Heath Miller, Myron Cope headline 4-member Steelers' Hall of Honor class

The most decorated tight end and most colorful broadcaster in franchise history were selected to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Hall of Honor on Saturday. So were an unsung hero on the team’s offensive line in the Super ’70s and a do-it-all offensive threat from the 1950s.

The four-man group announced Saturday was composed of tight end Heath Miller, broadcaster Myron Cope, guard Sam Davis and receiver Ray Mathews.

The quartet — Miller is the only living member — will be honored Nov. 11, two days before the Steelers play the New Orleans Saints at Acrisure Stadium. Each member will receive a replica solid steel football.

“It’s always a difficult selection process eliminating guys who deserve to get in,” team president Art Rooney II said. “You have 20-25 names, and whittling it to four or five is tough, but I think we came up with a great class.”

Miller, who retired after the 2015 season, attended the ceremony at the Fred Rogers Center on the Saint Vincent campus.

“I knew this was in existence but didn’t give too much thought to one day being part of it,” Miller said. “Think about the legacy of the Steelers and the great players that have come through here. To be mentioned in the same area code with those guys is really hard to put into words what it means to me.”

Miller was hardly the biggest talker on teams that included Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward, Joey Porter and Antonio Brown, among others. But he was named a team MVP in 2012 and compiled the best stats of any tight end during his 11 seasons with the Steelers.

“I just love the fact that Heath worked in silence,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “You talk about a man of few words. Heath was a man of no words. Man, you felt the intensity in his demeanor and his play. I think it’s a unique thing when a quiet guy is still able to display intensity and you feel it in his presence.”

Miller finished as the franchise leader in receptions (592), yards (6,569) and touchdown catches (45) for a tight end. He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and played on the Super Bowl XL and XLIII championship teams.

“It was a perfect match,” said Miller, the 30th overall pick in the 2005 draft. “I couldn’t have picked a better team or city to come to. … I landed in a perfect spot.”

Miller still finds it amusing that fans chant “Heeeeeeaaath” when a tight end makes a catch. At first, though, he thought the attention was awkward.

“I would get random texts saying they are still chanting your name,” he said. “My first reaction was the tight ends are probably annoyed by that. To put it in perspective, the appreciation and love for the fans, it never went unappreciated by me. It meant a great deal that they chose that way to show the appreciation for the work I did for them.”

Cope, who died in 2008, served as color commentator for Steelers games from 1970 through 2004. He is perhaps most famous for creation of the Terrible Towel and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2005, the same year he received the Pete Rozelle Award for exceptional contributions to pro football in radio and television.

A decorated magazine writer before embarking on his broadcasting career, Cope became known for his catchphrases like “Yoi,” “Double Yoi” and “Gadzooks.”

“I do remember in the early days that a lot of people thought, why do you have that guy with the weird voice on the radio,” Rooney said. “He was one of a kind.”

Rooney noted that Cope is the first member selected to the Hall of Honor who never was employed by the Steelers.

Davis, who died in 2019, was a four-time Super Bowl champion during his 13 seasons with the Steelers, a career that began in 1967 before Chuck Noll’s arrival. An undrafted player, Davis ended up starting 114 of his 168 career games with the Steelers. He was a member of the franchise’s 50th anniversary all-time team.

“To Sam’s teammates, he was a superstar,” former Steelers tackle Larry Brown said in 2019 after Davis’ death.

Davis became the third member of the ’70s offensive line named to the Hall of Honor. He was preceded by Brown in 2019 and Jon Kolb last year.

“He came along a little slow and worked his way into being a foundation of that line,” Rooney said. “I always say that line doesn’t get the credit it deserved. It played as a unit for most of the time, and there was not much turnover. Sam was a key part of that. A captain, he had an important role on the team overall, and he’s the kind of guy we like to recognize.”

So was Mathews, who died in 2015. He played in the leaner days of the franchise’s history and enjoyed just two winning seasons out of the nine he spent with the Steelers from 1951-59. He started 91 games and appeared in 108 games, earning Pro Bowl selections in the 1952 and 1955 seasons. In each season, he led the NFL in yards per touch, and he led the league in punt return touchdowns in 1952.

In his time with the Steelers, Mathews rushed for 1,057 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught 233 passes for 3,963 yards and 34 touchdowns.

“I know my dad and grandfather used to talk about him and thought he was a great player,” Rooney said.

The Hall of Honor, founded in 2017, increased its membership to 49 with the addition of Miller, Cope, Davis and Mathews.