Former Steeler Alan Faneca will go down as one of the best guards in team history. Tuesday he announced his retirement from the game, this after playing 10 seasons with the Steelers, and then a couple more with the Jets and then Cardinals.
Faneca left the black and gold after the 2007 season, joining the New York Jets with a mega deal. He had turned 30 that offseason, and the Steelers didn’t want to overpay for a guard on the downside of his career, even though the fans seemed to want him to stay and retire as a Steeler.
He made two more Pro Bowls with New York, and then moved to Arizona where he started all 16 games last season for the Cardinals. He will always be remembered for the key block in the 75-yard touchdown run by Willie Parker that gave the Steelers a 14-3 lead in Super Bowl XL.
“It hurt to leave, I’ll say that much. It hurt to leave. I did not want to leave Pittsburgh,” Faneca said on Sirius XM Radio Tuesday. “I had spent 10 years there and had a lot invested in the organization, enjoyed playing for it, had a lot of fun. I walked off that field and sat in my locker and I bawled for about 10 minutes after that last game when we lost to Jacksonville in the playoffs.”
Overall he went to nine Pro Bowls in his tremendous career, one that will always be remembered for his time with the Steelers, and might just end with a bust in Canton.
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DrGeorge
May 12, 2011 at 9:14 am
Faneca’s parting from the Steelers was unfortunately acrimonious because both sides were right; his market value was greater than the Steelers could prudently offer him to stay, and he joined the Jets for more money. The decision to leave was his. However, Steelers fans will always remember him as one of the greatest linemen who ever wore the black and gold. Because he could do it all, he made a good line even better. He was a true ‘freak of nature,’ a guy so physically talent that he exceeds all reasonable expectations. You can’t replace a guy like that, and we haven’t seen his like since. When he goes into Canton, and he will, I hope it is as a Steeler. We wish you all the best, Alan, for a long and happy life after football.