mason Rudolph and played five series, and he finished by completing 16-of-22 (72.7 percent) for 161 yards, with one touchdown, no interceptions, and a rating of 108.3. During his five series, the Steelers scored three touchdowns and a field goal; the offense converted 9-of-11 on third downs; and it converted 2-of-3 in the red zone. Haskins got a lot of support from the…

“Troy being Troy.” That is something that has been uttered time and time again by Troy Polamalu’s teammates, coaches, and even those who had the unenviable challenge of playing against him. And on one of the biggest stages in his sport, the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony for his Class of 2020, everyone saw “Troy being Troy.” He opened his heart, he was humble, he deflected credit and he created a Steelers creed with words that fully encompassed what the organization is about. Polamalu, who tested positive for COVID leading up his enshrinement, was cleared in time to take part in the enshrinement ceremony, even receiving his Gold Jacket at the start of the night, after missing out on it the night before. Hall of Fame cornerback Dick…

A strict accounting of history will show that Donnie Shell and Bill Nunn were elected to receive their sport’s highest individual honor in different years, and even with the global impact of COVID-19 they were enshrined separately. But in the eye of the football gods, they entered together. If not hand-in-hand but together all the same, because each man was a significant part of the other’s resume that got them both through the doors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nunn already had ushered many young men into the National Football League, first as the Sports Editor of the Pittsburgh Courier and then as a starring member of the Pittsburgh Steelers player personnel department, when Shell was trying to decide on a next stop for his budding football career.…