Let's get to it:
MICHAEL WILLIAMS FROM CINCINNATI, OH: When I was a kid in the 1970s, the Steelers ruled the football world with those four Super Bowl wins in six seasons. A decade or two after that incredible Super Bowl run, a number of those Steelers players still held quite a few of the Super Bowl records, both for a game and for their careers. Forty-plus years later, do any of the Steelers players from back then still hold Super Bowl records today?
ANSWER: Two housekeeping items before I delve into the meat of your question. First of all, L.C. Greenwood's sack totals in Super Bowl X and for a career are not listed among the individual records because sacks didn't become an officially recognized statistic by the NFL until 1982 and so all sack records are post-1982. And the 2023 Official NFL Record & Fact Book contains 14 pages worth of Individual and Team Super Bowl Records, and so I'm limiting this answer to the manor/significant ones involving the Steelers.
• Most Safeties (Game): Dwight White in Super Bowl IX, and Reggie Harrison in Super Bowl X are tied for first with 5 other players with one.
• Rushing Attempts (Career): Franco Harris, 101
• Rushing Yards (Career): Franco Harris, 354
• Longest Run From Scrimmage: Willie Parker, 75 yards, Super Bowl XL
• Average Yards Gained Per Passing Attempt (Career): Terry Bradshaw, 11.1
• Average Yards Gained Per Passing Attempt (Game): Terry Bradshaw, 14.71, Super Bowl XIV
• Average Yards Per Reception (Career): John Stallworth, 24.4
• Average Yards Per Reception (Game): John Stallworth, 40.33, Super Bowl XIV
• Longest Interception Return: James Harrison, 100 yards, Super Bowl XLIII
• Combined Net Yardage (Rushing, Receiving, Interception Returns, Kickoff Returns, Punt Returns, Fumble Returns): Franco Harris 108 attempts (Career)
• Most Super Bowls Won: Pittsburgh and New England, tied: 6
• Most Consecutive Super Bowls Won: Pittsburgh, tied with Green Bay, Miami, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver, New England: 2
(Note): Pittsburgh is the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls more than once: Super Bowls IX-X, and Super Bowls XIII-XIV
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STEVE BORTHWICK FROM BRISTOL, ENGLAND: Louis Rees Zammit is an elite rugby player who very early in his career has chosen to enter the NFL International Pathway. Do you think it's more likely that Zammit or Le'Veon Bell end up on a 53-man roster at the start of the 2024 NFL season?
ANSWER: If Le'Veon Bell is telling the truth that he only will come back to the NFL to play for one team, and if the indications are accurate that one team is the Steelers, I believe you have a better chance to be on a 53-man roster at the start of the 2024 NFL season.
JASON GAINES FROM MILWAUKEE, WI: Recently Le'Veon Bell expressed a desire to return to Pittsburgh to be their third-string running back. I might just be nostalgic, but is there any real chance of this actually happening?
ANSWER: I have been wrong before, but it makes no sense to me that Le'Veon Bell, who once turned down a chance to be the highest-paid running back in the NFL by signing a contract with the Steelers would be brought back to sit behind Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, and to be able/willing to do that without being a distraction.
MIKE MOLINARO FROM COLUMBUS, OH: I was curious if Mason Rudolph is allowed to start learning Arthur Smith's playbook and sit down with the new offensive coordinator, or if only signed players have access to team facilities and coaches?
ANSWER: Mason Rudolph can become an unrestricted free agent on March 13, and so it doesn't make any sense to me that either the player or the team would be interested in him "learning the playbook" before he re-signs. It wouldn't make any sense, as an example, to have sessions with the new offensive coordinator and get exposed to the new playbook only to have a player sign a contract to play for a different team.
GREG BLUMER FROM GANDER, CANADA: In the Feb. 1 installment of Asked and Answered, one answer to a question showed Roger Staubach being drafted in the 10th round by the Dallas Cowboys. Was there ever a Hall of Fame quarterback drafted lower or an undrafted one who made it to Canton?
