steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Northern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team has appeared in six Super Bowls and is, with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, one of three teams to have won five of them. They have also appeared in thirteen Conference Championship Games, winning six. They are the only team in NFL playoff history to win a Super Bowl after being seeded sixth in the playoffs, winning three consecutive games on the road followed by a Super Bowl victory in Detroit on February 5, 2006. They enter the 2006 regular season as the reigning Super Bowl Champions.

Originally named the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team, along with the Philadelphia Eagles and the now-defunct Cincinnati Reds football team, joined the NFL as 1933 expansion teams, after Art Rooney, Sr. paid a $2,500 fee. The team was renamed the Steelers in 1941 after the city's prominent steel industry to reflect the "blue-collar worker" ethic of the many Pittsburgh fans as well as to avoid confusion with the major league baseball team with the same name.

The Steelers have conducted summer training camp at nearby Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania every season since 1967, before this they conducted them at South Allegheny County Park and Duquesne University.

Franchise history

The Pittsburgh NFL team first took to the field on September 20, 1933, losing 23-2 to the New York Giants. Through the 1930s the Pirates never finished higher than second place in their division, or with a record better than .500 (1936). Pittsburgh did make history in 1938 by signing Byron White, a future justice on the U.S. Supreme Court to what was at the time the biggest contract in NFL history, but he only played one year with the Pirates before signing with the Detroit Lions.

In 1941, the team was renamed the Steelers after the city's prominence as a steel-making center. But the team maintained a long history of futility for the next three decades.

During World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises in order to field a team. During the 1943 season, they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles forming the "Phil-Pitt Eagles" and were known as the "Steagles". This team went 5-4-1. In 1944 they merged with the Chicago Cardinals and were known as "Card-Pitt" and derisively known as the "Car-Pitts" or "Carpets", as they finished the season winless.

The Steelers made the playoffs for the first time in 1947, tying for first place in the division at 8-4 with the Philadelphia Eagles. This forced a tie-breaking playoff game at Forbes Field, which the Steelers lost 21-0. That would be Pittsburgh's last playoff game for 25 years, though the Steelers did qualify for a "Playoff Bowl" in 1963 as the second best team in their conference, though not considered an official playoff.

Their luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll. Noll's most remarkable talent was in his draft selections, taking Hall of Famers "Mean" Joe Greene in 1969, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount in 1970, Jack Ham in 1971, Franco Harris in 1972, and finally, in 1974 pulled off the incredible feat of selecting four Hall of Famers in one draft year, Mike Webster, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth and Jack Lambert. The 1974 draft has gone down in NFL history as the best ever, considering no other team has ever drafted four future hall of famers in one year. The players drafted in the early 70's formed the base of one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history, making the playoffs eight seasons, and becoming the only team in NFL history to win four Super Bowls in six years, as well as the first to win more than two.

The Steelers suffered a rash of injuries in the 1980 season and missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. 1981 was no better, with an 8-8 showing. The team was then hit with the retirements of all their key players from the Super Bowl years. Mean Joe Greene retired after the 1981 season, Lynn Swann and Jack Ham after 1982's playoff berth, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount after 1983's divisional championship, and Jack Lambert after 1984's AFC Championship Game appearance.

After those retirements the franchise skidded to their first losing seasons since 1971, though still competitive the Steelers would not finish above .500 until 1989 when they would reach the second round of the playoffs on the strength of Merrill Hoge and Rod Woodson before narrowly missing the playoffs each of the next two seasons.

In 1992, Chuck Noll retired and was succeeded by Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Bill Cowher, a native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Crafton. Cowher led the Steelers to the playoffs in each of his first six seasons as coach, a feat that had only previously been accomplished by legendary coach Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns. Overall, Cowher has taken his team to the playoffs in 10 out of his 14 seasons, including appearances in Super Bowl XXX in at the end of the 1995 season, and the franchise's record-tying fifth Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XL over the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks ten years later. With their Super Bowl XL victory, the Steelers became the third team to win five Super Bowls, and the first sixth-seeded playoff team to reach and win the Super Bowl since the NFL expanded to a 12-team postseason tournament in 1990.

