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Jack Butler, Dermontti Dawson To Become Hall Of Famers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- When you enter the newly remodeled Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio, you're entering what is now quickly becoming a shrine to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"There's been a lot of Steelers elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In fact, they have the third most members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame with 20," Joe Horrigan , VP of communications for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said.

"The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers are just slightly ahead of the Steelers and that's really more because of their length of time in the league. The Bears have been around since 1920 and the Packers since '21."

All of the Steeler greats are enshrined forever starting with the chief Art Rooney, the great defensive members of the Steel Curtain including Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount and perhaps the greatest of them all Joe Green.

And now one of the greatest unrecognized cornerbacks in NFL history will be inducted, Pittsburgh's own Jack Butler.

From 1951 to 1959, Jack was the premiere cornerback of his era and was a threat to any quarterback who dared to pass against him.

Today he would be making multiple millions of dollars a year, but Jack's compensation was just fine as he was concerned.

"My first year I made $4,000. Nine years later, I made $12,000, so my average, if you, what averaged them out some way, say I'd got a thousand dollars year raise – I made like $8,000 a year," he said.

The great offensive players include Super Bowl IX MVP Franco Harris, Super Bowl X MVP Lynn Swan, John Stallworth and four-time Super Bowl winning quarter back Terry Bradshaw.

And now joining Mike Webster is the man who replaced him at center, Dermontti Dawson.

"I just tried to look at Mike and see what he did, you know, Mike was the first one in the weight room you know I thought I was pretty early getting into the weight room, but Mike was always there before I was," he recalled.

"I just looked at Mike and just see how he kind of approached everything and you know I just tried to emulate some of the things that Mike did."

He replaced a legend he was a perennial All-Pro and he played in Super Bowl XXX, but there is one element of his career that Dermontti will tell you he is most proud.

"The thing that I'm proud the most of is being a Steeler my whole career, retiring a Steeler and not going somewhere else," he said.

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