ANSWER: There were four. George Blanda was selected in the 12th round of the 1949 NFL Draft, and he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 1981; 6 weeks before the 1978 NFL Draft, Warren Moon signed a contract with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League because he didn't believe he would be sought-after as a Black quarterback in the NFL at that time. In 1984, Moon signed with the Houston Oilers and played 17 NFL seasons for four different teams. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2006. Bart Starr was drafted by Green Bay in the 17th round of the 1956 NFL Draft and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 1977. And Kurt Warner was undrafted in 1994 and opted for a career in the Arena League until he was signed by the Rams in 1998. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 1998.
ED JOHNSON FROM GERMANTOWN, OH: Do you think that maybe Arthur Smith's success with the running game that we keep hearing about at Tennessee had a lot to do with the talent of Derrick Henry? Derrick Henry could make any offensive coordinator look good.
ANSWER: Do you mean in the same way that Tom Brady made Bill Belichick look good? Or the way Patrick Mahomes is making Andy Reid look good. Or the way that every good coach in NFL history was made to look good by the talented players on the roster he coached? Do you mean like that?
MARK DiGIOVANNA FROM LIBERTY HILL, TX: I'm excited about the hire of Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith. My only concern is all the talk about him working with Kenny Pickett and no talk about him getting an opportunity to work with Mason Rudolph, who was obviously the better quarterback last season. Does this mean the end of Mason Rudolph?
ANSWER: When Steelers President Art Rooney II said the team would like to have Mason Rudolph return to the team, I would recommend you view that "talk" as nothing more than "talk," while remembering the people talking are not the Team President.
JOE LaMOLINARE, ATLANTA, GA: I think it was obvious that Coach Mike Tomlin felt that Mason Rudolph gave the Steelers the best chance to win games at the end of the season vs. Mitch Trubisky. What are your thoughts on re-signing Mason Rudolph as the No. 2 quarterback and getting rid of Trubisky and looking into free agency or the draft for a third quarterback?
ANSWER: That's a possibility.
CARTER NIELSEN FROM SCHLESWIG, IA: Do you see any possibility of the Steelers taking a quarterback in one of the later rounds of the draft?
ANSWER: The same as the above scenario, that's also a possibility.
RON WILLIAMS FROM ASTORIA, OR: Before Corey Trice Jr. was placed on IR, he was looking pretty solid as a rookie cornerback potentially complementing Joey Porter Jr. Because Trice never played meaningful football in 2023, it is hard to evaluate him, but I would say there sure was a lot of potential developing. What are your thoughts on this young prospect?
ANSWER: During his college career, Cory Trice Jr. missed all but two games of Purdue's 2021 season because of a knee injury, and he was placed on the Steelers injured reserve list on Aug. 2, 2023, with another knee injury that Coach Mike Tomlin called "significant" at the time. While Trice was showing some potential during the offseason program and the first few days of training camp, it should be remembered he was a seventh-round pick (241st overall). In a preview about 2023 draft prospects, NFL.com wrote about him, "He is physical in coverage but lacks the same temperament in run support. His size and strength help impede the early stages of a route and smother possession throws underneath. He's a decent athlete but lacks ideal fluidity and speed to recover when beaten, so press and zone coverages are where he should live. While there are limitations, there is also room for technical growth to make him a better pro."
Maybe Trice is able to come back from a second knee injury to carve out a career for himself in the NFL, or maybe whatever edge he seemed to have will be lost because of that second knee injury. Rushing him back won't happen, and then it becomes an issue of whether Trice's inexperience will allow him to walk the fine line between rehabilitating an injury and not falling behind with the on-the-field stuff because of that rehabilitation. From the team's standpoint, I believe it would be overly optimistic to view Trice this offseason as a potential starter opposite Joey Porter Jr., or even as someone who will play significant regular season snaps in 2024, especially after not having seen him in any preseason games or really in even back-to-back training camp practices in pads. I'm not suggesting that Trice can't, or won't, but there should not be a sense that he's a guy who can be viewed as a second-year player once the 2024 offseason begins. He will be starting over, and this time starting over with two major knee injuries as part of his history.
