Press Box View
One Remains Overlooked
By Scott Robertson

The news has, for the most part, been good for Pittsburgh sports fans this spring. First came the news that Lynn Swann had been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, induction ceremonies set for Aug. 4.

Then the news that Bill Mazeroski had made it into the baseball Hall of Fame, with his induction set the day after Swann's in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Many in Pittsburgh greeted the news of the inductions of those two standouts as long past due, as the righting of wrongs cast upon both over many years on the ballots. The elections of Mazeroski and Swann did all of those things, but they did not correct all the wrongs.

In the immortal words of Ray Liotta's "Shoeless" Joe Jackson to Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella in "Field of Dreams," "There are more, you know."

There is one in particular, one who has watched many of his former Steeler teammates parade up the steps to Canton, where they are enshrined forever. He has even made the trip more than once to Ohio to watch his teammates and friends inducted.

He should be with them. He is not John Stallworth, at least not in this case. He is a man whose name almost never is mentioned with the Steelers greats, although it should be.

He is Andy Russell, whose credentials for induction mirror those of Miami's Nick Buoniconti, this year's Veterans Committee inductee. Russell is the classic "tweener" in terms of Hall of Fame debate - his career having started when the Steelers were woeful and ended just as they were developing into the 1970s dynasty they would become.

Try this on for size - when Russell ended his 11th NFL season in 1975, he had played in 154 consecutive NFL games. He had never missed one, up to that time, in his high school, collegiate or professional careers.

That alone, of course, is not worthy of induction, but maybe it should be. The man was a warrior who, despite numerous nagging injuries sustained over the years, never once begged out of the lineup.

But there is more. Much more.

Russell played in the Pro Bowl six straight times and seven times in his career. In 1975, after his 11th season, he was named to the United Press International and the Pro Football Writers Association of America's All-AFC first teams, the ninth straight year he had earned All-Pro honors.

He was NFL All-Rookie in 1963 before his career was interrupted by two years in the Army. He came back to be named the team's defensive captain in 1967 and continued his playing string, earning the team's most valuable player award in 1970.

In 1973, he won the Whizzer White Humanitarian Award for outstanding service to his team, community and country.

He played on the first two of the Steelers four Super Bowl championship teams and was a key cog in the Steel Curtain, although his teammates at linebacker, Jack Ham and Jack Lambert, already Hall of Fame players, were much more celebrated.

His career stacks up favorably in comparison to Buoniconti, who spearheaded Miami's "No-Name" defense and deservedly received Hall of Fame recognition from the Vets Committee. Buoniconti, who played with the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins from 1962-76, was named All-AFL seven times and played in eight Pro Bowls. He was the Dolphins MVP in 1970 and 1973 and, like Russell, he played on two Super Bowl championship teams.

One of the problems Russell faces is that he kind of fell between the cracks. His pre-'70s career is largely forgotten, although he was by far the best player on a very poor team. The Steelers of the '60s are more often portrayed as bungling brawlers who would rather beat an opponent to the bar on Saturday than to the goal line on Sunday.

Russell emerged from that quagmire, along with late center Ray Mansfield, to make the Chuck Noll-led teams of the 1970s. Again, though, he is overlooked, mostly due the accomplishments of Ham and Lambert, two first-ballot Hall of Famers. But would Ham and Lambert have been as effective without first the knowledge that Russell was with them, and, second, the knowledge Russell imparted to them?

My guess is they would be the first to say his efforts helped them get to Canton, and that he belongs with them.