Steelers Greats Disrespected By All-Time Safety List

The Pittsburgh Steelers lay claim to some of the best to play the position. Why are they overlooked?

Troy Polamalu tormented offenses during his NFL career and was an eight-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro. / Robert Hanashiro via Imagn Content

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a franchise known for, among many things, great defense. Names like Joe Greene, Jacks Lambert and Ham, Mel Blount, Rod Woodson, Kevin Greene, and James Harrison, are just among the few that stand out. The list is too long.

Of course, safeties Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell are near the top of that list. Polamalu was a "unicorn" of a football player, with tools and traits that stretched the safety position beyond what was expected of him. Polamalu was a combination ball-hawk and enforcer at the position. He earned AP Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 and was recognized as an All-Pro six times, four as a first-team selection. He had the preternatural ability to make plays.

Polamalu was vital to the Steelers' two Super Bowl championships under Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. There is an argument he was the most important player on the defensive side of the ball.

Shell was similar to Polamalu in size, but he was more of a ball-hawking safety. He snagged 51 interceptions over the course of his career. Shell might have been overlooked because he shared a defensive backfield with Blount, and a defense that was a who's who of the eras best defenders.

Shell was a three-time first-team All-Pro selection. Shell's hit on Hall-of-Fame power running back Earl Campbell in 1978 might be his most memorable moment, akin to Steve Atwater's hit on Christian Okoye years later in 1990. Campbell would be sidelined with injured ribs the rest of that game.

The 33rd Team's Ian Valentino left both Polamalu and Shell outside of his Top 5 safeties of all time in a recent list. No. 1 is Ronnie Lott, who is likely the top pick for most, and No. 2 is Ed Reed, who is usually No. 1 if it's not Lott. Those two are givens. Paul Krause, Ken Houston, and Brian Dawkins, the rest of the Top 5, all have solid cases to be in their respective positions as well as arguments for exclusion.

However, Polamalu being left out the Top 5 is ludicrous. Even Valentino's explanation seems to favor Polamalu more than the No. 8 ranking would suggest.

"The best example of a player going beyond quantitative measures is Troy Polamalu," Valentino wrote. "Standing only 5-foot-10 and 207 pounds, Polamalu didn't look like a lot of the top safeties on this list. He was electric and unstoppable in ways that only peak Bob Sanders and Tyrann Mathieu have matched over the last two decades ... An effervescent presence near the line of scrimmage, Polamalu's football IQ allowed him to be a chess master in a position where that rarely happened. With eight Pro Bowls, four All-Pros, two Super Bowl rings, and one Defensive Player of the Year Award in his closet, a Hall of Fame bid was an easy pitch."

There is an argument that Shell deserves better than the No. 10 ranking (out of 11). He was a Hall-of-Fame player on one of the best defenses in the history of the game, capturing four Super Bowl titles. Unfortunately for Shell, he played in the era ruled by Krause and Houston. At the time of his retirement, Shell was 11th in career interceptions. Not bad for an undrafted free agent from the loaded 1974 draft class.

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