Once again, Alan Faneca and Hines Ward have advanced to the round of 25 for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
We'll now see if either of them can make the final cut to gain pro football's greatest post-career honor.
This is the fourth consecutive year Faneca has been a semifinalist. He also has been a finalist the last three years. The Steelers' first-round draft pick in 1998, Faneca played 10 seasons for the team and 13 overall in the NFL. He was a member of the Super Bowl XL Championship team and was selected to nine Pro Bowls. Faneca was a six-time All-Pro selection and was named to the Steelers All-Time Team in 2007 and the NFL 2000’s All-Decade Team.
Ward is a semifinalist for the third straight year. He played 14 seasons for the Steelers after being selected in the third round of the 1998 draft, the same season as Faneca. He played on two Super Bowl teams and was the MVP of Super Bowl XL. He had 1,000 career receptions for 12,083 yards and 85 touchdowns. His versatility was always on display with his blocking ability a shining example of that.
The 25 semifinalists will be trimmed to 15 on Jan. 3.