Faneca: 'Oh, man, they got me. Here we go'

Just last week, former Steelers great Alan Faneca told our Tom Reed about the disappointment there is when you go to the Super Bowl as a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and don't get the knock on your hotel room door from Hall of Fame president David Baker letting you know you've passed the muster for induction.

Faneca knew that feeling five years in a row.

This year things were quite a bit different for Faneca.

The knock didn't come at the Super Bowl. It came a couple of weeks ago at his home in Virginia. That didn't make it any less surprising.

Though Faneca's wife, Julie, knew before Baker and a film crew knocked on their front door to inform her husband of his Hall of Fame status, he didn't know. So when Baker knocked on their door, Julie Faneca snuck family members in the back door to be there as part of the celebration.

Faneca hadn't won Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. This was something better.

"Being surprised was definitely better than waiting in a hotel room for sure," Faneca said Sunday morning, about 12 hours after it was announced to the world that he would be a member of the 2021 Hall of Fame class.

"It was great. It was great to have family around, more family than normal. It was great to have them there. They got me. It was a complete surprise. I saw the boom mike right outside my window, just a little piece of it, right when David started pounding on the door. I was like, 'Oh man, they got me. Here we go.' "

That moment took away the sting of being passed over five previous times for enshrinement.

"Alan's wife was our co-conspirator in that," said Baker. "He had a lot of people who drove through the night to be there. One of the great moments for me was when you turned and saw your family and started hugging all of them. You're a very private guy, you don't show a lot of emotions. Immediately, they had your dad on the phone. And you have microphones in your face and cameras and everything going on, and it gets me right here (pointing to his heart) because of my two boys, to hear you say, 'I love you dad.' That was very, very cool."

Cool indeed. And a long time coming.

Faneca's wait for enshrinement wasn't as long as some. But it was long enough.

A 13-year veteran, 10 of which he spent with the Steelers, the nine-time Pro Bowl guard had Hall of Fame credentials all along. But because just five modern day candidates are elected each year, he found himself waiting each year, despite making the final cut to 10 in each of those years.

Each year, the 15 semifinalists are flown to the Super Bowl to be there at the ready if they get the knock. Each year, 10 would leave without getting it, instead receiving a phone call telling them they hadn't made the cut.

But Faneca will be inducted this year, along with a class that includes former Steelers front office man Bill Nunn Jr., quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Calvin Johnson, defensive back Charles Woodson, safety John Lynch wide receiver Drew Pearson and coach Tom Flores Aug. 5-9 in Canton, Ohio.

Also as part of that celebration, the 2020 Hall of Fame Class, which includes former Steelers safeties Troy Polamalu and Donnie Shell along with former head coach Bill Cowher will be inducted, as well. The Steelers also will play the Cowboys in the Hall of Fame game.

But the pandemic, which cancelled last year's Hall of Fame inductions, also made for a different process this year.

The vote was taken via Zoom call over two weeks ago. And then Baker went about the process of informing all of the inductees privately, one at a time, all in different parts of the country.

They were then sworn to secrecy until the official announcement at Saturday night's NFL Honors show.

"Keeping track of lies," Faneca said of the hardest part. "What lie did I tell this person? If they're smart, maybe they can figure something out. It was a lot of tip toeing."

But Faneca's wait wasn't all bad.

His three children are now more grown. They've been through the process in the past with their father, starting with the first year he was eligible in 2016.

Now, they're old enough to know exactly what's going on.

"The amazing technology we have with phones these days, they're always popping up memories," Faneca said. "We're getting all of these memories of photos popping up from trips to the Super Bowl. We've been bringing the kids, and you can see the kids growing through the pictures. 

"We were looking at the first one in San Francisco. My oldest, she was about nine at the time. The other ones were really little. They appreciate it and know so much more now. It's awesome to be able to share that with them rather than tell them the story. It's not the greatest that we had to wait, but it's all the same that we get to share and they get to enjoy it together."

The NFL Network will devote a show featuring Baker's knocks on the door of this year's class on Feb. 11.