With a flurry of Steelers set to be inducted to the Hall of Fame at the end of this summer, there is still one name missing from joining Canton.
The Steelers are set to have a huge celebration in August when Bill Cowher, Troy Polamalu, Alan Faneca, Bill Nunn, and Donnie Shell are all given their gold jackets and join the Hall of Fame. Each of these players is well-deserving of this honor, and the argument can easily be made that both Nunn and Shell had to wait far too long to receive this honor. While the hype and focus should be on this group, there seems to be one Steelers name still missing from this group.
While fans point at Hines Ward and eventually will do the same with James Harrison, the most deserving Steelers player not in Canton right now is L.C. Greenwood. The former 70’s defensive end was a lynchpin on the stout defensive line that aided in the team’s dominance during that decade. While Joe Greene gets most of the accolades due to his downright dominant play, his running mate in Greenwood was still a force to be reckoned with.
Steelers Greenwood is well-deserving of the Hall of Fame
While his sack stats are unofficial, 78 total in an era where the run game was the focus is nothing to look over. As well, Greenwood was elected to six pro bowls and has two all-pros attached to his name due to his incredible play. Some will point to the immense talent on the line as the reasoning for Greenwood’s success, but that doesn’t tell the full story. Greenwood was a self-made man by all accounts, and his incredible play is deserving of the Hall of Fame.
According to the data as well, Greenwood actually had half a sack more than Greene did while with the Steelers. Now, that isn’t to say that Greenwood was the better player (he wasn’t), but it shows just how good Greenwood was and what he meant to this defense. He led the Steel Curtain in sacks. That indicates that he was more than just a good player on a great defense. He was one of the leaders on that defense.
Realistically, the Steelers will likely be in a Hall of Fame drought for the next few years. While Ward and Harrison will continue to get nominated, it seems farfetched that either makes it to Canton. The next most likely player is Ben Roethlisberger, and he has not even retired yet. Greenwood is slowly being forgotten about, but if this recent class proved anything, it’s that a long waiting player can still get in.
Shell is proof of this. He was in a similar typecast as Greenwood: a great player but one left out of the Hall of Fame due to him being a part of the Steel Curtain defense. When the NFL allowed for a specific veteran class to happen in order to clear some of the non-modern players to get in, Shell finally got the recognition he deserves and is now set to be inducted this August.
If Shell could do it, that means Greenwood could reinsert his name into the potential list. Granted, it may require another non-modern class to get this done, but that shouldn’t stop Greenwood from getting in. Saying he was a part of a great defense is not reason enough to keep him out anymore. Greenwood was a stable of the Steelers’ defensive dominance in the ’70s. It is high time he gets the recognition he deserves and joins his fellow Steel Curtain members in the Hall of Fame.