Dear Steeler fans, This is not 1978. Are there ten Hall of Famers on this team?

Photo: Pinterest

Ten of these players and the head coach are members of the NFL Hall of Fame


… The 7-0 starts are the only similarity


Granted, I vowed to never again watch a professional or Div. I college football game, and I have been true to that. I have noticed some things in passing, but have not watched the Steelers play at all. 


I have been a Steelers fan for the past 65 years, but this year, I swore off them and all other professional sports. Who needs it?


However, I still pay attention to who wins the games and read some of the headlines. 


Therefore, when I saw the comparison of the 2020 team to that of 1978, I almost chocked on my chicken.


The 1978 team


As I mentioned above, 11 of those on that photo are members of the NFL Hall of Fame, though one’s induction was put off for a year because of Covid. Ten of them are players and the other is the legendary coach who laid the foundation to Steelers Nation, Chuck Noll. 


The team ended up 14-2 and captured its third Super Bowl in five years. What is even more impressive is that of the players, half were offense and half were defense, though the Steel Curtain is what everyone remembers of those years. 


By 1978, Terry Bradshaw had reached his peak and won two consecutive MVP Super Bowl trophies along with an NFL MVP. 


The Hall of Fame players were as follows — in alphabetical order,


Mel Blount, DB

Terry Bradshaw, QB

Joe Greene, DT

Jack Ham, LB

Franco Harris, RB

Jack Lambert, LB

Donnie Shell, DB 

John Stallworth, WR

Lynn Swann, WR

Mike Webster, Center


Five on offense and five on defense. 


Projecting to the year 2062


Now, in all honesty, I am going year by year since I am 72, and will probably live to 2022. However, 2032 or any other twos are beyond the realm of possibility. 


However, some who read this my reach that year. I am using it because it is 42 years from 1978 to today, and the projections were great. 


At this time in 1978, we could probably have figured that six or seven of those guys would be hall of famers. Perhaps even eight or nine. They were that good. 


On the current team, since you have some younger players, I can think of only one or two who would be possible — but again, you have to see the entire careers of the young players, so that would not be fair. 


Certainly Watt has the look of a great LB, but he is not yet a Ham or Lambert. No receivers look like that yet, but again, you need the whole career. 


Finally, I think that one reason that the Steelers are 7-0 has to do with their weak schedule. Second, it has to do with the weakness of the AFC as a whole. The only top-notch team right now is the Chiefs, and they are certainly not as strong as they were last year. Nor are the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, but they have another shot at the Steelers. 


If they were to win the Super Bowl this year, that would lend credence to the fact that some of them may make the HF. However, looking at Coach Mike Tomlin’s woeful playoff record in that past decade, it is difficult to get excited about that from the perspective of a Chuck Noll and 1970s dynasty viewpoint. 


However, that is why they play the game. I just want people not to become too enthusiastic too soon. Some believe that the greatest Steeler team of all time did not make the Super Bowl. 


And who might that be?

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