Steelers All-Quarter Century Team: Several current and future Hall of Famers headline legendary roster

Already the team of the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers have added to their rich history during the first 25 years of the 21st century. 

Since 2000, the Steelers have won two more Super Bowls and in the process became the first franchise to win the big game six times. Pittsburgh has also captured three AFC titles, 10 division titles, 16 playoff berths and compiled 19 winning seasons over that span. Since 2000, the Steelers have had just one losing season (2003). Pittsburgh’s current run of 21 consecutive non-losing seasons is tied for the longest such streak in NFL history. 

Along with winning, the Steelers have continued their tradition when it comes to having Hall of Fame-caliber players. Pittsburgh has already had three players from this century inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that number will undoubtedly increase in a few years when Ben Roethlisberger is eligible for induction. 

With the 2025 season on the horizon, CBS Sports has compiled a Steelers All-Quarter Century Team. To help construct this 53-man roster, we enlisted the help of Jim Wexell, the creator of Steel City Insider and a 30-year veteran of the Steelers beat. 

Before we get started, it’s important to note that this isn’t simply a rundown of the Steelers’ best players since the year 2000. The list was made with the thought of creating the best-possible 53-man roster comprised of Steelers players from over the past 25 years. 

Quarterback (3) 

Starter

Reserves

Because the Steelers always have three quarterbacks on their roster, it was a no-brainer to have three QBs included in our 53-man roster. Also a no-brainer was the decision to make Roethlisberger the team’s QB1. He is, after all, a two-time Super Bowl champion and the holder of just about every franchise passing record. Roethlisberger is currently fifth all time in career passing yards, eighth in career touchdown passes and fifth in most career wins by a starting quarterback. 

Stewart’s selection was less obvious, but as Wexell pointed out, the player formally known as “Slash” exceeded just about every expectation when he helped lead the Steelers to within a game of the Super Bowl in 2001. With Stewart’s ’01 season in mind, Wexell noted that if Rodgers is able to help the Steelers host this year’s AFC title game, he too will have exceeded expectations. 

Running back (4)

Starter 

Reserves

The franchise’s second all-time leading rusher, Bettis was the emotional leader behind the Steelers’ 2005 Super Bowl run. A year earlier, Bettis came off the bench to help Pittsburgh win a franchise-record 15 regular-season games en route to earning his sixth and final Pro Bowl nod. 

Parker, Bettis’ teammate during his final two seasons, was the Steelers’ starting running back during their two most recent two Super Bowl wins. His 75-yard run in Super Bowl XL continues to stand as the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history. 

Bell never won a Super Bowl, but he did spearhead the Steelers’ most recent run to an AFC title game. Bell holds franchise records for most rushing yards in a regular-season game (236), in a playoff game (170), and the most all-purpose yards in a single season (2,215 yards in 2014). 

Kreider played eight seasons in Pittsburgh and was a member of its 2005 Super Bowl team. He just edged out Roosevelt Nix, a 2017 Pro Bowler who helped open up holes during Bell’s prime years. 

Tight end (3)

Starter

Reserves

Regarded as the franchise’s greatest tight end, Miller is the only tight end in team history to be voted by his teammates as their Most Valuable Player, an honor he received in 2012. Freiermuth, who signed a four-year extension last September, could be in line for a big 2025 season with the recent acquisition of Rodgers. Spaeth made the list largely for his blocking prowess. He served as Miller’s backup during the Steelers’ most recent Super Bowl win. 

Wide receiver (6)

Starters

Reserves

Anyone who has followed the Steelers over the years knows how stacked they’ve typically been at receiver. At the top of this list century is Ward and Brown, two vastly different players who left very different impacts with the franchise. 

Ward’s legacy is helping deliver two Super Bowl titles to Pittsburgh. Arguably the best blocking receiver of all time, Ward also caught 1,000 passes during his career for over 12,000 yards. His biggest catch was the game-clinching score in Super Bowl XL that helped him clinch MVP honors. 

