7 Greatest Pittsburgh Steelers players of the 21st century
By Adam Patrick
4. Alan Faneca – OL
Of all the players to suit up for the Steelers during the last 18 seasons, no one has earned more First-Team All-Pro selections than Alan Faneca.
Spending the majority of his time at left guard, Faneca is one of the best interior offensive linemen to ever play for Pittsburgh. And that’s impressive considering the Steelers have had their share of very talented interior blockers suit up for them including Hall of Famers Dermontti Dawson and Mike Webster.
Selected by Pittsburgh in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, it didn’t take long for Faneca to flourish in the black in gold. By the age of 26, he had already earned two trips to the Pro Bowl and two First-Team All-Pro selections.
In total, Faneca earned seven Pro Bowl nods and six First-Team All-Pro selections in eight seasons with the Steelers during the 21st century.
With their All-Pro left guard helping lead the way from 2000-07, Pittsburgh’s rushing offense ranked among the 10 best in the NFL seven times. And of these seven instances, the Steelers’ rushing attack was among the top five in the league.
Faneca hasn’t been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame yet, but he’s been a finalist on each of the last four Hall of Fame ballots. So it shouldn’t be very long before he gets his own gold jacket and bronze bust from Canton.