Cam Heyward being left off ESPN’s All-Quarter Century Team wasn’t the only snub the Pittsburgh Steelers legend has gotten recently. In a list naming active players who will easily make the Hall of Fame, a list of 25 players, Heyward was nowhere to be found.
To be fair, the only hand-in-dirt defensive lineman that was named was Cam Jordan of the New Orleans Saints, and even he is a dedicated edge rusher. Not to disparage Jordan, who was named to the Hall of Fame’s All-2010s Team, but Heyward has been named a first-team All-Pro four times over compared to the Saints star.
Further, Heyward has more sacks than Jordan in the past four seasons, 30.5 to 27. He did that in four fewer games, too, for those keeping score. Splitting hairs is the difference in Hall of Fame resumes, after all.
Pittsburgh Steelers' star Cam Heyward lacks the hype he should be getting as a future HOFer
In all seriousness, Heyward most likely won’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But his chances of joining that prestigious fraternity before it’s all said and done aren’t exactly low. According to Pro Football Reference, Heyward has the 16th-best HOF resume among interior defensive linemen, the highest among active players. The only active player with a shot at eclipsing Heyward in that regard is Kansas City Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones.
To balance the optimism, Heyward’s Hall of Fame resume score from Pro Football Reference is 71.93, and the average score for a Hall of Famer is 102. Aaron Donald, who holds the highest score at 181.18, and former Minnesota Viking Kevin Williams are the only retired players with scores higher than the 102 average. Of course, Donald won’t be eligible for the Hall until 2029.
To return some goodwill to Cam Jordan, he holds the highest such score for active defensive ends and also holds the 16th-best score all-time.
And in fairness to our friends at NFL Spin Zone, Heyward isn’t as popular in league circles as he is in Pittsburgh. The 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year and eight-time Pro Bowler just doesn’t carry the fanfare of his fellow Steelers included on the list, those being Aaron Rodgers and T.J. Watt.
Of course, one thing that might help is getting him some postseason success. Heyward has, unfortunately, only won a single playoff game. At 36 years old, we’d normally say the clock is ticking. But those 30.5 sacks in the past four seasons might say otherwise.