Brown is actually second to Ward in the Steelers’ career record book for catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches. Brown dominates when it comes to franchise single-season records, though. He has the four-highest single-season receiving yardage totals in team history. His 2015 season may never be duplicated. That year (despite Roethlisberger missing four games and parts of four others due to injuries), Brown caught 136 passes for 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns. An incredible year by arguably the greatest receiver of the 2010s. 

Holmes’ time in Pittsburgh was short, but it was certainly impactful. In 2008, Holmes led the Steelers to their most recent Super Bowl win after he caught nine passes for 123 yards that included the game-winning score in Super Bowl XLIII. Holmes joined Ward and Hall of Famer Lynn Swann as Steelers wideouts to win Super Bowl MVP honors. 

Wallace was a home run threat who helped the Steelers advance to Super Bowl XLV. Burress was also a deep threat who helped Roethlisberger have instant success as a rookie. Metcalf is slated to follow in their footsteps as a big-play receiver. 

Offensive line (9)

Starters 

Reserves 

Pittsburgh’s line includes a current Hall of Famer in Faneca and a possible future Hall of Famer in Pouncey. Faneca’s crushing block helped spring Parker loose for his 75-yard touchdown run in Super Bowl XL. Pouncey, despite missing virtually two full seasons due to injury, was still a nine-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro and a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s. 

DeCastro, a 2012 first-round pick, was also a perennial Pro Bowler before injuries cut his career short. He and Pouncey were part of a dominant offensive line that also included Gilbert and Villanueva, a two-time Pro Bowler who prior to his NFL career was a decorated member of the United States Army after serving several tours of duty during the War in Afghanistan. 

Fautanu and Frazier were selected based on their promising potential. Frazier is coming off an impressive rookie campaign that saw him start in 16 of a possible 18 games. Fautanu, a 2024 first-round pick, is slated to start at right tackle this year after an injury cut his rookie season short after just one game. 

Defensive line (7) 

Starters 

Reserves 

• Kimo von Oelhoffen (DE)
• Stefon Tuitt (DE)
• Brett Keisel (DE)
• Chris Hoke (DT/NT)

Smith and Hampton were recent inductees into the Steelers Hall of Honor, and for good reason. Smith was an incredibly consistent player who was productive as a run suffer and as a pass rusher throughout his 13-year career. Hampton, best known in Pittsburgh as “Big Snack,” feasted on smaller interior linemen throughout his 12-year career. His ability to clog up the middle of the line of scrimmage was a key reason for Pittsburgh’s defensive success during the 2000s. 

Heyward, in addition to being a shoo-in for future induction into the Steelers Hall of Honor, may also be bound for Canton, Ohio, someday. A seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, Heyward is second to only to T.J. Watt on the Steelers career sack list. Last year — after an injury-plagued 2023 season — the seemingly ageless Heyward had eight sacks while returning to his usual Pro Bowl form. 

A former teammate of Heyward, Tuitt was a productive player (he had a career-high 11 sacks in his final season) before he retired early at age of 27. Keisel and Hoke were key contributors on two Super Bowl-winning teams. The Steelers had a 17-1 record in regular-season games where Hoke was part of the starting lineup. 

Linebacker (9)

Starters 

Backups 

You won’t find a better linebacking corps better than this one, especially on the outside. The Steelers’ starting lineup includes two Defensive Player of the Year winners (Watt and Harrison) and two backups who played pivotal roles in Super Bowl wins. 

Harrison, whose 100-yard pick six in Super Bowl XLIII is one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history, was the Steelers’ single-season and career sack leader until he was surpassed in both categories by Watt, whose 22.5 sacks in 2021 tied the single-season NFL record. Their backups — Porter, Woodley and Gildon — combined to amass 194 sacks during their years with the Steelers that included seven seasons with at least 10 sacks. 

The Steelers’ inside linebackers aren’t too shabby, either. Farrior, a two-time Super Bowl champion, is quite possibly the best free agent acquisition in franchise history. A recent Steelers Hall of Honor inductee, Farrior compiled 1,085 tackles, 30 sacks, 11 interceptions, 12 forced fumbles and 10 fumble recoveries during his 10 years in Pittsburgh. He is flanked in the starting lineup by Shazier, who earned consecutive Pro Bowl nods before an injury prematurely ended his career. 