Since the NFL merger in 1970, the Pittsburgh Steelers have compiled an overall record of 333-217-2, reached the playoffs 22 times, winning their division 17 times, playing in 13 AFC Championship Games, and winning 5 Super Bowls.

The team's current top rivals consist of the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinatti Bengals, and especially, the Cleveland Browns. What was once a brutal rivalry has now been dominated by the Steelers as of late. The Browns have not defeated the Steelers since the 2003 season.

Logo and uniforms

The Steelers have used black and gold as their basic colors since the club's inception (excluding the 1943 season when they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles and formed the "Steagles"; the team's colors were green and white as a result of wearing the Eagles uniforms). Originally, the team wore solid gold helmets and black jerseys. Unlike most other cities, the colors are currently also used by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, (also the colors of the flag for the City of Pittsburgh) making it the official team colors of every professional sports team in the city.

The Steelers logo was then introduced in 1962, and is based on the "Steelmark", originally designed by Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel, and now owned by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). In a twist of fate it was Cleveland based Republic Steel that suggested the Steelers adopt the industry logo. It consists of the word "Steelers" surrounded by three astroids (hypocycloids of four cusps). The original meanings behind the astroids were, "Steel lightens your work, brightens your leisure and widens your world" and later the colors came to represent the ingredients of steel, the yellow representing coal; the orange, ore; and the blue, steel scrap. [1] While the "Steelmark" logo only contains the word "Steel", the Steelers were given special permission to add "-ers".

The Steelers are the only NFL team that puts their logo on only one side of the helmet (the right side). Long time field and equipment manager Jack Hart was instructed to do this by Art Rooney. At first, it was a test to see how the logo appeared on their gold helmets, but its popularity led the team to leave it that way permanently. [2] A year after introducing the logo, they switched to black helmets to make it stand out more.

Another unique feature of the helmets is that the players number appears on both the front and back of the helmets. The Steelers are only one of two teams in the NFL to do so. However the numbers traditionally do not appear on the helmet fronts during the exhibition season.

The Steelers have had the same basic look for their uniforms since 1936 (save for during the 1967 season when the team experimented with a "triangle" theme), and started to use the current uniform design in 1968. The design consists of gold pants and either black jerseys or white jerseys, except for the 1970 and 1971 seasons, when the Steelers wore white pants with their white jerseys. The helmet is solid black with a gold central stripe and small white uniform numbers on the forehead. In 1997 the team switched to rounded numbers on the jersey to match the number font on the helmets, and a Steelers logo patch was added to the left side of the jersey.

Franchise traditions

The "Terrible Towel" is a gimmick created by Pittsburgh broadcaster Myron Cope for the Steelers. Needing a way to excite the fans during a 1975 playoff game against the Baltimore Colts, Cope urged fans to take gold dish towels to the game and wave them throughout. The underdog Steelers beat the Colts 28-10, and the Terrible Towel was born. By the time the Steelers made it to Super Bowl X against the Dallas Cowboys, the craze had caught fire and the majority of Steelers fans waved Towels of their own. Since 1996, all of the proceeds from each Towel sold are donated to the Allegheny Valley School, a Pittsburgh school for the mentally disabled.

Steelers in popular culture

The Steelers have been immortalized by film, television and print. The Steel curtain teams of the 1970's dynasty had many big-screen moments including the 1977 John Frankenheimer thriller Black Sunday, Warren Beatty playing the prelude to the Steelers 4th championship in 1978's Heaven Can Wait, and a team cameo for the 1980 Burt Reynolds film Smokey and the Bandit II, the independent film Icarus of Pittsburgh in 2002 delved into the world of a 70's Steeler fan. In more recent times Adam Sandler's 1998 film The Waterboy featured a few Steeler greats as well as Coach Cowher arguing with real-life rival Jimmy Johnson of the Cowboys.

The Steelers and their fans were also featured in the Charlie Daniels Band's 1980 song, In America. [3] Steelers fans were held up as examples of patriotic Americans who would resist Iranian terrorism.

Television has also turned to the Steelers in 1980's "Fighting Back" a movie where Art Carney plays Art Rooney, and 1981's The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid. The Steelers of lore also have starring roles in several ESPN productions such as Matchup of the Millenium and Dream Bowl series.

