114-664: 1943 due to loss of players during World War II (temporary merger with Philadelphia Eagles ): 1944 due to loss of players during World War II (temporary merger with Chicago Cardinals ): The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh . The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in 1933 ,
228-535: A corporal , was not as keen on the plan since he at least had 16 players under contract. However, Thompson remembered how Rooney in 1941 swapped cities with him which allowed him to keep the Eagles in Philadelphia close to his New York City home. This led to an agreement on combining the teams. The league approved the merger by a vote of 5–4. However, several owners expressed fears that the merger would produce
342-634: A divisional playoff game 27–10 against Baltimore, who was the defending Super Bowl champion . During their NFL championship season in 2000 , the Ravens defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh , 16–0, in the season opener with the Steelers later exacting revenge, 9–6, in Baltimore (the Ravens' final loss of the season). During the Steelers 2008 Championship run, they beat the Ravens three times, including
456-607: A prosthetic leg . Even with these deferments, NFL rosters were hurting. The Cleveland Rams suspended operations and the Pittsburgh Steelers had only six men left under contract while the Philadelphia Eagles had only sixteen. The 1943 NFL draft did not help much. Most players drafted went off to the war instead of joining NFL teams. Further exacerbating the issue was the continued insistence of George Preston Marshall and other NFL owners on continuing
570-861: A 11–5 record. They lost 30–17 to the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round. The Steelers finished with a 10–6 record and made the playoffs in the 2015 season. They defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round and lost to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round. In the 2016 season, the Steelers won the AFC North with a 11–5 record. They defeated the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Round and
684-663: A 9–31 record in the first 40 games of the series between the two cities, the Steelers have gone 66–27–1 (including 42–6 in games played in Pittsburgh) since 1970 and currently lead the series 75–58–1; The Steelers have particularly dominated the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999 and won twelve straight meetings between 2003 and 2009. Additionally, the Browns posted losing streaks of 16 (1970–85) and 15 (2004–present) games in Pittsburgh. Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher coached
798-674: A bitter 34–31 playoff showdown in 2002 ); the Titans won seven in a row in the 1997–2001 period, the longest win streak by either team in the series. The Steelers have won 47 of 79 career meetings following their 27–24 win at Nissan Stadium in 2020. The Denver Broncos in 2011 broke a tie with the Oakland Raiders for the most playoff meetings versus the Steelers and added yet another meeting in 2015 (the Broncos have met Pittsburgh eight times to Oakland's six). The Steelers' rivalry with
912-492: A championship. Cowher's career record with Pittsburgh was 149–90–1 in the regular season and 161–99–1 overall, including playoff games. On January 7, 2007, Cowher resigned from coaching the Steelers, citing a need to spend more time with his family. He did not use the term "retire", leaving open a possible return to the NFL as coach of another team. A three-man committee consisting of Art Rooney II, Dan Rooney, and Kevin Colbert
1026-667: 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 . The Pittsburgh Steelers of
1140-1706: A league record by fumbling the ball ten times, the Steagles overcame the Giants on the strength of three fourth-quarter touchdowns. The mark of ten fumbles in a game by one team has since been matched three times, but it has never been topped. 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Steagles substitutions : Bova , Miller , Reutt , Doyle , Kilroy , Conti , Paschka , Wukits , Sherman , Masters , Gauer , Hinkle and Laux . Bears substitutions : Berry , Pool , Sigillo, Babartsky , Digris , Logan, Ippolito, Matuza , Mundee, Famighetti , Nolting , McEnulty , Vodicka, Luckman and McLean . 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Steagles substitutions : Bova , Miller , Doyle , Wistert , Michaels , Paschka , Canale , Wukits , Kish , Thurbon , Sherman , Steele , Sader and Laux . Giants substitutions : Pritko , Liebel , V. Adams , Carroll , Visnick , Marone , Roberts , Dubzinski , Hein , Leemans , Brown , Trocolor , Kinscherf , Sulaitis , Barker and Karcis . 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Steagles substitutions : Hewitt , Cabrelli , Bucko Kilroy , Wistert , Conti , Canale , Paschka , Wukits , Gauer , Steele , Steward , Thurbon , Sherman , Laux and Sader . Cardinals substitutions : Wager , Rexer , Robnett , Albrecht , Clarence Booth , Ghersanich , Cahill , Stokes , Puplis , Morrow , Smith , Martin . 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 1943 NFL season The 1943 NFL season marked
1254-456: A much-needed diversion. He issued an inspirational letter to Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis which focused on the importance of Major League Baseball to Americans' morale. The address made no mention of football, as baseball was still widely referred to as America's pastime and had not yet been surpassed in popularity by football . However at its 1943 annual spring meeting,
