Ever since this year’s Hall of Honor announcement, I haven’t seen Aaron Smith name mentioned without the word “underrated” somewhere in the first paragraph. I even saw one writer call him “the greatest player many fans never heard of.”
Sure, Smith may not be well-known to football fans under 30 outside of the 412. And you may be hard-pressed to find a single 91 jersey on game day that doesn’t say “Greene” or “Tuitt” on the nameplate. But if you claim to be a tried and true member of the black and gold and haven’t already put him in the same echelon as other Steelers greats, you might be what Myron Cope used to call one of “Modell’s Meatballs.