"Mean" Joe Greene has appeared in the famous Coca-Cola ad where a child calls out to Greene and gives him his Coke. Greene then gives his game jersey to the kid.

Season-by-season records

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties

* = Current Standing

Players of note

Current players

Pro Football Hall of Famers

Inductees

• Bert Bell, Co-owner (1941-1946)
• Mel Blount, CB (1970-1983)
• Terry Bradshaw, QB (1970-1983)
• Bill Dudley, RB-DB (1942 and 1945-1946 - missed 1943-1944 due to military service)
• "Mean" Joe Greene, DT (1969-1981)
• Jack Ham, LB (1971-1982)
• Franco Harris, RB (1972-1983)
• John Henry Johnson, RB (1960-1965)
• Walt Kiesling, G (1937-1939), Head Coach (1939-1944 and 1954-1956)
• Jack Lambert, LB (1974-1984)
• Bobby Layne, QB (1958-1962)
• Johnny McNally (a.k.a. "Johnny Blood"), RB (1934 and 1937-1938)
• Chuck Noll, Head Coach (1969-1991)
• Art Rooney, Founder/Owner (1933-1988)
• Dan Rooney, Executive (1955-present), Owner (1988-present)
• John Stallworth, WR (1974-1987)
• Ernie Stautner, DT (1950-1963)
• Lynn Swann, WR (1974-1982)
• Mike Webster, C (1974-1988)

Award Recipients

• Myron Cope, Announcer (1970-2005), awarded the 2005 Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award

Other Hall-of-Famers associated with the Steelers

• Len Dawson, QB (1957-1959)
• Bill Hewitt, TE-DE (1943 Steagles)
• Cal Hubbard, T-DT (1936)
• Marion Motley, RB (1955)
• Earle "Greasy" Neale, Co-Head Coach with Kiesling (1943 Steagles)
• Johnny Unitas, QB (cut from 1955 training camp roster)

Retired numbers

• 70 Ernie Stautner

Except for Stautner, the Steelers do not officially retire uniform numbers. However, the following numbers are out of circulation and "unofficially" retired:

• 12 Terry Bradshaw
• 32 Franco Harris
• 36 Jerome Bettis
• 47 Mel Blount - Issued during the preseason regularly, and on some occasions to the final 53-man roster. Used five times officially since Blount's retirement, most recently to practice squad member Ronald Stanley in 2005.
• 52 Mike Webster
• 58 Jack Lambert
• 59 Jack Ham - Used once in 1984 by Todd Seabaugh, who played one season with the team. According to legend, the equipment manager—who assigns jersey numbers to new players—later stripped Seabaugh of the number because he "wasn't Jack Ham". The number has not been used since.
• 63 Dermontti Dawson
• 75 Joe Greene

Source: Steeler's All-Time Roster by Jersey Number

Super Bowl MVPs

The following Steelers players have been named Super Bowl MVP:

• Franco Harris - Super Bowl IX
• Lynn Swann - Super Bowl X
• Terry Bradshaw - Super Bowl XIII and Super Bowl XIV
• Hines Ward - Super Bowl XL

Other notable alumni

Head coaches

• Forrest Douds (1933)
• Luby DiMelio (1934)
• Joe Bach (1935-1936)
• John McNally (1937-1939)
• Walt Kiesling (1939-1940)
• Aldo Donelli (1941)
• Bert Bell (1941)
• Walt Kiesling (1941-1944)
• Jim Leonard (1945)
• Jock Sutherland (1946-1947)
• John Michelosen (1948-1951)
• Joe Bach (1952-1953)
• Walt Kiesling (1954-1956)
• Raymond "Buddy" Parker (1957-1964)
• Mike Nixon (1965)
• Bill Austin (1966-1968)
• Chuck Noll (1969-1991)
• Bill Cowher (1992-Present)

Current Staff

• Head Coach - Bill Cowher
• Offensive Coordinator - Ken Whisenhunt
• Defensive Coordinator - Dick LeBeau
• Special Teams Coach - Kevin Spencer
• Quarterbacks Coach - Mark Whipple
• Running Backs Coach - Dick Hoak
• Wide Receivers Coach - Bruce Arians
• Tight Ends Coach - James Daniel
• Offensive Line Coach/Assistant Head Coach - Russ Grimm
• Offensive Assistant - Matt Raich
• Defensive Line Coach - John Mitchell
• Linebackers Coach - Keith Butler
• Defensive Backs Coach - Darren Perry
• Defensive Assistant - Lou Spanos
• Strength and Conditioning - Chet Fuhrman
• Play Specialist - Simon Eccleston

