View topic - So, Who's On Your Steelers Mt. Rushmore List?

[PalmerSucks Profile]

http://stillers.com/Article/View/6161f8 ... 475ef1c22c has been posted by Palmer Sucks at Stillers.com.

[Pommah Profile]

1. Noll. Totally changed the culture of the organization, which to this day is the one he instituted.
2. Greene. His arrival set the tone for all future Steeler defensive greats.
3. Harris. A losing team before, a winning team after.
4. Bradshaw. It was his maturing into one of the all-time best QB's that allowed the team to go from good to great.

Many, many players who deserve a spot as Palmer pointed out but if there can only be four, this is it.

[LenSherwood Profile]

1. Noll. Totally changed the culture of the organization, which to this day is the one he instituted.
2. Greene. His arrival set the tone for all future Steeler defensive greats.
3. Harris. A losing team before, a winning team after.
4. Bradshaw. It was his maturing into one of the all-time best QB's that allowed the team to go from good to great.

Many, many players who deserve a spot as Palmer pointed out but if there can only be four, this is it.

Pommah--got to agree with you on Bradshaw--I think Palmer Sucks was too young to have seen the 70s Superbowls...OK the Viking game was one in which Terry Hanratty could have won it because the defense creamed the Vikings. But the next year... Bradshaw threw the game winning touchdown before getting hammered--he had to play at a high level and Super Bowls wins No 3 and 4 were masterful performances. Bradshaw didn't endear himself to anyone though in Pittsburgh...that is a strike against him.

[Pommah Profile]

Sherwood, in today's fantasy-football dominated thinking, stats reign supreme...and with today's rules, recent QB's stats obliterate those from the 70's. People today either didn't see or have forgotten about Bradshaw heaving the ball 70 yards in the face of a Too Tall Jones pass rush knowing he was going to get plowed into the dirt (or for that matter, a Staubach-led 2-minute drill or a Stabler scramble). Bradshaw took a while to mature but when he did he could win a game with his arm. Two super bowl MVP's, there is a reason for that. And unlike Montana, he called his own plays based on what he saw on the field and not coming in from the sidelines from an acknowledged offensive genius.

There were a lot of good QB's when Bradshaw played but no way do they win 4 SB's with any but him. In that era you had the Dolphins, Raiders, and Cowboys all winning multiple SB's. No Bradshaw, we are talking about one of those other teams as a 4-SB winning team. Dallas would have done it except they lost two to the Stillers by a combined 8 points.

[Crucible-steel-kid Profile]

I.M.H.O. Palmer Sucks got the list correct. All facets of the Stillers are represented by his list....

[ddemao Profile]

Hey Palmer Sucks,

I am totally down with your 4 picks.
1. Art Rooney - Without Mr. Rooney there are no Steelers. He never lost the faith and continued to pound the rock until we had a winner.
2. Joe Greene - The most important Steeler player of all time. Your assessment of the dividing between Steeler teams is totally correct, before Greene and after Greene. Mean Joe Greene was the cornerstone around which the Steeler dynasty was built.
3. Chuck Noll - Architect of arguably the best professional football team to ever take the field. Totally dominant on defense with a solid, balanced offense.
4. Franco Harris - The fourth and final pick is definitely the toughest. The players that came to my mind were Harris, Blount, Lambert, Bradshaw, Russell, Stautner, who are all worthy of being in the top 10 Steeler players of all time. It's extremely difficult to pick one. But, to me the overriding factor in picking Harris: he was the key player in the greatest play in Steeler history and possibly the greatest play in NFL history. That play and game changed the entire psychology of Steeler fandom - from believing in the eternal futility of the Steelers into everything is possible for the Steelers.

[SCJackHamfan Profile]

http://stillers.com/Article/View/6161f8e3-debd-4822-a5ec-8c475ef1c22c has been posted by Palmer Sucks at Stillers.com.

I pretty much agree with PalmerSucks list, but mine would have a couple of changes.

1. Noll No doubt about this one.
2. Joe Greene No doubt about this one, either.
3. I think the Rooney family has to be represented since I think they have been the foundation all of the success. There are so many examples of owners ruining their franchises. The Rooneys have been consistent in my 40+ years of watching the Steelers providing a great atmosphere for their employees to do their jobs, and do it well. Instead of Art Rooney, Sr., however, I think I'd go with Dan Rooney. Dan was a critical part of the organization in the 70's when they became great, doing most of the organizational work then, and has continued to this day as he transitions the work to his son. Dan has also been a great role model serving his country as ambassador. I've never seen him operate any way but in the highest moral fashion. He was also able to finesse Chuck Noll's retirement.
4. Jack Lambert I like Franco Harris, and I respect him as a great running back and person, but I saw him "cake out" too many times. Failed to get the critical yardage a few too many times. I never remember Jack Lambert ever giving less than 100% ever. He was also the emotional leader of the team the entire time he was on it. He would not accept anything less than 100% from himself and everybody else. When he threw down Cliff Harris in Super Bowl X you knew the Steelers would be coming back!

[StillDodger Profile]

Art Rooney, Chuck Noll, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert

[relictele Profile]

4 seems a minute number for this franchise even if you are not a fan. After all, to populate the real Mt Rushmore they only had to choose from 32 presidents at the time of the monument's dedication.

At the risk of navel-gazing, I will defend my omissions as much as I support my nominations.

1) Chuck Noll. No explanation necessary is there?
2) Joe Greene. In his early days as unstoppable a force as has ever been in the NFL. Borderline crazy until two Super Bowls were won, he matured a bit and became as much a mentor - albeit a demanding one - in the second half of his career.
3) Mel Blount. Had the bad luck (?) to have an all-time great and two Hall of Famers in front of him on the field in terms of recognition but the NFL didn't resort to changing any rules on account of Greene, Ham or Lambert as they did with Blount. Other teams had good-to-great linemen and LBs in the 70s but nobody had another Blount.
4) Jack Ham. Like Blount, the opposition had to game-plan around him. Non-Steeler fans and so-called experts routinely include Ham in all-time or all-decade teams even when they leave Lambert out. Some of it is personal animus directed at Lambert to be sure but Ham had both strength and agility in equal measure and undoubtedly the keenest football mind on the defensive side of the ball which maximized his effectiveness.

Those left out:
Art Rooney - if we're honest, by the time the team won their first SB he was mostly a father figure. A world at war, economic upheaval, etc. can be blamed for the Steelers being a moribund franchise for their first 40 years of existence but if we're assessing football-specific issues and not the innumerable positive traits and acts of The Chief then we must make a cold-eyed choice.

Terry Bradshaw - more sinned against than sinner. He's only off my monument because I can have only four.

Franco Harris - tougher than he was usually credited with being, ironically because he was so smart. Earl Campbell destroyed others and destroyed himself in the process. Harris didn't, had a long productive career and for this he is scorned? Does not compute. Like Bradshaw, not revolutionary enough a player to be included.

Jack Lambert - the toughest choice, pun intentional. Has his status as symbol and spokesman somewhat eclipsed his on-field performance? Nobody ever got more out of 218 lbs. Does this make him an overachiever or merely the best MLB who wasn't the 250 lb Butkus archetype? MLBs usually can't be game-planned around to any great extent since they are, well, in the middle so it's hard to compare him and Ham or Blount, who were responsible for one-half of the field.

All I know for certain is this: we have impossible decisions to make on this one, which separates us from 90% of our NFL peers, who have to rely on flashes in the pan, players who excelled for other teams, etc.