MARK THOMPSON FROM HUNTINGTON, WV: Please tell me if this is true. Saw on Facebook that Hines Ward was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Please tell me this is not a dream.
ANSWER: I wish it was true, but Hines Ward was not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025. The wide receivers who were among the Modern-Era finalists for election in 2025 were Torry Holt, Steve Smith Sr., and Reggie Wayne. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 was announced last Thursday, and it includes CB Eric Allen, DE Jared Allen, TE Antonio Gates, and WR Sterling Sharpe, who was elected as the Seniors candidate. None of the WRs who were among the Modern Era finalists were elected.

JEFF WELLER FROM COLUMBUS, OH: How is Sterling Sharpe getting inducted into the Hall of Fame and not Hines Ward? Ward has over 400 more catches than Sterling Sharpe. Plus there are Ward’s other attributes as a player – blocking, etc. I’m tired of the Steelers fatigue among the voters. Are there any other receivers with that many catches not in the Hall of Fame?
ANSWER: As I explained in the previous answer, Sterling Sharpe was elected to the Class of 2025 as the Seniors Candidate, and Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com wrote this about him: “Sharpe’s career was cut short by a congenital neck condition, but only Jerry Rice caught more passes and had more touchdown receptions in the 7-season span that Sharpe played. Though his career was shortened by health concerns, Sharpe didn’t miss a regular-season game – 112 in all. He was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and a three-time All-Pro selection.”

Hines Ward retired with 1,000 catches for 12,083 yards. The players with more than 1,000 catches not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame are Larry Fitzgerald (1,432) and Jason Witten (1,228), both of whom will be first-time eligibles next year, plus Anquan Boldin (1,076), Reggie Wayne (1,070), and Steve Smith Sr. (1,031). The players with more than 12,083 receiving yards are Fitzgerald and Witten, plus Smith Sr. (14,731), Wayne (14,345), Boldin (13,779), Torry Holt (13,382), Irving Fryar (12,785), Brandon Marshall (12,351), and Jimmy Smith (12,287)

KEITH MILLER FROM CANTON, NC: Totally unimportant question proving I need to get a life. If a team scores a touchdown just as time expires to end a quarter, does the extra point count in that quarter or the next? If they don’t score again in that next quarter, would the box score show a single point?
ANSWER: Points after touchdown, either the 1-point or 2-point versions, are untimed downs, and so if a touchdown was scored as time expired in a quarter the attempt would just be tacked on at that point. In the way the NFL records scoring plays, the touchdown and the point-after are not separated.

PETER HAMMERER FROM BALTIMORE, MD: In a recent Asked and Answered you were asked a question about the number of draft picks the Steelers would have, and you wrote that it will be 7 in the upcoming draft. Everything I’ve read said they will have 8: one in each of the first five rounds and three in the seventh. Please clarify.
ANSWER: I believe I was perfectly clear in the answer to that question. In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers will have 7 picks – 1 pick in each of the first 5 rounds, and the 2 picks in the 7th round.

ANDREW SCHERBIK FROM PORTSMOUTH, VA: We all know that the Steelers 1974 Draft Class was the greatest individual team draft in NFL history, with 4 Hall of Fame players drafted and one undrafted player also being elected to the Hall of Fame. How many other Hall of Fame players were drafted by other teams in that draft class?
ANSWER: Besides Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster, the only other player who was drafted in 1974 who went on to be voted to the Hall of Fame was TE Dave Casper, who was selected in the second round (45th overall) by the Oakland Raiders.

GEORGE TAYLOR FROM IRWIN, PA: I have a salary cap question. Has the NFL announced next year’s salary cap, and if not when do you expect it to be released? If a team trades for a player with a high cap hit can the team getting the player ask the trading team to eat some of the players salary?
ANSWER: The NFL has not yet released the 2025 salary cap. In 2024, the NFL released the salary cap on Feb. 23, and I would expect this year’s cap number to become known around the same time. As for your trade question, it is permissible for the acquiring team to ask the trading team to absorb some of the player’s salary in order to close a deal.

BRENT CORLEY FROM LOUISVILLE, KY: With the need at several positions such as running back, cornerback, wide receiver, and interior defensive lineman, can you see Pittsburgh drafting a wide receiver in the first round and possibly again in the later rounds, or might it be a combination of the draft and free agency? Not to mention the whole George Pickens situation, which I hope works out for the better.
ANSWER: I believe the Steelers must seriously consider spending premium draft picks (first three rounds) on defensive linemen. What they need there is a successor to Cam Heyward, or at least the next Stephon Tuitt. Wide receiver should be addressed, and with top-of-the-depth-chart types at that, but my thought is that it’s time for the defensive line to get some serious attention.

FRED MYERS FROM MORGANTOWN, WV: Why is the NFL Draft only limited to 7 rounds, where in the past there were several more rounds?
ANSWER: The shortening of the NFL Draft has been done three times since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, and it always has come via negotiations between the owners and players. At the time of the merger, the NFL Draft was 17 rounds, and it stayed that way until 1977 when it dropped to 12 rounds. Then in 1993 with the NFL in the process of adopting free agency tied to a salary cap, the draft was dropped to 8 rounds in 1993 and then to its present 7 rounds in 1994.During the negotiations to reduce the draft, it was generally the players union that was in favor, because the thinking was that fewer draft picks might translate into better job security for veteran players which then translated into higher wages.

PEGGY HAYMAN FROM SYRACUSE, NY: Will the Steelers be offering any packages for the game in Ireland?
ANSWER: On the Steelers.com homepage there is a link to a story accompanied by an Aer Lingus logo. Click on that, and you will be directed to a story headlined: “Steelers to play in NFL’s first regular season game in Ireland in ’25.” Within the body of that story, there will be a link to “Steelers FAQ.” Click on that link to be taken to a page that contains information on packages for the game in Dublin.

KEVAN McGUIRE FROM ISLE OF WHITHORN, SCOTLAND: I think I saw somewhere that the Steelers will be playing a regular season game in Dublin, Ireland in 2025. Have you any info about dates and how to get tickets? We were at Pittsburgh for the Chargers game on Sept. 22. It was Julie’s first game, and we had a great time.
ANSWER: Since it will be a regular season game that the Steelers will be hosing in Dublin, the NFL has control over the sale and distribution of tickets. The NFL is likely to announce more of the details regarding tickets to the game when it announces all of the dates and times of the 2025 NFL schedule, which typically happens in May.