Former Steelers guard Alan Faneca will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month, and that’s giving him a platform to try to get his old teammate, wide receiver Hines Ward, a bust in Canton.
Faneca has chosen Ward to introduce him at the enshrinement ceremony, and Faneca used a Hall of Fame media call on Thursday to insist that Ward is deserving of making it to the Hall of Fame.
“He will get into Canton,” Faneca said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It’s just a matter of time. He is a Hall of Famer. It’s just a matter of when he gets in.”
Three members of the Steelers’ Super Bowl XL-winning team are joining the Hall of Fame this summer, with Faneca there as part of the Class of 2021 and coach Bill Cowher and safety Troy Polamalu both getting in with the Class of 2020, whose enshrinement ceremony was delayed by a year. Jerome Bettis is already in the Hall of Fame. Ward, who was Super Bowl XL MVP, would be the fifth member of that team to make it, if he gets in.
So far, the Hall of Fame selectors haven’t agreed with Faneca about Ward’s Hall of Fame credentials. Ward has never even been one of the 15 finalists, let alone been voted in.
Alan Faneca using his Hall of Fame enshrinement to push for Hines Ward to join him originally appeared on Pro Football Talk