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#17327655795631368-452: A passing play. The Bengals players called this a dirty play; the NFL ruled that it was accidental and did not fine von Oelhoffen for the hit. The incident led to an intensifying of the rivalry. The Bengals beat the Steelers in Week 13 of the 2005 season 38–31, and wide receiver T. J. Houshmandzadeh used a Terrible Towel to polish his cleats while walking up the tunnel after the game, fueling
1482-625: A playoff game was played so late in the year. The 1943 NFL draft was held on April 8, 1943, at Chicago 's Palmer House Hotel . With the first pick, the Detroit Lions selected runningback Frank Sinkwich from the University of Georgia . Despite the eventual hiatus of the Cleveland Rams franchise for 1943 and merger of operations of the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers , all ten teams participated in
1596-475: A regular-season streak of 49 consecutive wins ( 1971 – 1979 ) against teams that would finish with a losing record that year. The Steelers suffered a rash of injuries in the 1980 season and missed the playoffs with a 9–7 record. The 1981 season 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
1710-458: A share in the Steelers franchise. America entered World War II on December 7, 1941, with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Most of the young men who were of the age to play professional football were also of the age to fight for their country. Six hundred NFL players joined the armed forces. With the country now at war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt esteemed entertainment and sports as
1824-618: A shortened schedule of ten games. Despite the war, the league's popularity continued to grow. The league drew a cumulative 1,072,462 fans, which was fewer than 7,000 short of the record set the previous year despite the fact that 15 fewer games were played. The increased attendance was attributed to the higher competitiveness of the weaker squads. In the Eastern Division, the Phil-Pitt team won its first two games and led at Week Four , with 1–0–0 Washington close behind, while in
1938-413: A team with an unfair advantage. The merger had a slight lean in favor of Philadelphia based on stipulations imposed by Thompson. The team would be known as the Philadelphia Eagles and be based in Philadelphia. Rooney had very little leverage, bringing only six players to the table. However, he was successful in landing two home games in Pittsburgh, while Philadelphia would host four. The team was also to wear
2052-421: A third option during home games only. In 2012, the Steelers introduced a new third uniform, consisting of a yellow jersey with black horizontal lines (making a bumble bee like pattern) with black lettering and black numbers placed inside a white box, to represent the jerseys worn by the Steelers in their 1934 season . The rest of the uniform consists of beige pants, yellow with black horizontal stripped socks, and
2166-514: A unified Pittsburgh-Philadelphia team actually predated World War II by several years. The Pennsylvania Keystoners were a team that was proposed in 1939, conceived with the intention of the Steelers and Eagles owners buying into one of the two teams, then spinning the other off to an ownership group in Boston, Massachusetts. League officials rejected the plan, though it resulted in a convoluted ownership "two-step" that left Eagles owner Bert Bell with
2280-588: A win in the AFC Championship game. The two teams complement each other by consistently fielding strong defenses. The Steelers lead the all-time series (including playoffs), 32–24. The teams have met four times in the postseason, with the Steelers owning a 3–1 record. The Steelers' rivalry with the Cincinnati Bengals dates from the 1970 season, when the AFL–NFL merger was completed. In 1976 ,
2394-406: 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 its first losing seasons since 1971. Though still competitive, the Steelers would not finish above .500 in 1985 , 1986 , and 1988 . In 1987 ,
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#17327655795632508-784: The 1995 season an appearance in Super Bowl XXX on the strength of the "Blitzburgh" defense. However, the Steelers lost to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, two weeks after a thrilling AFC Championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts . Cowher produced the franchise's record-tying fifth Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XL over the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks ten years later. With that victory,
2622-484: The 2015 season. A central figure is Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict , often inflicting brutal hits, resulting in serious injuries to several Steelers on multiple occasions. In the 2015 Wild Card playoff game in Cincinnati, Burfict was the culprit of a late penalty directly responsible for an extremely unlikely 18–16 Steelers comeback victory. The Steelers lead the all-time series, 63–35. The teams have met twice in
2736-472: The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). In fact, 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." Later, the colors came to represent
2850-552: The Baltimore Ravens has had several memorable match-ups and has escalated into a fierce divisional rivalry. Both teams handed the other their first losses at their current home stadiums. The Steelers won the inaugural game played at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium in 1998 , 20–13, and three years later the Ravens handed the Steelers their first-ever loss at Heinz Field , 13–10. Later that season ( 2001 ) Pittsburgh won
2964-492: The Boston Yanks paying $ 50,000 for entry into the league. Philadelphia's Greasy Neale and Pittsburgh's Walt Kiesling would be co-head coaches because each coach refused to be demoted. This led to several problems: the first being that the two men hated each other. Secondly, Kiesling's own players did not like him; so asking the Eagles players to like him was too much to ask. However, Neale took advantage when Kiesling
