25 best NFL players of all time from the SEC
By John Buhler
Dermontti Dawson
Center, Kentucky Wildcats
The offensive line is an ofter overlooked position group. However, when a player is elite at that position group, it’s hard to not recognize greatness. During the 1990s, there may not have been a better center in the NFL than the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Dermontti Dawson.
Dawson made seven trips to the Pro Bol and six All-Pro teams in his 13-year NFL career with the Steelers (1988-2000). While he never won a Super Bowl with Pittsburgh, he is one of the best to play for the franchise.
He was the master of angles and leverage concepts. Dawson was an offensive line tactician for years in the AFC and in the SEC for his hometown Kentucky Wildcats before that. He made quarterbacks like Bubby Brister and Neil O’Donnell better players because of his ability to keep the quarterback upright.
Dawson played in 184 regular season games for the Steelers, starting in 181 almost exclusively at center. From 1993 to 1998, there was nobody better in the middle of an NFL offensive line than Dawson. He won the chess match every week in the trenches and anybody that was paying attention knew that to be true.