Radio Network

The Steelers Radio Network [4] is flagshipped by WDVE 102.5 FM and WBGG AM 970 in Pittsburgh. It also includes:

• 34 Pennsylvania Radio Stations (36 when including the two in Pittsburgh) in 29 cities.
• 2 Maryland Radio Stations in 2 different cities.
• 2 Ohio Radio Stations in 2 different cities.
• 13 West Virginia Radio Stations in 10 different cities.

Broadcasters

The Steelers franchise has a rich history of producing well-known sportscasters over the years: the most famous of which is Myron Cope, who served as voice of the Steelers from 1970 until 2005.

Additionally, several former players for the Pittsburgh Steelers picked up the broadcast microphone:

• Lynn Swann - Starting in 1978 was a sideline reporter for ABC Sports. Over the last NFL Season (2005) he has taken a leave of absence to persue the governor's office of Pennsylvania. Swann has also had several Hollywood roles, making cameos in 1998's The Waterboy, 1993's The Program and 1991's The Last Boyscout. His TV cameo's include Saturday Night Live and The Drew Carey Show.
• Merrill Hoge - Has hosted sports shows on ESPN and ESPN2 since 1996 most notably EA Sports NFL Match Up, Football Friday and NFL Tonight. He has also had hosting duties on ABC's "Great Outdoors Games".
• Mark Malone - Began his career as a sports reporter for Pittsburgh's WPXI-TV from 1991-1994, from 1994 to 2004 he hosted nationally-televised sports shows for ESPN, including “NFL 2Night,” “Edge NFL Matchup,” and the “X-Games.” Since 2004 he has been director of sports broadcasting for CBS2 Chicago.
• Jerome Bettis - Co-host of NBC Sunday Night Football's "Football Night in America" pre-game with Bob Costas 2006-Present, also was host of the Pittsburgh broadcast "Jerome Bettis" show 1999-2005.
• Terry Bradshaw - Started as a Guest commentator for CBS NFL Playoff broadcasts from 1980-1982, after retirement he joined Verne Lundquist at CBS full-time as a game anaylst on what would become one of the top rated sports broadcasts. In 1990 he went from the broadcast booth to the pre-game studio shows anchoring the NFL Today pre-game shows on CBS and later on FOX NFL Sunday. He has in recent years started to host regular features in addition to the show, "Ten yards with TB" and the "Terry Awards". In addition to broadcasting Bradshaw has had appearances in several major motion pictures (most notably Smokey and the Bandit II, Black Sunday and Failure to Launch) as well as spokesman for Radio Shack and SaniKing among others in commercials. He also has made many guest appearances on sitcoms from "Married with Children" to "Evening Shade".
• Tunch Ilkin- Comcast CN8 Network "In the Locker Room" Host 2006-Present.
• Craig Wolfley-Comcast CN8 Network "In the Locker Room" Host 2006-Present.

Notable moments

The following is a selected list of memorable Steelers games

November 22, 1959 at Cleveland Browns

Behind 14-20 with a minute and a half left and at their own 28 yard line the Steelers Bobby Layne drove 60 yards behind the blocks of injured Tom Barnett who refused to leave the field. Layne threw a 12 yard pass with seconds left for the go ahead 21-20 victory and said of Barnett's superhuman effort in protecting the Steelers runners and pass plays in the face of unbearable pain: "He's all man, you can take that from me, that was a show, what he did to [the Browns Defense]". To add insult to a shocked Cleveland crowd, when the Browns take over after the Steelers score, dependable Lou Groza misses a chip shot field goal as the clock ran out.

December 15, 1963, at New York Giants

Coach Buddy Parker again led the once-hapless Steelers to a winning season only to fall short of the playoffs late. The quest for a divisional title came down to the final game against the Giants at Yankee Stadium although Pittsburgh fielded six Pro-Bowlers and a future hall of famer they fell short of the championship after perhaps the best Steeler season yet. The Giants won 33-17.