3078-511: 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
3192-539: 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 ($ 23.5 million today) relocation fee, which was a windfall for them; for years they rarely had enough to build a true contending team. The Steelers' history of bad luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll from
3306-550: The Green Bay Packers in front of 35,000 fans at Shibe Park. Green Bay would go on to win the game 38–28, however, putting Phil-Pitt at 5-4-1, one game behind Washington and New York. The Steagles 1943 season was the Philadelphia franchise's first winning season in its history and the second for Pittsburgh's. The next season, 1944, the NFL was back on solid footing. The Army had declared that it had enough soldiers and men over 26 years of age would not be drafted, though
3420-668: The Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise. The Oilers were aligned into the AFC Central with the Steelers in 1970 and were division rivals for 32 seasons. The Steelers dominated the rivalry during the Houston era and defeated the Oilers in all three of their playoff matchups. However, since the franchise moved to Tennessee in 1997, the rivalry shifted, with the Titans winning 13 of 22 meetings (including
3534-675: The Los Angeles Chargers (2–1), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2–0), and the Broncos (5–3). The Steelers have an all-time regular-season record of 15–13 against the Patriots. In the Bill Belichick era, the main period of the rivalry, the Patriots have a 12–4 record against the Steelers. In their last matchup, the Patriots beat the Steelers 33–3 on Sunday Night Football . Pittsburgh also has a rivalry with
Pittsburgh Steelers - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-553: The New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl titles at six, and they have both played in (16 times) and hosted (11 times) more conference championship games than any other team in the NFL. The Steelers have also won eight AFC championships , tied with the Denver Broncos , but behind the Patriots' record 11 AFC championships. The team is tied with the Broncos, Dallas Cowboys , and San Francisco 49ers for
3762-533: The New York Giants ended the regular season by playing against each other on two consecutive Sundays, December 5 and 12 (the second game, originally scheduled on October 3 had been postponed due to heavy rain). The Giants won both games to force a first-place tie at 6–3–1 each. For the third straight weekend, New York and Washington faced each other, with the Redskins winning the final game 28–0 and earning
3876-553: The Pittsburgh Press , was initially the one who wrote in a column the moniker Steagles for the merged team, in a June 23, 1943 column. Slowly, the team began to come together, and jumped out to a 2–0 start after defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants at Shibe Park . Against New York, the Steagles fumbled ten times (still an NFL record as of 2021), but managed to win 28–14. The team stumbled on
3990-500: The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles , during the 1943 season . The two franchises were compelled to field a single combined team because both had lost many players to military service during World War II . The league's official record book refers to the team as "Phil-Pitt Combine", but the unofficial "Steagles", despite never being registered by the NFL, has become the enduring moniker. The prospect of
4104-428: The defensive coordinator . They would then split head coaching duties. According to defensive back Ernie Steele , the situation between the two coaches got so bad that Kiesling and Neale walked off the field after a heated argument during practice before a game. They returned for the game; but the players were nonetheless stunned. However, after the Steagles' in 1943 and Card-Pitt in 1944, Pittsburgh reverted to using
4218-422: The national anthem . All live entertainment reflected the 1940s. During the festivities the Steelers gave each of the six members a replica Steagles jersey to wear. The jerseys worn by honorees were later given back to the Steelers and sold to help benefit a local charity. The Steelers also painted the south end zone in plain diagonal white lines, a common practice in the NFL until the 1960s. The Steelers later kept
4332-485: The single-wing formation through 1952, becoming the last NFL team to ever use it as its primary offensive set. Another difficult issue at the time was that the Steelers and Eagles were bitter intrastate rivals (much like the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins - Philadelphia Flyers rivalry of today) and usually both teams ended up near the bottom of the standings each year. The Steagles were the only professional sports team where all
4446-555: The " Steagles "; the team's colors at that time were green and white as a result of wearing Eagles uniforms. Originally, the team wore solid gold-colored helmets and black jerseys. The Steelers' black and gold colors are now shared by all major professional teams in the city, including the Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball and the Pittsburgh Penguins in ice hockey. The shade of gold differs slightly among teams:
