What's a fellow have to do to make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Alan Faneca certainly doesn't know at this point.
You want championships? Faneca won one of those in 2005 with the Steelers.
How about being an All-Pro? Faneca was named to that exclusive team eight times, six times as a first-team member and twice as a second-teamer. He also was named to the Pro Bowl nine times, more than all but eight other offensive linemen in NFL history. The eight guys ahead of him on that list have already been enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
Yet after a 13-year career -- 10 of which he spent with the Steelers -- that saw him named to the All-Decade Team of the 2000s and miss just two games, Faneca finds himself in his fourth year as a finalist for induction into the hall of fame.
He'll find out Saturday in Atlanta if he finally gets over the hump and gets the needed votes.
Faneca is at peace with the process one way or another.
"I’ve done my part, that’s all I can say," Faneca told me recently.
That he has, but thus far, it hasn't been enough.
Now, it's in the hands of the voters -- again. And things won't be any easier this time around. This year's 15 finalists includes a pair of first-time players -- Ravens safety Ed Reed and former Chiefs and Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez -- who are considered shoe-ins to be first-ballot inductees.
If that's the case, it would only leave three spots open for the other 12 players, including Faneca and Aliquippa native, defensive back Ty Law.
And considering Faneca is one of four offensive linemen in that group of 15, things don't necessarily look great again this year. The other linemen among the finalists this year include tackle Tony Boselli, center Kevin Mawae and guard Steve Hutchinson, who was the other guard on the league's All-Decade Team of the 2000s.
Offensive linemen, particularly interior linemen, are one of the most underrepresented positions in the hall. Just 15 players who have primarily been guards in their playing careers have been honored. On the positive side, eight of those men have made it since 2000.
So perhaps the tides are shifting.
Of course, Faneca wasn't just any guard when he played. His athleticism was renown, highlighted by his block on the edge to spring Willie Parker for a 75-yard run in Super Bowl XL, which remains the longest run in Super Bowl history.
"A train coming down hill. That’s all you wanted to do and get going," Faneca said of his ability to get to the edge and downfield. "You put work into it. It takes a different mindset. Pulling around there and throwing your body in there takes a different mindset and read things that fast."
That athleticism also gave him the ability to move out to tackle when needed, such as when he moved to left tackle in 2003 after starter Marvel Smith was injured.
"Playing tackle was like stealing," Faneca told me. "I told those guys that. I just thought it was so much easier than playing inside, where you had to worry about guys coming at you from both sides."
These days, Faneca is just happy to play dad and help out at training camp with the Steelers, something he has done the past few years. He and his wife, Julie, have three children and moved to Virginia Beach, Va., last year.
"It’s a lot easier when I’m not out there banging heads," Faneca said of helping out at training camp. "I can blow a whistle and critique and tell them what they did wrong."
Last season, Faneca was one of four men inducted into the Steelers' second Hall of Honor class. And he knows that, perhaps, eventually, someday his day name will be called for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In the meantime, he'll pass his time with his newest passion -- his boat.
"I’ve got a couple of little business things I dabble in. I’m chasing the kids," he told me. "I recently made a move. I got a boat. I’m on the water a lot. It’s peace of mind right there, a lot of Zen moments."