Should Steelers Officially Retire More Jerseys?

Steelers Franco Harris Art Rooney II
Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II at the unveiling of the retired jersey display for running back Franco Harris, Aug. 19, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially unveiled their third retired jersey number display at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, adding Franco Harris’ No. 32 to the Coca-Cola Great Hall on the east side of the stadium, alongside Ernie Stautner’s No. 70 and Joe Greene’s No. 75.

The Steelers have a dozen other uniform numbers that they do not hand out, but have never officially retired. Ben Roethlisberger’s No. 7, Terry Bradshaw’s No. 12, Jerome Bettis’ No. 36, Troy Polamalu’s No. 43, Mel Blount’s No. 47, Mike Webster’s No. 52, Jack Lambert’s No. 58, Jack Ham’s No. 59, Dermontti Dawson’s No. 63 and Hines Ward’s No. 86 have all been taken out of circulation by the team.

RELATED: ‘He Deserves It’: Steelers RB Rocky Bleier Proud to Help Honor Franco Harris

The team has seemed content to make the official retirement process a slow one, but will Harris’ death just before his jersey was retired change the minds of those involved? Webster is already gone and other players from the 1970s are in their 70s. So should Art Rooney II and the team make these unofficial retirements official?

Alan Saunders of Steelers Now joined Jenna Harner, Chris Carter and Tim Benz on The Final Word to discuss the team’s strange approach to honoring its past. The group also broke down the Steelers’ second straight solid preseason win over the Buffalo Bills and took a look at the looming 53-man roster bubble.

Check it out:

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