October 10, 1964, Cleveland Browns, Municipal Stadium

On the way towards a 5 win and 9 loss season the Steelers traveled to Cleveland during the height of the Jim Brown era during a year the Browns were on the road to their 1964 Championship Game appearance and shocked the Cleveland faithful. John Henry Johnson racked up a jaw dropping 200 yards on the ground and three touchdowns against the leagues 5th best defense. The Steelers would go on to a 23-7 victory over the eventual NFL Champions while holding NFL Legend Jim Brown to just 59 total yards and scoreless.

October 3, 1970, Cleveland Browns, Municipal Stadium

Last of the "Saturday Night Games" during the rivalry, a tradition which brought mystique and urban legends to the contest--even moreso from what happened in the stands then what was going on in the field. In true Browns/Steelers tradition the game was a defensive battle of smashmouth football with a 15-7 loss being handed to the upstart Steelers.

November 19, 1972, at Cleveland Browns

A game that was as dramatic as it was decisive. The last second Cleveland win of 26-24 tied the two teams atop the division with only four games to go. The Browns' Don Cockroft missed a 26 yard fieldgoal with only minutes left only to have the same exact field position with :08 left on the game clock a half dozen plays later. His FG gave Cleveland the win by a hair, but the Steelers would pummel their rivals in Pittsburgh two weeks later to take the Division crown as Cleveland made the playoffs as the lone wild-card.

January 17, 1972, vs. Oakland Raiders, AFC Divisional Playoff

Voted the "best play ever", [5]the "Immaculate Reception", took place in what would be the Steelers first ever post-season victory. The Steelers are down by one as time expires and Bradshaw is desperate to throw, finally finding Fuqua, but the bullet rebounds off either the Steeler receiver or his defender and into the hands of Harris who had wondered out beyond the line of scrimmage after seeing no Raider to block. Three Rivers exploded on Harris running the catch in for a game winning touchdown. The officials were as bewildered as the Raiders as not a one blows a whistle on what Raider coach John Madden insists is a dead ball (since rules at the time prevented two offensive players from touching a live ball, as well as a clip of Raider Villapiano that was lost in the confusion[6]). The play is arguably the first official use of replay in the NFL as the officials call upstairs to use network feeds to see if the ball hit the ground or was batted by Fuqua to set up Harris' catch and TD[7]. No angle catches the turf at the moment of the catch nor how the ball came to Harris nor the Villapiano clip. To hear John Madden and his staff tell it the Raiders were doomed as the Pittsburgh crowd, 45 seasons in the waiting, were already celebrating the first Steeler playoff win. Madden sticks by his version that the official turned to a Pittsburgh Police officer working the game and fearfully asks how many cops could protect him and his crew from the crowd, the officer--according to the Raider coach--responds 6, the head official screams then "6 for Pittsburgh" and raises his arms to signal touchdown[8]. The most ironic part of the greatest play ever and the moment of Pittsburgh's first postseason victory was who missed it. The game was during a blackout in Pittsburgh, so no one in the metro realized what had happened for hours after, the patriarch of the team Art Rooney was on an elevator down to comfort his Steelers after what he thought was a loss, legendary announcer Myron Cope also was in an elevator on the way down for post-game interviews and Terry Bradshaw was regaining his bearings after being drilled by Oakland defenders and for moments after was looking skyward with his back on the Three Rivers turf.

November 25, 1973, at Cleveland Browns

Browns rookie Greg Pruitt single handidly kept Cleveland on the heels of the division leading Steelers. A 42 yard pass early in the game in which he eluded all 11 Steeler defenders, along with a last minute 19 yard TD run gave the Browns a 21-16 win. After getting swept up in the emotions of the dramatic comeback the rookie Pruitt mistakenly bursts into the Steelers locker room, only to find the Cleveland press had left the Browns locker room by the time he calmed down and remembered which door it was behind.

