Former NY Jets guard Alan Faneca elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Former NY Jets‘ guard Alan Faneca is on his way to Canton as the longtime Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

Faneca was one of the most accomplished and successful linemen of his era, having made it to nine consecutive Pro Bowls and earning six first-team All-Pro nods to go along with two second-team All-Pro selections.

A first-round pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Faneca originally made a name for himself playing for the Steelers where he helped lead one of the best offensive units in the league.

In total, Faneca played 10 seasons in Pittsburgh. In all but one of those seasons, the Steelers had a top-10 rushing attack led by the likes of Jerome Bettis and others. Faneca played an integral role in their success.

He helped lead the team to a victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL before leaving to join the Jets prior to the 2008 season. And in New York, he continued his stretch of dominance.

Alan Faneca continued his excellence with the NY Jets

Joining the likes of D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold, Brandon Moore, and Damien Woody, Faneca helped form the NFL’s best offensive line, a unit that led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in 2009.

Former running back Thomas Jones put together the best year of his career at age 31 rushing for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns, helped out by Faneca’s continued impressive play.

Faneca only spent two seasons with the Jets before briefly playing a season in Arizona, but his legacy lives on. The former LSU star was named to the NFL’s 2000s All-Decade team and is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team.

And now, he can call himself a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

This marks the third year in a row that a former Jets player has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Last year, offensive tackle Winston Hill was inducted as one of the 15 Centennial Slate members alongside safety Steve Atwater who spent the final year of his career with the Jets.

Needless to say, Hill was certainly the more notable former Jet.

And in 2019, longtime center Kevin Mawae was inducted as well as former defensive back Ty Law who spent two seasons with the Jets. Darrelle Revis is the next notable former Jets player who might be inducted as Revis is eligible beginning in 2023.

Congratulations to Alan Faneca on being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A well-deserved honor for one of the greatest offensive linemen of the past 20+ years.