First Call: Hornqvist, Kessel, Saad all salary ‘trade bait’? Hall of Fame voter’s strong endorsement of Bill Nunn
Nunn #Nunn
AP
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist looks to pass Feb. 16 during the second period of the team’s game against the Detroit Red Wings in Pittsburgh.
Friday’s “First Call” gives us a ringing endorsement of Steelers scout Bill Nunn and his posthumous chances of becoming a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Another Hall of Fame honor was bestowed during “Thursday Night Football.” Maurkice Pouncey’s twin brother needs surgery. And Saquon Barkley is responding to some criticism.
Plus, four familiar Pittsburgh hockey names may be on the move this NHL offseason.
Get it done for Nunn
Jeff Legwold is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review alum. He now covers the Denver Broncos for ESPN. He is also on the Pro Football Hall of Fame board of selectors.
This year, legendary Steelers scout Bill Nunn is a finalist selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame contributor committee for election to the Hall of Fame.
After a career as a sportswriter for the Pittsburgh Courier, Nunn spent 45 years with the Steelers front office and is largely responsible for mining under-publicized athletic talents from the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
It was Nunn who helped discover talents such as John Stallworth, Ernie Holmes, Dwight White, L.C. Greenwood, Mel Blount and Donnie Shell.
Legwold was on WDVE with Mike Prisuta and Matt Williamson on Thursday night. And he sounded optimistic about Nunn’s chances for election.
“The fact that he has come out as the contributor finalist gives him a stupendous chance to get in the Hall of Fame,” Legwold said. “Those candidates are vetted big time. Usually someone from that committee — or multiple people — will stand up and outline why that person was chosen.
“It’s a great chance. He’s a spectacular candidate.”
Legwold said he “hopes he gets enshrined,” underscoring the definition of why he should receive the honor.
“You have exactly what a contributor is. Did you make the game better in your career? Would people have a difficult time discussing the history of the league if you are not in the conversation?”
Without the existence of the Steel Curtain? Probably.
“He fulfills both of those things,” Legwold concluded.
Agreed, Jeff. This is about a quarter-century overdue. Let’s make it happen.
Elsewhere in “First Call”…
Speaking of the Hall of Fame
During Thursday night’s Cleveland Browns-Cincinnati Bengals game, play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck found out he was getting the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.
That broadcasting excellence award goes annually to someone for “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”
Buck has been broadcasting games on Fox for 19 years.
Poor Pouncey
Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey’s twin brother is done for the season.
Mike Pouncey is going to have surgery on his hip. Los Angeles Chargers general manager Tom Telesco made the announcement Thursday.
Pouncey is a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He’s all too familiar with injury problems.
He missed 11 games last year with a neck injury and 11 games in 2016 with a previous hip injury.
Tiki torched
On Wednesday, former New York Giants Pro Bowler Tiki Barber ripped Saquon Barkley for his pass blocking during the team’s Monday night 26-16 loss to the Steelers.
Upon hearing the criticism, the Penn State product responded Thursday.
“I’m not going to look at it as disrespect,” Barkley said via NJ.com. “I’m gonna look at it as a challenge. But it’s the same thing with him as everybody else: I don’t care about anybody’s outside opinions, I’m really only focused on the opinions in this building. I try to come to work every single day and get better.”
Pro Football Focus gave him a pass blocking grade of 25.5. That ranked him 69th of 76 eligible running backs in Week 1.
Pittsburgh pucks
TSN.ca’s Frank Seravalli came up with a list of 10 NHL players who may be on the move this offseason because of their contracts, i.e., veterans who can still play but may not be worth the salary cap room they are absorbing.
The list has a distinct Pittsburgh flavor.
Penguins winger Patrick Hornqvist is on it. So are former Penguins Phil Kessel and Brandon Sutter. Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad is as well.
You can see where each player ranks and Seravalli’s logic for ranking them here.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
More Breakfast With Benz Stories