Ward And Harrison’s 2024 Hall Off Fame Bids Fall Short
Aug 8, 2021; Canton, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers former offensive guard and inductee Alan Faneca (left) looks on as presenter Hines Ward (right) waves a Terrible Towel during the Class of 2021 NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately for Steeler Nation, Hines Ward‘s quest to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame has once again been put on hold. After being one of the league’s 25 semifinalists for induction for the 8th consecutive year, Ward once again failed to advance to the 15 modern era finalists for the Hall of Fame class of 2024.
Making things worse is the uphill long term battle he faces given his position. Of the 15 finalists three were fellow receivers of Ward’s era: Tory Holt of the St Louis Rams, Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts, and Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans. It’s the 5th year that both Holt and Wayne have been finalists and the third year as a finalist for Johnson.
Making the Hall of Fame as a wide receiver has always been a tough task and although the Steeler faithful will be quick to point out that in addition to being perhaps the greatest blocking star wide receiver in NFL history, the former Steeler finished his career with more career catches (1,000) than Holt (920), and more touchdowns(85) than all three finalists, it still looks like the journey may be large and long ann long at best.
Making things even tougher is the reality that Ward was a product of two different generations of football. Jerome Bettis, appearing on the Dan Patrick show last week, discussed the difficult challenge.
“You see the receivers, the goal line has been moved,” Bettis said. “And I say that because I’ve got a guy whose, his goal line has been moved in Hines Ward. He played in an era where we ran the football, right? But he was one of the best in that era. He did it all. And then at the end of his era the goal post moved because now you got all these guys catching 115, 120 balls a year. Well, he was in an era where when you caught 85 balls a year, that puts you at the top of the league.”
“So now his numbers are skewed,” Bettis continued. “He kinda was in both of those eras…It’s gonna be a different era in terms of numbers. So you’re gonna look at it a different way, and you’re gonna look at those numbers a different way.”
Joining Ward in this year’s disappointment was all time Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who was also in the group of semifinalists who didn’t make it to finalist. Perhaps the best defensive player in franchise history for an organization known for their defense was the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was a semifinalist for the second year in a row.
Ward and Harrison have 25 years from their respective retirement dates to be considered for induction before being placed in the seniors pool.
Outside of the three receivers, the other 12 finalists included Antonio Gates, Julius Peppers, Fred Taylor, Willie Anderson, Jahri Evans, linebacker Patrick Willis, defensive backs Jared Allen, Dwight Freeney, Eric Allen, Rodney Harrison, Darren Woodson, and Devin Hester.
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