Team HATE: Defense

With the bye week this week, we decided to do something a little different here at the blog. 

In the build-up to the Ravens game, we saw a lot of accolades flying around for a lot of players on the Ravens team. Not that this was a problem for us, there are guys on the team we respect; namely Anquan Boldin. But that got us thinking: what players around the league are most respected and most hated by Steelers fans? A natural progression of that was to wonder which players were the most hated.

So we reached out on Twitter, Facebook, and on the blog to collect "rosters" for both Team Hate and Team Respect. We'll be unveiling the teams over the next few days.

The only rule for the rosters was that they could not include any current or former Steelers, which meant players like Alan Faneca, Joey Porter, Chris Hope, and Nate Washington (amongst others) were out of contention.

In addition to our roster, we had 6 people submit rosters for the project, so a shout-out of thanks to: Anthony (@pinkfrizzy), Mike (@killam1ke), James (Black and Gold World), Cotter (One For the Other Thumb @OFTOT), Cory (Three Rivers Burgh Blog, @ThreeRiversBlog) John H, and Ian's Dad. 

We allowed everyone to vote for 1 player per starting position and include 5 "Honorable Mentions" on their roster. A "Starting" vote was worth 1 point, and Honorable Mention worth a half a point. The players with the most points officially made the roster.

Today, we announce the final unit, the Defensive lineup for TEAM HATE.

Defensive End

Dwight Freeney (2 votes)

Richard Seymour (1 vote)

Others Receiving Votes:

Gerald Warren (1)

Darnell Dockett (1)

Leonard Little (1)

Jared Allen (1)

Osi Umenyora (1)

Antwaan Odom (1)

Frostee Rucker (1)

Robert Mathis (1)

Defensive Tackle

Albert Haynesworth (6 votes)

Shaun Rogers (1 vote)

Others Receiving Votes:

Kevin Williams (1)

Vince Wilfork (1)

Tank Johnson (1)

Outside Linebacker

Terrell Suggs (5 votes)

Keith Bulluck (3 votes)

Others Receiving Votes:

Shawne Merriman (2)

Nick Barnett (1)

Inside Linebacker

Ray Lewis (6 votes)

Brian Urlacher (2 votes)

Others Receiving Votes:

Bart Scott (2)

Cornerback

Rasheen Mathis (5 votes)

Cortland Finnegan (3 votes)

Others Receiving Votes:

Adam "PacMan" Jones (2)

Fabian Washington (1)

Darrelle Revis (1)

Champ Bailey (1)

Antonio Cromartie (0.5)

DeAngelo Hall (0.5)

Safety

Ed Reed (4 votes)

Bob Sanders (2 votes)

Others Receiving Votes:

Brandon Merriweather (1)

Chris Crocker (1)

Brodney Pool (1)

Punter

Dave Zastudil (1 vote)

Others Receiving Votes:

Sam Koch (1)