The Perspective Of An Average Steelers Fan – Top 500 Steelers (2017 Edition)

The 2017 season is over. Here is the latest edition of the Top 500 All-Time Steelers which incorporates on the field service, recognition and accomplishments of the 2017 Steelers as well as some adjustments to former Steelers due to changes to the Steelers Top 10 lists. I waited for the announcements of the 2017 NFL MVP and players of the Year on offense & defense to see if any last-minute adjustments were required. Alas; it was not the case.

Being an average Steelers fan; I am compelled to compare players from different eras. This past January, Dave Bryan was kind enough to publish my original List of Top 500 All-Time Pittsburgh Steelers .  Just prior to the 2017 season an updated Top 500 was published to account for the Steelers inaugural Hall of Honor inductees so this is the 3^rd edition. If my memory does not fail me or otherwise not preoccupied; I’ll do a new edition following the 2018 season.

As players ascend into the top 500; inevitably Newton’s third law of motion forces other players out. Here are the players who fell out along with their new ranking:

Here are some details on these Steelers of yore:

Milt Simington – A pro bowler in his only season with the Steelers; he was picked to the 1942 NFL All-Star team but suffered heart attack while practicing. He died a few weeks later at only 24 years of age. He was versatile player who played guard but was also a place kicker. A career tragically cut short.

Matt Bahr – Played the first two of his 17 NFL seasons as a Pittsburgh Steeler. He led the league with extra points his rookie year with 50 in 1979. He kicked 3 game winning field goals in 1979 (2 in OT) helping Steelers achieve a 12-4 record. He opened the scoring in Super Bowl XIV with a 41-yard field goal versus the Rams. Although he made some clutch kicks; his low FG percentage (63.8% as a Steeler) led to a change. He did improve with a 72.3% average for his long career which is 81^st all-time in the NFL.

Rudy Hayes – A 20^th round draft choice of the Steelers in 1959; Rudy played three seasons with the Steelers. His career was cut short by a knee injury that required surgery in 1962. He came back to play against the Saint Louis Cardinals but two days later had a heart attack while hunting with teammates Buzz Nutter & Clendon Thomas outside Uniontown on December 4^th, 1962. He survived but never played again.

George Sulima – A 3^rd round draft pick in 1951; George played three seasons with the Steelers. He was an offensive end that averaged over 15 yards a catch on his career 49 receptions in the early 1950’s but was overshadowed by Elbie Nickel. George is in the Boston University Sports Hall of Fame.

Jack O’Brien – A 7^th round draft pick in 1954; Jack played three seasons with the Steelers. He was captain of the Florida Gators and was a leader in their very first bowl appearance. He was a local product who played for Jeanette High School.

Chris Carter – A 5^th round draft pick in 2011; Chris is a more recent vintage Pittsburgh Steeler. His tenure in Pittsburgh was marked by camp battles to stay on the roster and unfortunately injuries which truncated 2 of his 3 seasons in Pittsburgh. Chris was waived prior to the 2014 season when James Harrison returned from his stint in Cincinnati and ironically, the Bengals signed Carter. In 2017, Carter played for the Washington Redskins but was placed on injured reserved towards the end of the season.

Jim “popcorn” Brandt – A 12th round draft pick in 1951; Jim was mainly a short yardage fullback but also returned a few kicks averaging 22.7 yards a return. He did have four rushing touchdowns in his three season with the Black & Gold. Alex Kozora captured his unfortunate role in the greatest pre-Noll era Steelers comeback victory.

Joe Hollingsworth – Mainly a back-up fullback; he was also used on defense when needed. He separated a shoulder at the end of the 1951 preseason but played in ten games. He was in a car crash on a December Saturday night before a game against the Cleveland Browns. In his last game, Joe contributed to a Steelers 20-10 victory over the Washington Redskins by recovering a fumble on a kickoff that the Steelers converted into another touchdown. The Steelers transitioned coaches (John Michelosen who quit the Steelers to coach Pitt – to Joe Bach) and offensive schemes (single wing to T-formation) at the end of 1951. Hollingsworth did not show up for camp that year and was waived.

Randy Rasmussen – An 8^th round draft pick in 1984; he could be confused with another guard of the same name but unrelated who played for the New York Jets. He played as a back-up center & guard to Mike Webster; Craig Wolfley & Steve Courson but did take over starting duties in 1986 at left guard but ended up on injured reserved after the 4^th game. He became expendable when the Steelers selected John Rienstra in the 1^st round of the 1986 draft with the 9^th overall pick. Rasmussen was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings and played five playoff games in his final two NFL seasons.

How many of those nine do you recall?

Here are the new additions to the list:

Most of the ascending players were on the 2017 roster. Some may quibble with Landry Jones’ inclusion, but he has been a steady back-up quarterback for who is credited with one 4^th quarter comeback and two game winning drives by the Pro Football Reference.

There are two blasts from the pasts:

John Mastrangelo – A 3^rd round pick in the 1947 draft; he was a rookie starter in the only Steelers playoff game before 1972. He scored a touchdown on a blocked punt to help defeat Boston on their final regular season game to put them in first place of the Eastern Division. A Philadelphia Eagles win against the Green Bay Packers forced the playoff.  A local product from Vandergrift, PA his tenure was cut short when he jumped over to the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference in 1949. He was one of 11 veterans who refused to show up for the preseason due to some salary cuts.

Byron “Whizzer” White – A 1^st round pick in the 1938 draft; the future Supreme Court Justice only played one year with the Steelers but what a year it was. He led the league in rushing and total yards from scrimmage. He was a workhorse whose 159 touches also led the league. He was selected as a first team all-pro.  The Whizzer had delayed his entry to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar but departed for England after his rookie season. The outbreak of WWII had him returning to the USA and entering Yale University; he played two seasons with Detroit (and another 1^st team All pro season) before joining the Navy and going to the Pacific. After the war; Whizzer opted to continue his law studies instead of football. A bit of trivia – as an intelligence officer he wrote the intelligence report of the sinking  PT-109 skippered by future President John F. Kennedy.

My methodology includes three categories (service, recognition & accomplishments). There are 45 subcategories with the establishment of a Hall of Honor.  This latest list of top 500 all-time Steelers has the same top 12 but a shift in rankings as Rod Woodson climbs to # 2 overall. He was such a versatile player that he ranks in several of the Top Ten defensive and special team categories. Ben Roethlisberger leaps ahead of bad bot James Harrison who maintains his 16^th overall ranking. Antonio Brown breaks into the top 20 and the next highest current Steeler is Le’Veon Bell who climbs 25 rungs to 38^th overall which is impressive since he has only played five seasons so far. Chris Boswell’s outstanding kicking this season saw him climb out of nowhere to # 299 overall. JuJu Smith-Schuster joins Whizzer White as the only Steelers in the top 500 based on a single season of play.

I show the change from the previous ranking, so you can see which players stock is rising as others fall. Former Steelers can always get a bump in the rankings by recognition such as enshrinement into the NFL Hall of Fame or selection to the Steelers Hall of Honor. I have identified 1,483 players who have played at least one regular season game for the Steelers, so this list reflects the top third of the Black & Gold.

Here is some music by Iggy Pop from the movie T2 Trainspotting For those of you that have a Lust for Life.

So, without further ado; here is the 2017 season edition of the Top 500 All-Time Pittsburgh Steelers: