Dermontti Dawson paved the road to the Hall of Fame for Steelers teammate Alan Faneca
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As Alan Faneca awaits his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction, it’ll be easy for Pittsburgh football fans to conjure up memories of another Steelers Hall of Famer.
Former center Dermontti Dawson.
Both Dawson and Faneca have secured their spots as elite NFL offensive linemen. Both got to play in at least one Super Bowl with the Steelers. By the end of the weekend, both will have gold jackets in their closets.
And both deserved to receive them long before they eventually did.
Based on some of the comments Faneca has made in advance of his induction Sunday, Dawson will be very much at the forefront of his mind as well.
In a recent interview leading up to the enshrinement weekend in Canton, Faneca discussed how much Dawson shaped his career in Pittsburgh.
“I was never the kid who grew up and pointed at somebody and said, ‘I want to be that guy. That’s who I want to be when I grow up,’” Faneca said. “Then here I am. I’m a grown man. I’m with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I get a couple of weeks around Dermontti. And I said, ‘I want to be this guy. I want to be what he means to this organization.’
“The things he was able to do, I still don’t understand how he was able to do it.”
Faneca said Dawson’s influence began during one of his first practices as a rookie in 1998. By that point, Dawson was a 10-year NFL veteran and a five-time All-Pro.
“The job was for Dermontti and me to pull,” Faneca recalls. “I was (thinking), ‘No way Dermontti gets this guy.’ I totally ignored what (our coaches) had said. And I blocked down on a two-technique which was just inside of me.”
Faneca says his coaches did not react kindly to the rookie doubting Dawson’s abilities to pull.
“The coaches yell at me and tell me to get out of there,” Faneca continued. “We get back down on the line of scrimmage again. I do the same thing. No way Dermontti is able to get this guy. He’s totally a man removed from him. Same thing happens. Coach comes over and starts yelling at me, ‘Just go!’ So I said, ‘OK. I’m just pulling.’”
At that point, Faneca said he allowed himself to see and believe.
“Sure enough, I pulled the next time and looked back there and Dermontti not only has the guy. But totally whooped him and sealed him off. And I was like, ‘Alright, hands off. Dermontti has got it from there.’ That was an eye-opening day for me watching him do that. And from that point forward, I have always had my eyes on him.”
Upon hearing that story, Dawson was flattered.
“It’s an honor and a compliment,” Dawson said on Friday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast. “It was kind of a similar situation with me when I came in as a rookie playing guard next to (Hall of Fame center) Mike Webster. Then Mike left after my rookie year in 1988 and went to Kansas City. I wanted to be like Mike. Because I wanted to see how he prepared.”
Dawson’s admiration for Faneca is mutual, claiming he saw the potential for greatness in Faneca early in his rookie season.
“Alan wasn’t intimated as far as the veterans were concerned,” Dawson said. “He had a little swagger about himself. You could tell he was a good athlete in practice. He came in and showed us what he could do, and he fit right in. He had a storied career.”
Dawson says Faneca’s confidence allowed his physical abilities to shine quickly in the NFL.
“He was kind of nasty, and he wasn’t intimidated by anybody,” Dawson said. “He had a confidence about himself, an air about himself. And it showed. Even in his rookie year.
“I wish I wouldn’t have gotten hurt and had to retire (after the 2000 season) and we could’ve played a few more years together. We could’ve done some great things in Pittsburgh in that time.”
Also in our podcast, Dawson talks about what it was like to be coached in Pittsburgh by Bill Cowher, another Hall of Fame inductee this weekend. He recalls waiting almost as long for induction (four years) as Faneca did (six years). And what it was like to watch Faneca gel so quickly with Jeff Hartings, who took over at center after Dawson’s retirement.