MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
First of all, isn’t the Washington-Jefferson-Roosevelt-Lincoln Mount Rushmore good enough? Why must we be so pee-wee football, “Well, the big kids have it so it’s not fair for the little kids not to have it” as a society? The participation trophy mindset remains a pox on us all.
That said, even though it all feels so ESPNy (i.e. blech!), NFL Throwback recently released its “Mount Rushmore” for every NFL team, meaning the four best players in its estimation in the history of each NFL franchise.
In fairness, this whole Mount Rushmore thing is a talking point for fans and in-the-conversation is what the NFL wants the NFL to be 365/24/7, so, as usual, they’re onto something here with training camp right around the corner.
Close to home, the NFL’s Mount Rushmore for the Pittsburgh Steelers consists of quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger, linebacker Jack Lambert and defensive tackle Joe Greene.
Certainly worthy cases can be made for linebacker Jack Hamm, running back Franco Harris (who authored what is likely the greatest and most famous play in NFL history), cornerback Mel Blount and safety Troy Polamalu, but overall, I think the Steelers’ selections are spot on.
It is particularly good to see Bradshaw get some just shout-out, which should sound odd, but it has long boggled my mind that the first quarterback to win four Super Bowls has generally been taken for granted for so long, which I believe Terry Bradshaw has been.
As for Greene, he must have been the first player selected as he is the player who started it all for the great Steelers dynasty of the 1970s and ‘80s, while Jack Lambert has long been the standard for the position of NFL linebacker and, frankly, the poster boy for those great Steelers defenses.
I also fully agree with the NFL’s choices for the Washington Redskins/Commanders of quarterback Sammy Baugh, cornerback Darrell Green, fullback John Riggins and receiver Art Monk.
Sure, a case can be made for quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, who for decades was the most popular player in franchise history, not to mention receivers Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor, and even offensive linemen Russ Grimm and Joe Jacoby.
All but Jacoby are Hall of Famers, and it’s a crime that Jacoby isn’t; but overall the Washington selections are the most just that could have been made, beginning with Baugh, who may have been the best all-around player in NFL history. Look it up …
Where I have some problems (though not the kind I’d have to talk to someone about) is with the Baltimore Ravens’ Mount Rushmore. Not at all with linebacker Ray Lewis, safety Ed Reed and offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden. They remain the best and most important players in franchise history.
My disagreement is with current quarterback Lamar Jackson being selected over former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
This is not something I enjoy disputing because I am a big fan of Lamar Jackson and for all he means to the Ravens and the league. He is an electrifying player and a record-holding standard for the current and future quarterback position, and he is also the two-time Most Valuable Player of the NFL. I understand this, and I understand he is the key to any heights the Ravens may or may not reach.
It’s just that after six seasons, we’re still waiting to see what those heights might be, as his record in the playoffs as the starting quarterback is a terribly disappointing 2-4.
Joe Flacco, on the other hand, spent 11 seasons with the Ravens and passed for 38,245 yards with 212 touchdowns and 136 interceptions. He led the Ravens to the postseason six times, including three AFC Championship Games.
He is best remembered for his performance in the 2012 postseason when he had 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions and led the Ravens to the win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, where he was named MVP. Flacco’s record in the playoffs as the Ravens’ starting quarterback was 10-5, and he was a dropped Lee Evans touchdown pass away from another Super Bowl in 2011.
Other than Flacco, former outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, the Ravens’ all-time sacks leader, seven-time Pro Bowler and AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 2011, is likely the only other Ravens player who deserved consideration.
Suggs was a player who may well join Lewis, Reed and Ogden in the Hall of Fame one day. And this is not to say Lamar Jackson won’t join them there one day as well.
Yet this shouldn’t be about what may be; it should be about what already is, and what it is is this: The facts and the history outweigh the eye test, until the eye test begins to produce results.
Joe Flacco is the best quarterback and one of the four most important players in Baltimore Ravens history.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @MikeBurkeMDT