Pittsburgh Steelers

Lore & Background

In contrast with their status as a perennial losing franchise in the pre-merger NFL, where they were the oldest team never to have won a league championship, the Steelers of the post-merger (modern) era are among the most successful NFL franchises, especially during their dynasty in the 1970s. The team is tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl titles, with six, and holds the NFL record with 16 conference championship game appearances and 11 hosted. The Steelers have also won eight AFC championships, tied with the Denver Broncos and trailing only the Patriots' record 12. They are also tied with the Broncos, the Dallas Cowboys, and the San Francisco 49ers for the second-most Super Bowl appearances, with eight. The Steelers, whose history may be traced to a regional pro team that was established in the early 1920s, joined the NFL as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8, 1933. The team was owned by Art Rooney and took its original name from the baseball team of the same name. The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since the organization's founding. Art Rooney's son, Dan Rooney, owned the team from 1988 until his death in 2017. Much control of the franchise has been given to Dan Rooney's son, Art Rooney II. The Steelers enjoy a large, widespread fanbase nicknamed Steeler Nation. They currently play their home games at Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh's North Side in the North Shore neighborhood, which also hosts the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Built in 2001 as Heinz Field, the stadium replaced Three Rivers Stadium, which had hosted the Steelers for 31 seasons. Prior to Three Rivers, the Steelers had played their games in Pitt Stadium and at Forbes Field.

In Their Own Story

The season began with a crushing 33–3 defeat to the defending champion New England Patriots in Week 1. In Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, James Conner scored early, but backup quarterback Mason Rudolph had to lead a comeback after Ben Roethlisberger suffered a non-contact elbow injury. The Steelers lost that game 28–26 after Rudolph connected with Vance McDonald for two touchdowns but failed on conversions. A third loss came against the San Francisco 49ers, where Diontae Johnson caught a 39-yard pass to retake the lead before Jimmy Garoppolo found Dante Pettis for the winning score. The turning point arrived in Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals; after trailing 3–0, the Steelers scored 27 consecutive points to secure their first win and extend their streak over the Bengals to nine games.

Reader's Guide

The pre-merger era (1933–1968): Art Rooney founded the semi-professional Hope-Harvey Football Club as a teenager, widely considered the precursor to the Steelers. In May 1933, Rooney was awarded an NFL franchise for a $2,500 fee, establishing the Pittsburgh Professional Football Club (later renamed the Steelers), which began play that season as the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. The Steelers first took to the field as the Pittsburgh Pirates 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 of the U.S. Supreme Court, to what was at the time the biggest contract in NFL history, but he played only one year with the Pirates before signing with the Detroit Lions. Prior to the 1940 season, the Pirates renamed themselves the Steelers. During World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises 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 (or, mockingly, as the 'Carpets'). This team finished 0–10, marking the only winless team in franchise history. 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 only playoff game in the pre-merger era; they did qualify for a 'Playoff Bowl' in 1962 as the second-best team in their conference, but this was not considered an official playoff. In 1970, the year they moved into Three Rivers Stadium and the year of the AFL–NFL merger, the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of three old-guard NFL teams to switch to the newly formed American Football Conference (the others being the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts), in order to equalize the number of teams in the two conferences of the newly merged league. The Steelers also received a $3 million ($24.9 million today) relocation fee, which was a windfall for them. Chuck Noll years (1969–1991): The Steelers' history of bad luck cha

Did You Know?

• The Steelers are tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl titles, with six.
• The Steelers hold the NFL record with 16 conference championship game appearances and 11 hosted.
• The Steelers are the only team in NFL history to win four Super Bowls in six years.
• The 1974 Steelers draft is the only one in NFL history to produce four future Hall of Famers in one year.