December 3, 1973 at Miami Dolphins, Monday Night Football

A blooper game if ever there was one. Joe Gilliam starts at QB filling in for the injured Bradshaw and starts 0 for 7 with three INTs (1 for a Miami touchdown), forcing coach Noll to pull him and throw in the hobbling Bradshaw. TB starts by tossing his first pass as a Miami Pick returned for yet another touchdown. With the score 27-0 Miami, the Steelers get serious and expose an overconfident Dolphin team. Miami gets burned on a fake punt for a go-ahead Pittsburgh touchdown, a 21 yard miss of Franco Harris for another Pittsburgh score, two Csonka fumbles one of which sets up a Bradshaw pass on the very next play, and for the finish a safety on the year-removed "Perfect" Dolphins offense. With all the sloppy play on both sides Miami manages to hang on to a 30-26 win but just barely.

December 29, 1974 at Oakland Raiders, AFC Championship Game

The game that brought Pittsburgh it's first Super Bowl trip, the Steelers defense holds Oakland to only 29 yards on the ground and Jack Ham makes two key interceptions to end long Raider drives. Franco Harris and Rocky Blier run over the Raider defenders for more than 200 combined yards in a 24-13 Pittsburgh win.

January 12, 1975. Minnesota Vikings, Super Bowl IX

Pittsburgh wins its first of many Super Bowls and does it in record-setting fashion. The Steel Curtain defense holds the veteran Vikings to just 119 total offensive yards, still a Super Bowl record that stands 22 Championships later. The Steelers weren't finished though they would rob three interceptions and force two Viking fumbles for a record five Superbowl turnovers recovered. MVP Franco Harris sets a Super Bowl rushing record that would stand for almost a decade as Pittsburgh wins the world championship 16-6, missing the shutout on a blocked Steeler punt covered by Minnesota for a TD.

January 16, 1976, Dallas Cowboys, Super Bowl X

Repeating as World Champions the Steelers again do more than hoist the Lombardi Trophy, setting Super Bowl records in receiving with MVP Lynn Swann's 4 immortal grabs for 161 yards and the game winning score, a yardage record that would stand for 12 Super Bowls and a 64 yard completion that would be voted the best passing play in all of football history by NFL Films. The Steel Curtain defense would pick off Staubach for 3 interceptions as Pittsburgh won back-to-back championships 21-17, and start a heated rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys (in what would become the most numerous pairing in Superbowl history).

September 12, 1976 at Oakland Raiders, Season Opener

In what was becoming a heated rivalry for dominance of the AFC in the 1970's this game brought tensions to the boiling point, literally. Coming off of a freshly minted dynasty the Steelers would open the quest for three in a row at the home of the eventual Super Bowl Champion Oakland Raiders that season. Pittsburgh is up late 28-14 but the Raiders come back with a vengeance even cheap shotting Steeler players including one by George Atkinson on Super Bowl MVP Swann with a blow to the head. Mel Blount retaliates later by driving Raider Branch head first into the turf. Chuck Noll later fumes that Atkinson's hit on Swann was part of the "criminal element of the NFL" prompting the Raider to sue Noll in California court. Oakland wins as the clock stops 31-28.

October 10, 1976, at Cleveland Browns

A strange game in the Steelers/Browns rivalry. Fresh off a Super Bowl victory Terry Bradshaw is spiked head-first into the Cleveland turf by "Turkey" Jones in a two point loss for Pittsburgh. Bradshaw left the game dazed after Jones outrageous hit, but so did Browns starter Sipe after he was injured by the Steelers D. It came down to the surprising play of back-up Browns quarterback Doctor David Mays, who was a real-life dentist catching the Steelers defense off-guard.

November 20, 1977, at Dallas Cowboys

Dallas is 8-1 when the Steelers visit with an injured Bradshaw (wrist) and show run on every play. Even though the doomsday defense knows Harris will be coming on every down they are impotent against a vaunted Steeler O-Line. Harris runs over the Cowboys for 179 yards and a 61 yard touchdown run. While Staubach only wishes he was injured throwing two critical interceptions as Pittsburgh goes on to dominate Dallas at Texas Stadium 28-13.