4560-755: The "plain" design in the south end zone permanently. The Eagles won the game 21–16. The table shows the Eagles selections and the Steelers selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible their pick ended up with this team via another team with whom they made a trade. Not shown are acquired picks that were traded away. Steagles substitutions : Bova , Miller , Doyle , Kilroy , Paschka , Conti , Frank , Graves , Masters , Gauer , Steele , Thurbon , McCullough and Sherman . Dodgers substitutions : Kowalski , Webb , Sergienko , Davis , Mooney , Grandinette , Owens , Gutknecht , Svendsen , Martin , McAdams , Bill Brown and Marek . The Steagles held
4674-495: The 1943 draft, selecting a total of 300 players. The impact of World War II on team rosters was massive during the 1943 season, with hundreds of players from the league's ten teams removed from the possibility of game play by military service. These were proudly listed as part of an official "Service Roster" by the NFL. With the United States beginning to draft fathers into the military, league officials were concerned about
Pittsburgh Steelers - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-495: The 2016 AFC Championship Game . They also won in 2017 when a go-ahead touchdown reception by Steelers' tight end Jesse James was controversially called back. Though they ultimately missed the playoffs, the Steelers defeated the Patriots by a score of 17–10 on December 16, 2018, in Pittsburgh. In the postseason, the Patriots have outscored the Steelers 135–75, with the Patriots maintaining a 4–1 record. The only other franchises with winning AFC playoff records against Steelers include
4902-463: The 2022 season, the team drafted Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett with their first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Pickett started 12 games as the Steelers went 9–8 and missed the postseason in the 2022 season. In the 2023 season, the team finished 10–7 and third in the AFC North. They made the playoffs and were defeated by the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round 31–17. Prior to the 2024 season,
5016-485: The 24th year of the National Football League . A total of 38 regular season games were scheduled, starting on Sunday, September 19 and culminating on Sunday, December 12. Due to the exodus of players who had left to serve in World War II , the Cleveland Rams were granted permission to suspend operations for this season, while the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers merged for this one season, with
5130-488: The AFC Championship game after a 15–1 regular season. The Patriots won six of seven meetings over a ten-year period ( 1998 – 2007 ) before the Steelers broke through with a 33–10 victory at Foxborough in 2008 , after Matt Cassel turned the ball over five times. The Patriots in 2013 then made history by becoming the first opponent to score 55 points on the Steelers, winning 55–31. The Patriots won again in 2015 (28–21) and 2016's regular season (27–16), and then won 36–17 in
5244-408: The Broncos dates from 1970 , but the first notable contest came in 1973 , when Denver dealt Pittsburgh its first regular-season defeat at Three Rivers Stadium , 23–13. The following year, they met in the NFL's first regular-season overtime game, which ended in a 35–35 tie. Denver's first playoff game had them hosting the Steelers in the 1977 divisional round; the Broncos won 34–21. The following year,
5358-399: The Browns special teams and secondary before following Marty Schottenheimer for a brief tenure as Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator, and then hired by Pittsburgh. This has only intensified the rivalry. The teams have met three times in the postseason (1994, 2002, and 2021) with the Steelers winning the first two meetings, but losing the most recent in 2021. Pittsburgh's rivalry with
5472-717: The Century Division of the Eastern Conference in 1967. When the league reformed into the NFC and AFC in 1970, the Steelers were placed in the AFC Central until 2001 when they were realigned into the AFC North Division. The Steelers have used black and gold as their colors since the club's inception, the lone exception being the 1943 season when they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles and formed
5586-629: The Dodgers to minus 33 rushing yards; this was the second lowest rushing total posted by a single team in an NFL game to that point. It currently ranks as the third-lowest rushing output in league history. 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Steagles substitutions : Wukits , Conti , Paschka , Frank , Miller , Bova , Sherman , Steele , Thurbon , Gauer and Masters . Giants substitutions : Dubzinski , Hein , Marone , Leemans , Roberts , Carroll , Pritko , Brown , Karcis , Kinscherf and Liebel . Despite setting
5700-400: The Eagles' green and white colors instead of Pittsburgh's black and gold. This event officially marked the only time in the Steelers history (other than in 1941 when green and white were used as well as black and gold ) that the team colors were something other than black and gold. The league also stated that helmets were mandated for the first time and that the league would expand in 1944 with
5814-641: The Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round before falling to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. In the 2017 season, the Steelers won the AFC North with a 13–3 mark. Their postseason was short lived with a 45–42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite a 9–6–1 record in the 2018 season, the Steelers missed the playoffs. The Steelers went 8–8 and missed the postseason in the 2019 season. The 2020 season saw
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#17327655795635928-488: The NFL champion Baltimore Colts for the 1969 season . 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, pulling off the incredible feat of selecting five Hall of Famers in one draft year, Lynn Swann , Jack Lambert , John Stallworth , Donnie Shell and Mike Webster . The Pittsburgh Steelers' 1974 draft
