Steelers Mt. Rushmore

PFT has been doing one for every team based on voting. You can pick any player/coach/person involved in the team. 4 Spots... Who do you choose? I think this is incredibly hard actually.

Here was my thought process...

Joe Greene - This was the one that I had zero question about. Joe Greene was the draft pick that put the Steel Curtain Dynasty in motion, and brought a really brought the team out of the basement. Possibly the best player at his position ever. He gets on for me because of his skill AND historical relevance to the franchise.

The Chief - This one seems like a fairly easy pick too. The only argument against it I guess is if you think it should be limited to players and coaches. We all know the Chief's relevance and awesomeness, but to me he should be on there to represent the family, that is the Steelers organization. Plus, seeing his glasses and cigar on a mount rushmore would be pretty awesome.

Those two (for me) were pretty easy. After those two it got trickier though.

Chuck Noll - It's hard to leave out a coach with 4 superbowl victories (not to mention being undefeated in them). He built and coached possibly the best football dynasty ever... If you're including a coach, then it comes down to Noll vs. Cowher, which isn't really much of a discussion for me.

Ben Roethlisberger - Okay, I know... This is the one everyone is going to flame me about, and I can understand it. For me the 4th spot was the hardest. Let me present MY reasoning. We all know our franchise has had a great history, but I feel like we might live in the past too much. We've just seen another great era in Steelers football, and I wanted to see at least one spot be a modern day player. I considered Rod Woodson, who as a player at his position was better than Ben. However, Woodson's position wasn't as important, and he never won a Superbowl with the team. Jerome Bettis was VERY close for me, for the way he represented smashmouth football, and carried our team for a long time... The only thing that put Ben over Jerome for me was that Ben was more vital to us winning a Superbowl. Cowher was a great coach, and had great defenses... but what finally got him over the hump? When he FINALLY got his quarterback. Ben's grittiness, and let's face it, sometimes ugly way of getting things done fits the "Steelers way" pretty well. Bradshaw won more Superbowls, but I think he had more help too (not that Ben hasn't). Like I said, I could see tons of arguments for others, this was just my pick.


My other considerations... Jack Lambert, Rod Woodson, Jerome Bettis, Bill Cowher, Troy Polamalu, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris





EDIT:
Might as well keep a tally, and see the results (according to this board).

Joe Greene - 16
Art Rooney "The Chief" - 11
Chuck Noll - 8
Terry Bradshaw - 7
----------------------------------------------
Jack Lambert - 6
Franco Harris - 5
Ben Roethlisberger - 3
Hines Ward - 3
Mike Webster - 2
Lynn Swann - 1
Troy Polamalu - 1
Jerome Bettis - 1
Aaron Smith - 1
Myron Cope - 1
Bill Cowher - 1
Mike Tomlin - 1
Brett Kiesel - 1
Antonio Brown - 1
Greg Lloyd - 1
Dan Rooney - 1

 

Joe Greene - no brainer.

The Chief - owner of possibly the best run franchise in pro sports.

Big Ben Roethlisberger - leader of the current team which transitioned us back into yearly SB contenders.

Jack Lambert - the face heart and soul of the Steel Curtain.

If you can't have coaches or owners I would replace the Chief with Bradhsaw.

But that is a tough 4 to choose...

 

Mean Joe, Jack Lambert, Chuck Noll, Troy Polamalu. I just think Troy has had so many breathtaking, gamebreaking, "how did he do that" plays at all the right times that I think he deserves a spot among the greats. Beliiiiieve me that's hard and my mind could probably change easily but Jack Lambert would just look so cool carved in stone with his teeth missing so you would HAVE to put him just for that alone! LOL.

 

Mine is actually eerily similar to yours. I just can't put big Ben on there till I see his full body of work, but I do understand why you would put him on it.

Joe Greene
The Chief
Chuck Knoll
Franco Harris

 

Greene, Franco, Bradshaw, Bettis

--I'm going with all players.

 

Not sure how Bradshaw could be left off of the list with 4 Super Bowl rings.

 

Wow, this is a tough one. I'll go with just players as otherwise 2 spots are already taken:

Joe Greene
Mike Webster
Aaron Smith
Hines Ward

I know I'll take a ton of flack for this, but I think these four embodied the organization more than anyone else.

 

The Chief
Joe Greene
Jack Lambert
Terry Bradshaw

Next 4:

Chuck Noll
Ernie Stautner
Mike Webster
Franco Harris

 

we need six spots with the six tropheys.

 

As many have said theres toooooo many names...especially with the whole 70s group (as there are only a handful from the 90s-today that I'd pick compared to 10-15 from the 70s)

Maybe it should be like this...1 ownership person, 1 coach, 1 70s era player, 1 modern era player (90s - today)

If that was the case...I think you'd go, Chief, Noll, Mean Joe and Hines (he just embodied the Steelers, Bettis was good and a number of current guys Ben/Troy/Aaron/etc could be good but I think Hines tops them all)

 

Bradshaw, Greene, Harris, Ward...........Winning Super Bowls is no easy task and these guys did it multiple times plus they are outstanding people with great personalities and morals.

 

Art Rooney, Chuck Noll, Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw.. Tough leaving Jack Lambert off, but that is my take.

 

top 4 player wise:
1. bradshaw
2. franco
3. lambert
4. greene

next 4 players
1. Webster
2. ham
3. blount
4. stallworth...(swann was an extremely tough omission)

top 4 non players:
1. chief
2. knoll
3. lebeau
4. cowher

 

+1

 

if you do it honestly and pick 4. art rooney and chuck noll have to be on it. if you just want players, to me its simple. jack lambert, hines ward, mean joe, and terry bradshaw. you can talk about the number of 70's players all u want. they are the reason the steelers are the steelers

 

I was just getting ready to list these same 4 players. It's hard to leave players like Swann, Stallworth, Ham, Blount and others off the list. I can't agree that Ben deserves to be on the list. Of his 3 Super Bowls, he really only played lights out in one of them. He obviously led us to all if those Super Bowls but because of his mediocre to below average play in 2 if the 3, I can't give him Mt. Rushmore status. I also can't give MR status to Troy. Too much time on the sidelines in sweats the last two or three seasons for that.

 

Greene (With a coke and a smile)
Lambert (Missing front teeth)
Myron Cope (With Original Terrible Towel)
The Chief (With Stogie)

 

chief,noll,cowher,tomlin.

 

i understand but disagree. Bradshaw came up big in virtually every Super Bowl he played in. Not necessarily in the stat line but at key points in the games when the team needed a play, he delivered BIG TIME. As for Franco, The Immaculate Reception, 'nuff said. Lambert is the epitome of what the Steelers are all about and Greene, well, Rooney called him the Cornerstone of the dynasty and I agree.

 

In Super Bowl 13 he had his first 300 yard game and I think that was the greatest Super Bowl ever. It was even more awesome given the fact that Hollywood told the media that Bradshaw was dumb and then he goes on to win his 1st of 2 Super Bowl MVPs. That's the ULTIMATE feeding somebody crow moment you can possibly have in sports.

 

There is not a mountain big enough, for so many great players/coach