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ARTICLE
Steelers All-Time
Team Bios Thirty-three players
were named to the Steelers All-Time Team the club announced the members as part
of the Steelers 75th Season Celebration. The squad includes both
former and current Steelers players who make up the official Steelers All-Time
Team. The players will be
honored at the team’s Nov. 4 Gala event at the Throughout this week
www.steelers.com will feature bios of the
players who were voted to the team. Be sure to check back each day for those
bios. WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT
ENDS John Stallworth - Wide Receiver (1974-87)
It was a wet day when
a bunch of scouts showed up at Alabama A&M to get a 40-yard dash time on
John Stallworth. He ran poorly, but Steelers scout Bill Nunn faked an illness so
as to stay behind and get another time for Stallworth, on a dry track. With all
the other NFL teams having only that slow time for Stallworth, the Steelers were
able to pick him in the fourth round of the 1974 draft. When he retired 14
seasons later, Stallworth had 537 catches for 8,723 yards, 25 100-yard games and
63 receiving touchdowns to rank No. 1 in team history at the time in each of
those categories. He had 12 postseason touchdown catches and 17 consecutive
postseason games with a reception. Stallworth set Super Bowl records for career
average-per-catch (24.4 yards) and for single-game average (40.3), set in Super
Bowl XIV. Stallworth was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
2002. Lynn Swann - Wide Receiver (1974-82)
During the 1970s,
professional football became a game of big plays, and Lynn Swann was a perfect
fit for that style. Swann was at his best in big games, and during his career
the Steelers were in 16 playoff games, and in those Swann had 48 catches for 907
yards (18.9 average) and nine touchdowns. His touchdown catch gave the Steelers
the lead for good in the 1974 AFC Championship Game; he was the MVP of Super
Bowl X with four catches for 161 yards and a touchdown; and he had seven catches
for 154 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl XIII. By the time his playing career
ended, his surname had become synonymous with acrobatic catches – many receivers
who executed those were said to be “Swann-like.” A 2001 inductee into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame, Swann finished his career with 336 receptions and 5,462
yards and 51 touchdowns. Hines Ward - Wide Receiver (1998-Present)
He’ll be the first to
admit that he’s not the biggest or the fastest wide receiver in the NFL, but
even his peers admit Hines Ward is the toughest, most physical player at his
position in the game today. A third-round selection in 1998 after a career as a
“slash” at the University of Georgia, Ward saw the Steelers spend No. 1 picks on
receivers in both 1999 and 2000. But Ward made himself into the team’s top
receiver, and as the 2007 season begins he is closing in on the few team records
he doesn’t already hold. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Ward is the team’s
all-time leader with 648 catches, and he needs 718 yards and six receiving
touchdowns to pass John Stallworth for the top spots in those two categories.
His 112 catches in 2002 is the team’s single-season record, and he was voted MVP
of Super Bowl XL.
Bennie Cunningham - Tight End (1976-85)
When the NFL
liberalized the rules in the late 1970s to benefit the passing attack, Bennie
Cunningham was in the right place at the right time. Cunningham caught 202
passes for 2,879 yards with 20 touchdowns, and he earned two Super Bowl rings
during his Steelers career. His best season was in 1981 when he finished with a
career-high 41 receptions for 574 yards with three
touchdowns.
Elbie Nickel - Tight End (1947-57)
It wasn’t called
tight end when he played it, but Elbie Nickel still played tight end better than
anybody in Steelers’ history. Nickel, drafted in the 15th round in 1947,
finished his career with 329 receptions for 5,133 yards, both of which are
fourth on the team’s all-time lists. He also hauled in 37 career touchdowns,
which is the fifth-highest total in team history. Nickel led the NFL in yards
per catch with a 24.3 average in 1949, but his best season was in 1952 when he
posted 55 receptions for 884 yards and nine touchdowns, all of which were
Steelers’ records at the time. |
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