Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh Steelers. (Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was surprised on the set of CBS’s NFL Today that he will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Shortly before kickoff of the AFC Divisional Round Game between the No. 1 Baltimore Ravens and the No. 6 Tennessee Titans, something truly amazing happened on the CBS pregame show, NFL Today. Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was surprised by David Baker, the President of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that he’ll be inducted in the 2020 class this summer.
This 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was to be an expanded one with 20 new inductees: the five normal modern-day finalists, 10 players from yesteryear, three contributors and two head coaches, one of which we now know is Cowher.
In 1992, Cowher replaced the legendary Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh. He went 161-99-1 in 15 years on the job. Pittsburgh made the AFC playoffs 10 times from 1992 to 2006, won the AFC Central/North eight times, won the AFC twice and won Super Bowl XL over the Seattle Seahawks at the end of the 2005 NFL season.
Even though Cowher has been out of coaching for over a decade, he is in his early 60s and at times has thought about getting back on the sidelines. But after this incredible moment on the NFL Today set, there’s no way he’s getting back into the coaching game. That’s because Cowher will have a bronze bust forever on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
It was a moment that caught everybody off-guard. Cowher didn’t seem to think this was really happening. We were all wondering the same thing before the Titans at Ravens game. “Did Bill Cowher really just get surprised on national television and be told he’s going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?” What a truly incredible moment. This what football is all about.