6042-582: The NFL decided to follow baseball's lead and continue play. Other football leagues, such as the 1940–41 American Football League , Dixie League and the American Association , decided to suspend operations instead, leaving the NFL and its West Coast counterpart, the Pacific Coast Professional Football League , as the only leagues playing professional football at the time. The young men who remained in
6156-515: The NFL 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
6270-434: The Patriots was in the 1997 playoffs before he departed to the rival New York Jets . Following the 2001 AFC title upset, the Patriots defeated the Steelers 30–14 at the start of the 2002 season. Pittsburgh did not exact revenge for the two losses until ending the Patriots' record-setting 21-game winning streak in week 6 of the 2004 NFL season . Later that season, the Steelers lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots in
6384-463: The Penguins have previously used "Vegas Gold", a color similar to metallic gold, and the Pirates' gold is a darker mustard yellow-gold, while the Steelers "gold" is more of a bright canary yellow. Black and gold are also the colors of the city's official flag . The Steelers logo was introduced in 1962 and is based on the " Steelmark ", originally designed by Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel and now owned by
6498-436: 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
6612-493: The States to play football were mostly those who were deferred from the draft. The Steagles players were either unfit for military service for physical or dependency reasons, age, or were active servicemen who had obtained leave to play. Three types of draft deferments defined 1943 NFL players. The first group was called III-A. If a man had persons dependent upon him for support, such as a wife, parent, grandparent, brother, or sister,
6726-478: The Steagles football team. In the opening scene, the protagonist of the film, a bookish college professor, explains the history and meaning of the term to a pair of loudly arguing sports fans on a commuter train, and draws an admiring look from an Asian woman who is a fellow passenger. The film concerns the personality change which overcomes the protagonist during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and
6840-456: The Steagles' Jack Hinkle ended the season with 571 rushing yards. He lost the rushing title to New York's Bill Paschal by one yard. Against those very Giants Hinkle was not given credit for a 37-yard run (they gave it to John Butler). Hinkle did not complain about not winning the NFL rushing crown. Tony Bova, a half-blind 4-F, led the team in receiving with 417 yards. The 1971 film The Steagle starring Richard Benjamin takes its name from
6954-473: The Steagles' leading receiver with 17 receptions, was blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. Steagles guard Eddie Michaels was nearly deaf and center Ray Graves was deaf in one ear. One starting defensive end was blind in one eye and nearly legally blind in the other. The Steagles tailback John Butler made his first start one day after being classified IV-F by his draft board for poor eyesight and bad knees. Placekicker and punter Troy Smith had
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#17327655795637068-457: The Steelers are the seventh-oldest franchise in the NFL, and the oldest franchise in the AFC. In contrast with their status as perennial also-rans 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
7182-414: 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 post-season tournament in 1990. He coached through the 2006 season which ended with an 8–8 record, just short of the playoffs. Overall Cowher's teams reached the playoffs 10 of 15 seasons with six AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl berths and
7296-466: The Steelers have franchise-best 11–0 start. However, the team faded at the end of the season to finish 12–4. The team lost in the Wild Card Round to the Cleveland Browns 48–37. The 2021 season saw the team go 9–7–1 and make the postseason. The Steelers lost 42–21 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card Round. Longtime quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season. Through
7410-572: The Steelers hosted and defeated Denver 33–10 in the divisional round. Their next playoff matchup was the 1984 divisional round in Mile High Stadium ; the Steelers pulled the upset 24–17. They nearly pulled the upset again 5 years later in Denver, but the Broncos prevailed in the divisional playoff, 24–23. Steagles The Steagles were the team created by the temporary merger of Pennsylvania's two National Football League (NFL) teams,
7524-471: The Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive (they later won the division) with a late-season 7–3 win in snowy Cincinnati. One of the most memorable games was the 2005 AFC Wildcard playoff game , in which the Steelers, en route to a Super Bowl title , won a 31–17 come-from-behind victory after Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was forced to leave the game with a knee injury. The injury happened when nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen contacted Palmer's knee during
7638-463: The Steelers regular black helmet. The uniforms were used for the Steelers' 80th anniversary season. Much like the previous alternate these jerseys were so popular that they were used up through the 2016 season. The jerseys were nicknamed the "bumblebee jerseys" due to looking like the pattern of a bumblebee. The jerseys were retired after the 2016 season. Also in 2016, the Steelers introduced its alternate black Color Rush uniforms. These were based on
