MINNEAPOLIS -- The third time through the Pro Football Hall of Fame process wasn't any more kind to former Steelers star Alan Faneca.
Faneca made the final cut from 15 to 10 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday, but failed to win enough votes to earn a spot in Canton, Ohio. The voting among the 48 selectors took place among selectors in a process that lasted just over eight hours.
This year's Hall of Fame class includes receivers Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher and safety Brian Dawkins. Veteran nominees Jerry Kramer and Robert Brazile and contributor Bobby Beathard also were voted in.
The 41-year-old Faneca has been a finalist in each of the past three years and has inched closer to enshrinement, but was part of a logjam of five offensive linemen in this year's group of 15 finalists. In the end, he was one of four who advanced for a final vote but none wound up making the cut.
Faneca wasn't the only player with local ties who didn't make it. Longtime NFL cornerback Ty Law, a native of Aliquippa, also failed in his second time as a finalist.
Faneca, 41, was a stalwart for the Steelers from the time they selected him with the 26th pick in the first round of the 1998 draft until he left Pittsburgh as a free agent in 2007. He played three more seasons, two with the New York Jets and one for the Arizona Cardinals, before announcing his retirement after the 2010 season.
He was named to the Pro Bowl for nine consecutive seasons from 2001 through 2009 and was a six-time first-team All-Pro while also being named second-team twice. Faneca also has been named to the Steelers' all-time team and was a member of the NFL's all-decade team for the 2000s.
He currently lives with his wife, Julie, and their three children in the Washington D.C. area, but is in the process of moving to Virginia Beach, Va.
For the past two seasons, Faneca has returned to Pittsburgh each summer during training camp to work with the Steelers' offensive linemen at training camp at Saint Vincent College.
Faneca told me earlier in the week he was OK if the process didn't lead to him reaching the Hall of Fame again this year.
"It's awesome just to be in the conversation," the member of the Steelers' Super Bowl XL win said. "Year 1, you just really enjoy the process. Going forward, you meet everyone and meet guys who went five or seven years or the senior guys who have been waiting their whole life."
Law was a first-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 1995 after a stellar career at Michigan. He was a five-time Pro Bowl pick and won three Super Bowls with the Patriots. Law recorded 53 interceptions in his career, tying him with Deion Sanders for 22nd on the league's all-time list. He also played for the Jets, Chiefs and Broncos before retiring in 2009.