First time should be a charm: Within the next few weeks, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is expected to announce Modern Era Semifinalists for the Class of 2026, with multiple Steelers still in the running.

One of them is center Maurkice Pouncey.

Pouncey, who is in his first year of eligibility and a member of the Steelers Hall of Honor Class of 2025, was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, the 18th overall pick. Shortly after Pouncey arrived at Saint Vincent College for his rookie training camp, he earned the starting job, and he held it from that day until he decided to end his NFL career.

“When I think of Maurkice Pouncey, I try not to get emotional because of how much he means to me,” said former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, also a member of the Hall of Honor Class of 2025. “No quarterback, no good quarterback can ever be successful without a great center. You look at (Terry) Bradshaw and (Mike) Webster and it goes down the list of all the greats that have had partnerships together. And that’s what we were. We were a great team. And that line up front just revolved around him. He was the centerpiece of the wheel that went as an offensive line. I voted him as MVP every year because as a quarterback it just wasn’t the same without him out there. I hated it when he couldn’t practice because I didn’t have my comfort blanket.

“He was a guy that just gave everything to this team, to me, to protecting me. And he put the work in, in the classroom. It was very evident. That guy was so smart. He could make every call, every change. It was like we were on the same page. Every time he would make a call, I was with him. If I made a call, we knew what each other were thinking.”

In his rookie season, Pouncey would stabilize a position previously held by journeymen Sean Mahan and Justin Hartwig for a team that went on to reach Super Bowl XLV. Pouncey was unable to play in the Super Bowl after injuring an ankle in the AFC Championship Game victory over the New York Jets. He won the Joe Greene Great Performance Award that season, given annually to the team’s Rookie of the Year by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America, becoming the first offensive lineman to win it since 2000.

“When you look at Maurkice Pouncey, I don’t think there’s any question that he is a Hall of Fame center,” said Hall of Fame Coach Bill Cowher. “His ability to do what he did at a very high level for an extended period of time. The high elite offenses that he played on. He was in a long lineage of great centers with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Going back from Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, Jeff Hartings. Maurkice Pouncey once again proves that he is a legacy in the making. He’s a guy that belongs in the Hall of Fame, no question about it. Not only what he did at a high level, but he did it for a long period of time on a very, very good offense. Maurkice Pouncey belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Pouncey didn’t need much time to establish himself as a starter in the NFL, and he quickly built on his growing resume. He became the first center in NFL history to be selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons (2010-12) and went on to be a nine-time Pro Bowl selection. He was twice voted first-team Associated Press All-Pro (2011, 2014) and was a second-team AP All-Pro selection three times (2010, 2012 and 2018).

Pouncey was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 2010s, an honor Steelers Hall of Fame center Mike Webster earned in the 1970s and 1980s, with a spot on an All-Decade team typically leading to being enshrined in Canton.

Pouncey was a steady leader on offense, someone who guided the younger players while still showing a shining example for even the most seasoned veterans. It was that leadership that had his teammates select him as an offensive team captain four times (2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020).

“That guy is a high energy, high effort, super smart football player,” said Roethlisberger. “And I just don’t think I’ve ever seen a lineman, especially a center like him. And that’s why he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

“He’s one of the best to ever do it. He’s a guy that when he was out there, you knew you always had a chance. And for a quarterback to have a guy like that, that you believe in, trust in, and know that everything he does is 110%, Maurkice Pouncey is a Hall of Famer in every way.”