7752-479: The Steelers to their second Super Bowl of this decade, and went on to win 27–23 against the Arizona Cardinals . At age 36, he was the youngest head coach to ever win the Super Bowl, and he is only the second African-American coach to ever win the Super Bowl ( Tony Dungy was the first). In their title defense, the Steelers went 9–7 and missed the postseason in the 2009 season. In the 2010 season, Tomlin led
7866-622: The Steelers traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. The team traded for Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears and signed Russell Wilson, who was released from the Denver Broncos. Since the NFL merger in 1970, the Pittsburgh Steelers have compiled a regular-season record of 444–282–2 (.635) and an overall record of 480–305–2 (.635) including the playoffs, reached the playoffs 30 times, won their division 22 times, played in 16 AFC championship games, and won six of eight Super Bowls. They are also
7980-421: The Western Division the same day with a 35–24 win over the Cardinals for an 8–1–1 finish. In Week Thirteen , Phil-Pitt lost its last game, falling to Green Bay 38–28, and was out of contention at 5–4–1. Chicago finished its regular season on November 28 and won the Western Division with an 8–1–1 record, but the Bears had to wait for three weeks while the Eastern Division champion was determined. Washington and
8094-423: The Western Division, the Bears and Packers tied 21–21 in their first game and were 2–0–1 after four weeks. In Week Five , the division leaders played each other on October 17, with the Bears beating the Steagles 48–21 and the Redskins defeating the Packers 33–7, leaving the two winners in first place. On November 7, the Lions and Giants played what is as of 2023 the last scoreless tie in NFL history. Although this
8208-568: The Wild Card Round to end the season. The following year, he led the Steelers to a 12–4 mark and a division title. With wins over the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Round and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship, Tomlin became the third consecutive Steelers Head Coach to go to the Super Bowl, equaling the Dallas Cowboys (Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer) in this achievement. On February 1, 2009, Tomlin led
8322-578: The baseball team, local media took to calling the football team the Rooneymen , an unofficial nickname that persisted for decades after the team had adopted its current nickname. 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
8436-629: The combined team (known as Phil-Pitt and called the " Steagles " by fans) playing four home games in Philadelphia and two in Pittsburgh. With only 8 teams playing, the 1943 season ties the 1932 season for the fewest teams in league history. The season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins , 41–21, in the NFL Championship Game played the day after Christmas, the first time in NFL history that
8550-779: The draft board would not make him a priority until other possible candidates had been taken. In late 1943, with increasing manpower requirements, the government defined a man classified as III-A as a married father whose child or children was born or conceived prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The cutoff date for birth was September 15, 1942, precisely nine months and one week after Pearl Harbor. The second group of draft deferments, II-As, II-Bs, and II-Cs, consisted of those men who worked in critical civilian occupations, war industries producing and preparing ammunition, weapons and materials, or agriculture. The third group ( IV-Fs ), were those men deemed unfit for military service due to ailments such as chronic ulcers, improperly-healed injuries, defects of
8664-443: The end of the 2021 season, Tomlin's record is 162–94–2 (.632), including playoffs. He is the first Pittsburgh coach to never post a losing season. The 2013–17 seasons were noted for record performances from the " Killer B's ". This trio consisted of Antonio Brown , Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell . Occasionally, the "Killer B's" has also included kicker Chris Boswell due to his ability to hit game-winning field goals. Prior to
8778-418: The extremities, bad hearing, and partial blindness. Most NFL football players wanted to do their patriotic duty and serve their country, and for a man fit to play football, an IV-F classification was an embarrassment. Many men could lead normal lives and even play football, but the military had deemed them unfit; numerous NFL players in 1943 had medical problems that kept them out of the military. Tony Bova ,
8892-634: The film's title implicitly references the transient nature of the Steagles team, existing for only one brief season during a national crisis. The Steelers celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Steagles on August 17, 2003, during the pregame and halftime ceremonies at Heinz Field . Six of the nine surviving members of that team were honored at halftime. Those members were quarterback Allie Sherman , running back and defensive back Ernie Steele , center Ray Graves , and tackles Al Wistert , Vic Sears , and Bucko Kilroy . End Tom Miller , tackle Ted Doyle and halfback John Hinkle were unable to attend. Wistert
9006-461: The first to start an African-American quarterback (December 3, 1973, with Joe Gilliam ), the first team to boast of an African-American Super Bowl MVP (January 12, 1975, with Franco Harris ), the first to hire an African-American Coordinator (September 2, 1984, with Tony Dungy ), the first owner to push for passage of an "equal opportunity" mandating that at least one minority candidate is given an interview in all head coach hiring decisions throughout
