Steelers Captain Adds Another Hall of Fame Moment to Career

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have a future Hall of Famer. At least a should-be future Hall of Famer.

Cam Heyward added another star to his resume, being named Second-Team All-Pro, marking his second second-team selection, adding two to his four First-Team All-Pro selections. He's also got seven Pro Bowls and a Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

An easy decision for Canton to make.

Cam Heyward is Way More Than Great

Throughout his entire career, Heyward has been a leader for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The players before him took him under their wing, showed up the Steeler Way, and prepped him to be the next legend. He's become that.

"He's had a special career. It needs no endorsement from me. He displays why he's special not only every weekend but every day. He is a Steeler through and through. He just is," head coach Mike Tomlin said on Heyward. "... He cares hard. Got big shoulders. He wants the responsibility of leading.He got trained by some awesome men of football a generation ago. I love having reunion weekends and seeing Cam's former teammates here. I love messing with him that way. But those guys, those middle-agedguys, guys like Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel and Aaron Smith, they view Cam's career with great pride because they were impactful in terms of his growth and development, and it's cool from their perspective to watch him do it with young guys like Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black, for example."

That's who Heyward is - a Steeler. A player who's going to put the extra effort in on every play, who's going to show up to work no matter what and be upset when he's not able to. A player who took what the greats before him taught and mastered it, preparing himself to dominate and then teach that domination to those after him.

It hasn't always been smooth, and there have been some hiccups, but Heyward's career is a spitting image of what being a Pittsburgh Steeler is.

Nov 2, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward watches the game against the Tennessee Titans during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images | Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

The Stats

Heyward finished the 2025 NFL regular season with 78 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, six pass deflections and a forced fumble. He played all 17 games as a 36-year-old defensive tackle.

His career totals now read: 796 tackles, 142 tackles for loss, 208 quarterback hits, 92 sacks, seven fumble recoveries, nine forced fumbles, 64 pass deflections, and two interceptions.

The Legacy

The legacy of Cam Heyward can be defined through being an 11-time captain for the Steelers, more than any player in franchise history outside of Ben Roethlisberger. It can be defined by highlight reels of him chasing players 20 yards past the line of scrimmage or batting passes with ease as they leave the quarterback's hand.

His legacy can be defined as the last remaining great of the 2010 Steelers and the first great of the 2020 Steelers. The player that helped carry the winning ways of one era into the next.

Heyward's legacy gets overlooked because of where his career has sat. He arrived in the midst of the James Harrison's and Troy Polamalu's, and bridged the gap for the T.J. Watt's and Minkah Fitzpatrick's.

But if you look at it from a whole, there have been few players in Steelers history that have dominated a football field for as long as Heyward has. Few who have accepted their role to be great and carried that torched with pride from start to finish. Few who have had less mistakes, less poor moments and more leadership quality than Heyward.

Nov 2, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward (97) greets fans after he game against the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Canton, Ohio

Whenever Heyward decides to hang up his cleats one last time, the Pro Football Hall of Fame shouldn't have much to think about.

Not every player in Canton, Ohio has a spotlight on him for his entire career. Most don't. That's exactly what Heyward's will be.

For most of his career, Heyward wasn't in the limelight. He wasn't the player the National Football League was talking about on a daily basis or national media was breaking down week-after-week.

He went to work, did his job, excelled and moved on to the next game. Exactly what the Steelers wanted him to do.

He'll be an easy decision for the Steelers Hall of Honor, but should be equally as easy for the committee to put into the Hall of Fame.

It's hard to think of many players in the league as deserving of seeing himself enshrined one day than Cam Heyward. And an All-Pro honor at 36-years-old only makes that more clear.

Cam Heyward is a superstar now, and should be a Hall of Famer later.

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the Pittsburgh Steelers