It's about (Steelers) time. Add two more Steelers to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Steelers C Dermontti Dawson, a candidate since 2006, will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer. He joins Steelers CB Jack Butler, a seniors committee nominee, made it, 53 years after he stopped playing.
Also set for enshrinement in 2012, OT Willie Roaf, DE Chris Doleman, DT Cortez Kennedy and RB Curtis Martin.
Dawson led the Steelers' powerful rushing attack from the mid-90s through the early 2000s. His quickness set him apart from his contemporaries in that he was able to snap and pull around the end, leading the blocking for such successful runners as Barry Foster, Bam Morris and Jerome Bettis.
He had been overlooked the past few years, as were many linemen in general. This class sees some of the best offensive and defensive linemen from the last 20 years.
Willie Roaf was as gifted and dominant a pass protector as the game has ever seen. Kennedy and Doleman were predators hunting quarterbacks for more than a decade.
While some may be upset over Bettis not being selected, but Curtis Martin is one of the most underrated players in NFL history. To put both of them in at the same time seems less meaningful for both players. If Martin goes in as the only running back this year, and Bettis is the same next year, it will even itself out.