9120-454: The franchise, while two of the brothers – Timothy and Patrick – wanted to further pursue racetracks that they own in Florida and New York. Since 2006, many of the racetracks have added video slot machines , causing them to violate "NFL policy that prohibits involvement with racetrack and gambling interests". Upon Dan Rooney's death in 2017, he and Art Rooney II retained control of
9234-414: The front and back of the helmets. The current uniform designs were introduced 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. In 1997 , the team switched to rounded numbers on the jersey to match the number font ( Futura Condensed ) on the helmets, and a Steelers logo
9348-403: The ingredients used in the steel-making process: yellow for coal, red for iron ore, and blue for scrap steel. While the formal Steelmark logo contains only the word "Steel", the team was given permission to add "ers" in 1963 after a petition to AISI. The Steelers are the only NFL team that puts its logo on only one side of the helmet (the right side). Longtime field and equipment manager Jack Hart
9462-722: The league (the Rooney Rule in the early 2000s), and the first to hire a female as full-time athletic trainer ( Ariko Iso on July 24, 2002). The Steelers were a part of the NFL Eastern Division from 1933 to 1943 and were briefly in the Western Division in 1944, before returning to the Eastern Division until 1949. The team was then in the American Conference from 1950 to 1952, and the Eastern Conference from 1953 to 1966. They were then placed in
9576-451: The league had another problem. With the Cleveland Rams back in operation, the expansion Boston Yanks team in the fold and the Eagles and Steelers back in their separate ways, the NFL had 11 teams, which created a nightmare with divisions and scheduling. NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden begged for two teams to combine again in 1944. Ten teams made for a perfect league and eleven seemed impossible. The Steelers were still short of players due to
9690-438: The most conference championship games (11), and is tied with the Dallas Cowboys, the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl appearances (8). The Steelers have the best winning percentage (including every expansion team), earned the most All-Pro nominations, and have accumulated the most Super Bowl wins (6) since the modern game started in 1970. In 2017, they became the first team to reach 450 victories in
9804-473: The only NFL team not to have a season with 12 or more losses since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. Since 2008, the Rooney family has brought in several investors for the team while retaining control of the team itself. This came about so that the team could comply with NFL ownership regulations. Dan Rooney , and his son, Art Rooney II , president of the franchise, wanted to stay involved with
9918-468: The past ten seasons, while winning their division four times. In the NFL's "modern era" (since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970) the Steelers have posted the best record in the league. The franchise has won the most regular-season games, the most playoff games (33 playoff wins; the Dallas Cowboys are second with 32), won the most divisional titles (20), has played in the most conference championship games (15), hosted
10032-506: The past, most notably the Las Vegas Raiders , Dallas Cowboys , Denver Broncos , New England Patriots , and Tennessee Titans . They also have an intrastate rivalry with the Philadelphia Eagles , but under the current scheduling the teams play each other only once every four years. The Steelers and Cleveland Browns have been divisional rivals since the two cities' teams began playing against each other in 1950. After posting
10146-541: The players held full-time war jobs as it was a requirement of the team. Playing football was seen as an extracurricular activity. All of the 22 players on the roster kept full-time jobs in defense plants. One of Pittsburgh's players, Ted Doyle , worked at Westinghouse Electric and figured out later that his work assisted the Manhattan Project , which was America's effort to build the first atomic bomb , according to Matthew Algeo's book Last Team Standing . As
10260-407: The postseason with a 12–4 record. They lost in overtime to the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round. The Steelers recorded their 400th victory in Week 8 of the 2012 season after defeating the Washington Redskins . Overall, the Steelers went 8–8 and missed the postseason in 2012. In the 2013 season, the Steelers went 8–8 and missed the postseason. In the 2014 season, the Steelers won the AFC North with
10374-547: The postseason, with the Steelers winning both times. The New England Patriots emerged as a prominent rival in league circles when the Patriots upset the Steelers in the 2001 AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field , though the two teams had met in the postseason twice before; the Patriots defeated the Steelers in 1996 28–3 while the Steelers won 7–6 in 1997 ; both times, the Patriots fielded players with Pittsburgh-area roots in Ty Law and Curtis Martin . Martin's final game with
10488-459: The potential impact of expanded conscription upon their rosters and the player limit was increased from 25 to 28 in an effort to avoid crippling disruption. The Cleveland Rams were granted permission to suspend operations for the 1943 season. Operations of the NFL's two teams from Pennsylvania , the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers, were also merged for 1943 — reducing the number of participating teams to just eight. The NFL played