Safety (4) 

Starters

Backups

• Ryan Clark (FS)
• Chris Hope (FS/SS) 

Receiver and outside linebacker might be the Steelers’ deepest positions, but Pittsburgh also has a pretty elite set at starting safeties in Polamalu and Fitzpatrick. Polamalu is a first-ballot Hall of Famer who was as unique as he was exciting to watch. He made the unnatural plays look routine, like when he leaped over the line to stuff Joe Flacco in a playoff game or when he made a fingertip interception against Philip Rivers. 

Like Polamalu, Fitzpatrick is a versatile player who also makes the great play look boring. While he has the ability to be a ball magnet, Fitzpatrick is also an exceptional tackler who is willing to play up in the box if that’s what is asked of him. He made 124 tackles in 2021 when he was asked to do more in run support. A year later, after he was given the green light to be more of ball hawk, Fitzpatrick led the NFL with six interceptions that included his fourth career pick six. He was named to the Pro Bowl both years. 

Cornerback (5)

Starter 

• Ike Taylor 
• Deshea Townsend 

Reserves

From a talent standpoint, Haden probably deserves to start over either Taylor or Townsend. What gave them the edge over Haden was the fact that both players provided quality play for two Super Bowl-winning teams. Taylor was specifically stellar during Pittsburgh’s 2005 playoff run that included a big interception late in Super Bowl XL. Townsend’s most memorable play as a Steeler was his pick six that sealed Pittsburgh’s win over the Cowboys during the 2008 regular season. 

A decade later, Haden recorded his own memorable interception at Heinz Field that helped Pittsburgh get a rare win over Tom Brady’s Patriots. McFadden, who played alongside Taylor and Townsend, also came up big during the Steelers’ 2005 playoff run. Porter — who has made his share of big plays during the first two years of his career — is looking to follow in their footsteps 

Special teams (3) 

The greatest kicker in franchise history, Boswell has made 88% of his regular-season field goal attempts and each of his 17 postseason attempts. He was a perfect 6 of 6 in Pittsburgh’s 18-16 win over the Chiefs in the 2016 divisional round, the franchise’s last playoff win. 

Johnston has only played in one game for the Steelers, but — based on Wexell’s observations from spring practice — the 33-year-old has recovered from last year’s season-ending injury and is in position to have a big year for the black and gold. 

The selection of Warren was an easy choice given that he was Pittsburgh’s long snapper for 12 years that included three Super Bowl runs. 

Coach: Mike Tomlin 

We could debate all day between Tomlin and his predecessor, Bill Cowher. Both have one Super Bowl win, two Super Bowl appearances and over a half-dozen division titles. If you wanted to make an argument for Cowher, you could say that he only had Roethlisberger for the final three years of his run in Pittsburgh and got to one Super Bowl and four AFC title games with good but not great quarterbacks. Conversely, Tomlin had Big Ben as his QB during each of his first 15 seasons in Pittsburgh (although Roethlisberger did miss most of the 2019 season due to an injury). 

As far as this team is concerned, Tomlin was a rather easy choice because he has been the Steelers’ coach for the majority of this century. This year will mark his 19th season as Steelers coach, whereas more than half of Cowher’s coaching career took place before the year 2000. 

Tomlin, 53, has proven that he can consistently churn out competitive seasons at a historic rate. His 18 straight non-losing seasons to begin his career are the most in NFL history. And while it’s fair to say that Tomlin at times has not gotten the most out of his more talented rosters, he has often gotten more out of teams that weren’t expected to do as much. Several times, his teams have also climbed out of considerable holes to salvage either a winning season or a playoff berth (or both). 

Some may criticize Tomlin for “only” winning one Super Bowl and for the team’s current drought without a playoff win. Those are fair criticisms. That being said, Tomlin’s remarkable consistency and his ability to continuously keep the Steelers among the NFL’s upper echelon are feathers on his proverbial cap that will likely lead to his future Hall of Fame induction.