When it came to Bill Fralic’s blocking for the Pitt Panthers, there is no shortage of superlatives. A new statistic was coined, and a legendary offensive line coach gave a ringing endorsement.

The Pancake Block was created in Fralic’s honor, for the ferocity with which he flattened defenders. The late offensive line coach Joe Moore, who coached Lombardi Trophy winner Mark May, Pro Football Hall of Famers Russ Grimm and Jimbo Covert before him with the Panthers, called Fralic “the best” of all.

“He didn’t want to block you,” Pitt play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove said of Fralic, his former color analyst. “He wanted to embarrass you.”

Perhaps the greatest compliment, however, came from an opponent who was on the receiving end of Fralic’s brutal blocking.

“It’s like playing against a god,” Notre Dame defensive end Eric Dorsey said. “When you think of Pitt, you think of Bill Fralic.”

Same goes for No. 79 in Pittsburgh sports lore.

Larry Brown wore that number after switching from tight end — where he caught a fourth-quarter touchdown in Super Bowl IX — to right tackle for the Steelers. Brown is one of 22 players to win four Super Bowls with the Steelers and was enshrined in their Hall of Honor.

But the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Fralic was so dominant at Pitt — a two-time consensus All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist who started his career protecting Dan Marino and finished it opening holes for Craig “Ironhead” Heyward — that the Panthers retired his No. 79 jersey at halftime of his final home game at Pitt Stadium.

Fralic, who died from cancer in December 2018 at age 56, was a larger-than-life legend before he arrived at Pitt, first for playing with the mighty Morningside Bulldogs’ 15-year-old team when he was 11 and then after starring at Penn Hills’ two-time WPIAL football champions as a Parade All-American and WPIAL champion heavyweight wrestler.

Fralic was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998 and the inaugural WPIAL Hall of Fame class in 2007. He was drafted second overall in 1985 by the Atlanta Falcons and was a two-time All-Pro guard, a four-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade team.

Rick Gosselin of the Talk of Fame Network, who covered the NFL for four decades and is on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, made the case that Fralic deserves to be in Canton, as well.

“Bill Fralic is the best,” Moore said. “If you can find somebody better, bring him to me. I’ve been privileged to coach some good ones, but none better than Bill Fralic. Those kind pass through only once.”

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