Watch Out for the Quiet Ones

Steelers' tight end Heath Miller passed Lynn Swann and now ranks fourth on the list of Steeler all-time receptions. And he did it, to the best of my knowledge, without ballet lessons. So I expected more fanfare. I expected more press coverage. I expected at least some water cooler conversations.

Not that Miller would create, expect, or even desire hoopla. Even his unofficial fan page hasn't been updated with the news yet, a week after the Cleveland game. Mr. Reliable is also Mr. Unassuming. He always acts like he's been there before. This may be why we can add Mr. Underrated to the list.

I wonder if Pittsburghers are so used to thinking of the Steelers of the 1970s as gods that we don't want to admit that sometime, somewhere, their records will be broken and, even worse, that those magnificent players will be forgotten. In some parts of the world, they already have been (not in Steeler Nation, of course). Dallas continues to believe they're America's Team; Green Bay won the title of most popular team in a poll earlier this year; and New England . . .  Oh, never mind. We'll deal with New England another time.

The interesting thing about Miller's achievement is that once he passed tight end Elbie Nickel earlier this season, there were only wide receivers ahead of him. He's likely to catch Louis Lipps next season, and will likely end up third on the list - Stalworth's 537 seems like a stretch, and Ward's 100 would require Miller to triple his current number (more or less - there's a reason I teach English).

And that's probably just fine with Miller. Maybe being underrated isn't so bad - after all, anyone who listens to any of the national announcers during Steeler games knows that it's who we are. If being underrated gets Miller to his current position, let's hope it gets the Steelers through the playoffs.