September 24, 1978, Cleveland Browns

A reason the Steelers/Browns rivalry is possibly the best. The Steelers tie the game 9-9 and in overtime Bradshaw calls the "flea flicker" to get the game winning TD. A Bradshaw to Blier to Swann to Bradshaw to Cunningham play that stuns Cleveland for a 15-9 loss. The game also is a defensive classic with Jack Lambert exploding into the Cleveland backfield in the final seconds of regulation to push the Browns back out of fieldgoal range and save the game for overtime. Lynn Swann survives a full speed shoulder to the neck shot by a Cleveland back when he spreads out to catch a go-ahead score. The hit is so vicious that Dick Enberg annoucing the game can be heard to scream in horror. Swann holds onto the ball. Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain defense is at its Cleveland rivalry best, earning four personal fouls in the game.

November 25, 1979, Cleveland Browns

Arguably the greatest football game ever played, the Steelers were at the height of their four championships dynasty and the Browns were a year away from earning a Divisional crown as well as starting their AFC Championship game runs of the 1980's. The game lasted exactly 5 quarters and over four hours. The Steel curtain defense sacked Cleveland's Sipe seven times, Franco Harris had 151 yards rushing and 81 yards receiving for a total of almost two and a half football fields. Pittsburgh battled back from a 6-20 and 20-30 deficits. Matt Bahr kicked a game tying 21 yard fieldgoal with :24 on the clock to send the contest into overtime and a 37 yard game winner as the fifth quarter expired for a 33-30 Steelers victory. LC Greenwood said of the game: "It was one of the most physical games I've played in the 11 years I've played football . . . it was a hard fought game. We had to fight." A game that vaulted the Steelers/Browns rivalry into perhaps the greatest in all sports.

November 3, 1985, Cleveland Browns

Played in a driving rain storm the game was a slugfest. The long-time Steelers kicker Gary Anderson booted a 25 yard fieldgoal in a downpour with :09 on the game clock to win it 10-9 for Pittsburgh. It is of note that the best kicker in Steelers history had this as his SOLE last minute game deciding field goal of his long Pittsburgh career. The Steelers/Browns rivalry lore didn't end there with this contest, all teams in the division were all tied for first after the game, with over half the season behind them. This was also the record 16th straight loss handed the Browns in Pittsburgh.

November 26, 1998, at Detroit Lions

In a 19-16 Overtime loss on Thanksgiving to the hapless Lions it was a Steeler's actions between the plays that made the most memorable (and rule changing) play. Jerome Bettis, playing for the Steelers in his hometown of Detroit, was asked to call the coin toss to open up overtime with the game tied 16-16, he called tails as the coin was in the air, however the referee insisted the Steelers had heads and that he heard Bettis state heads. All audio and video clips of the call confirmed that Bettis had indeed said tails but only after conferring with teammates and saying quietly "heads/tails?" [9]. The Steelers went into Thanksgiving with a record of 7-4 but left Detroit with a hex since the botched toss, losing their remaining 5 games and missing the playoffs.

January 15, 2006, at Indianapolis Colts

See also: Pittsburgh sports lore#The Tackle II

In a game where the Steelers were heavily underdogs, they came out strong after defeating the AFC North Champion Cincinnati Bengals. Late into the fourth quarter with the score, 21-18 Steelers, the Steelers had the ball in the redzone looking to score once again. On the snap Jerome Bettis was handed the ball and he gets hit by Gary Brackett who knocks it out for a fumble. Nick Harper of Indianapolis recovered the football and then it looked as if Indianapolis would score a touchdown but the last Steeler defender, Ben Roethlisberger made an amazing shoestring tackle to save the Steelers. A quick drive downfield would set up a 46 yard field goal by kicker Mike Vanderjagt. Vanderjagt missed the field goal wide right with 17 seconds left and the Steelers upset the Colts 21-18.

Team statistics and records

Further information: Pittsburgh Steelers statistics

See also

• Dynasty (sports)
• Phil-Pitt Steagles

External links

• Pittsburgh Steelers official website
• Steelers Addicts - Fansite (SteelerAddicts.com)
• Steelers fans of Ohio site
• Steelers United Kingdom (Great Britain) Fansite
• Steelers Fever fan and news site
• PittsburghLive Steelers discussion board
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers page
• Pittsburgh Fan Ring home
• Steelers GridIron Fansite
• Stillers.com Fansite
• Molten Steelers Fansite
• Steelers Connection Fansite
• Sports E-Cyclopedia.com
• Story of the Steelers logo from the U.S. steel industry site