Former Steelers Alan Faneca and Troy Polamalu make ESPN All Quarter Century Team
Looking back over the last 25 years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had so many great players, it's hard to narrow down the best. But ESPN undertook the daunting task of doing it for the entire league and put together their All Quarter Century teams for offense and defense.
They named one Steeler legend on each side of the football to the team. On offense, Alan Faneca made it as one of two left guards. He shared the distinction with Steven Hutchinson. Here's what they had to say about Faneca.
A stalwart at left guard for the Steelers before late-career spells with the Jets and Cardinals, Faneca missed only one game from 2000 on -- and that was due to rest in a meaningless Week 17 contest in 2001. His six first-team All-Pro selections are more than any other left guard this quarter century.
Moving to defense, edge defender T.J. Watt got snubbed but safety Troy Polamalu was there as the team's strong safety. He joined Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins and Earl Thomas as the four safeties. This was how they broke down Polamalu's career.
Polamalu flying all over the field epitomized what NFL teams began prioritizing with modern safeties. He is fifth among safeties with 103 passes defensed since 2000. He also had 80 run stops (tackles to stop runs short of a successful play), which is third among all defensive backs since 2000.
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