Ex-Steelers great Faneca could add more black and gold to 2020 Hall of Fame class

The man whose block produced the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history is hoping to complete his own lengthy journey this weekend, one that has taken more time to finish than he anticipated.

While it took just seconds for Willie Parker to find the end zone on his 75-yard scoring jaunt in Super Bowl XL, it is approaching the fifth annual vote to determine whether guard Alan Faneca will find his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Faneca and teammate Troy Polamalu, in his first year of eligibility, will learn Saturday night whether they will join their former coach, Bill Cowher, and four-time Super Bowl champion Donnie Shell as Steelers representatives in the 20-member Class of 2020.

Faneca and Polamalu are among the 15 modern-day finalists vying for the final five spots in the class. Cowher and Shell were elected earlier this month as part of the Centennial Slate that will be enshrined this summer in Canton, Ohio.

Faneca was scheduled to arrive in Miami, site of Super Bowl LIV, on Thursday to spend a few days unwinding with the other finalists until the voting totals taken Saturday afternoon are revealed on a national television broadcast.

Faneca likened the voting process to a “reality show” that his predecessors didn’t go through when they were waiting out the voting process.

“You’re backstage kind of hanging out with these Hall of Famers and they’re quizzing us about the process because they can’t believe it,” he said. “They were back home fishing and got a phone call or somebody called them up out of the blue to say they were in the Hall of Fame.”

The credentials for enshrinement stack in Faneca’s favor. Selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 1998 draft, Faneca spent the first 10 of his 13 NFL seasons with the organization. He was picked for the Pro Bowl nine times and was named a first-team All-Pro on six occasions.

“When you start out coming into the league from college, you’re setting goals for yourself, right?” Faneca said. “You want to be a starter, you want to make the Pro bowl, be All-Pro and move on. You like to have a long-term goal for yourself out there year after year.

“(The Hall of Fame) wasn’t literally hung up on the wall to stare at. but it’s something that’s been the end of the road.”

Faneca, though, fell short of enshrinement in his first four years of eligiblity. The 48-member voting electorate, faced with a logjam of offensive linemen in 2019, bypassed Faneca in favor of former New York Jets center Kevin Mawae.

Also making the group of finalists this year are two other holdovers on the line: tackle Tony Boselli, whose career was cut short after eight seasons, and guard Steve Hutchinson, whose career mirrors that of Faneca.

“We go to all the same dinners, luncheons and charity events in the days leading up to it, and we have our conversations and talk about it,” Faneca said. “We’ll see where it goes from there.”

Hutchinson’s chance at winning a Super Bowl was dashed by that 75-yard jaunt from Parker that was set up by Faneca. The block remains the seminal moment of Faneca’s career.

“Those are the fun moments of playing football,” Faneca said. “You play this game for Sundays. You don’t play it for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9-on-7 drills or training camp. You play it for Sundays, and I just enjoyed going out there and letting it loose.

“It’s nice to go out and show my kids and say, ‘This is what dad used to be doing.’ ”

Running back Jerome Bettis credits Faneca’s blocking with paving the way to his Hall of Fame selection. In Faneca’s 10 years with the Steelers, they finished in the top 10 in rushing eight times, including five finishes in the top five.

Cowher also is advocating for Faneca’s enshrinement.

“The one thing about Alan Faneca,” Cowher said, “we ran behind him on the left and ran to the right, too, because we pulled him. No one ran the ball better than we did. This guy also was a pass protector and a dominant player at his position.”