Steelers Announce The Addition Of 3 Greats To Their Hall Of Honor

Every year on the first Saturday of training camp, the Pittsburgh Steelers announce the newest members of their Hall of Honor. The Hall of Honor was introduced in 2017 by Steelers President Art Rooney II along with the late great Dan Rooney. To be considered, a player must be retired at least three years and played a minimum of three seasons for the Steelers. You must have also been a great member of the Pittsburgh community during your time with the Steelers. 

The initial class invited all of the Steelers who are inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. After that lengthy initial class, the Steelers have cut down the amount inducted over the past few years. Last year Ben Roethlisberger, Joey Porter Sr, and Maurkice Pouncey were the only members inducted. 

This year's class is also only three inductees. They include former General Manager Kevin Colbert, long-time offensive lineman Craig Wolfley, and 4-time Super Bowl champion, cornerback JT Thomas.

"When you're working toward keeping up the tradition and meeting the obligation to do that, you don't really think about everything else," Colbert told the Steelers official website. "Until it's over, you never really reflect on that because there was so much to do at a given moment. Afterward, you reflect on it and you think about all the great people you had the opportunity to encounter, to work with, to learn from. It's always going to be special, but with an honor like this, it's just brought to the forefront."

Colbert was the architect of the Steelers’ Super Bowl winning teams of the 2000s. His rosters helped lead the Steelers to two Super Bowl Championships and another Super Bowl appearance in 2010. He was also the man in charge when the Steelers drafted Roethlisberger, the most important selection of his era. 

Wolfley enters the Hall of Honor posthumously after his sad passing in March of 2025. Wolfley joined the Steelers as a draft selection in 1980 and spent most of his career in Pittsburgh playing there from 1980-1989. He contributed to the Steelers after his playing days were over joining the Steelers radio team in 2002. He started 102 games with the Steelers. 

Thomas joins many of his fellow teammates from the great Steel Curtain defense already enshrined in the Steelers Hall of Honor. Thomas is sometimes a forgotten man when it comes to those defenses, but his contributions deserve this recognition. 

"This means a whole lot to me," said Thomas of his selection to the Hall of Honor. "If I look at my life and the number of deposits that were made on my life by the Rooneys, by Mr. Art Rooney Sr. on down, it's just been amazing. What makes your life significant is all the people that make deposits in your life. Coming here from Macon, Georgia, I didn't know if I wanted to come here because they hadn't won much."

Making the Pro Bowl in 1976, Thomas started 125 games with the Steelers. He recorded 20 interceptions and played in three of the four Super Bowls of the 1970s only missing Super Bowl XIII after missing the entire season due to sarcoidosis. 

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