10602-401: 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
10716-453: The regular season since the 1970 merger. The Steelers are 36–26 (.580) in the postseason, with all but one (the 1947 playoff) having been played since the merger. The franchise, along with the Rooney family have for generations been strong advocates for equality of opportunity for both minorities and women. Among these achievements of the Steelers was the first to hire an African-American assistant coach (September 29, 1957, with Lowell Perry ),
10830-534: The rivalry. The Steelers and Bengals finished 2005 and 2006 with identical records (11–5 and 8–8 respectively), splitting both regular-season series, the Bengals winning the tiebreaker both years due to having a superior division record. The Steelers also are responsible for ending the Bengals' season in Cincinnati two years in a row, eliminating them from the playoffs in 2005 and taking them out of contention in 2006 . The rivalry has become more intense again since
10944-434: The road, though, and after seven games sported a 3–3–1 mark, with their third win and the tie coming against the defending-champion Washington Redskins ; the team regrouped with two at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field , against the Chicago Cardinals on Halloween Night and over the Detroit Lions on Nov. 21. Going into the season's final week, the 5-3-1 Steagles, with still a shot at the division championship, met Don Hutson and
11058-410: The season got underway, fans and newspapers began calling the team the Steagles, a combination of Steelers and Eagles. It had a nice ring to it and was fair to both cities. Steagles eventually became the common name used for the team throughout most of the country, except in Philadelphia, where the writers and even the team insisted on being called the Philadelphia Eagles. Chet Smith, the sports editor of
11172-400: 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 , as was common practice for NFL teams at the time. To distinguish them from
11286-663: The team owners were approached by then- Iowa Hawkeyes Head Coach Hayden Fry about designing his fading college team's uniforms in the image of the Steelers. Three days later, the owners sent Fry the reproduction jerseys (home and away versions) of then quarterback Terry Bradshaw . Today, the Hawkeyes still retain the 1979 Steelers uniforms as their home, and away colors. The Pittsburgh Steelers have three primary rivals, all within their division: ( Cleveland Browns , Baltimore Ravens , and Cincinnati Bengals ). They also have rivalries with other teams that arose from post-season battles in
11400-474: The team to a 12–4 record and an AFC North title. The team defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round and the New York Jets in the AFC Championship. Tomlin became the only coach to reach the Super Bowl twice before the age of 40 as he took the team to Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011. However, the Steelers were defeated by the Green Bay Packers , 31–25. In the 2011 season, the Steelers made
11514-404: The team with the league-minimum 30%, the following made up the other investors at the time: Three minority investors in the Steelers have since became majority owners of other NFL teams: Through the end of the 2023 season , the Steelers have an all-time record of 707–606–22, including playoffs. In recent seasons the Steelers have generally performed well, qualifying for the playoffs six times in
11628-529: The ten-year-old ban on black players , which disqualified potential replacement players such as Kenny Washington . Steelers' owner Art Rooney 's idea was to merge the Steelers with the Eagles. This idea came quickly to him since two years earlier he thought about combining the two teams into the Pennsylvania Keystoners . Eagles' owner Alexis Thompson , who was serving in the US Army as
11742-517: The time the 1945 NFL season started, and with the Brooklyn Tigers and the aforementioned Boston franchise permanently merging, there was an even number of ten teams to the delight of owners. The Eagles, now having enough players back from the war, resumed their traditional operation and continued under Neale, who took home back-to-back coach of the year awards as Philadelphia won consecutive NFL championships in 1948 and 1949. Individually,
11856-470: The uniforms they wore from 1946 to 1965, but with black pants in place of either gold or white pants. In 2018, the Steelers unveiled a third uniform based on those worn from 1968 to 1997, coinciding with the Steel Curtain teams of the 1970s. It is similar to the current uniforms but without the Steelers logo on the left chest and use block lettering and numbers in place of Futura Condensed. In 1979,
11970-401: The war. Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney was unhappy with the "Phil-Pitt" arrangement, but wanted to keep it intact. However, Philadelphia refused. The team merged with the Chicago Cardinals for the 1944 season, creating a team known as Card-Pitt . This "Card-Pitt" team was derisively called "carpet" due to going winless, and the commentary that "every team walked all over them". The war ended by
12084-454: The year of the players' strike , the Steelers finished with a record of 8–7, but missed the playoffs. In 1989 , they would reach the second round of the playoffs on the strength of Merrill Hoge and Rod Woodson before narrowly missing the playoffs in each of the next two seasons, Noll's last seasons. Noll's career record with Pittsburgh was 209–156–1. In 1992, Chuck Noll retired and
12198-433: Was added to the left side of the jersey. The 2007–2011 third uniform, consisting of a black jersey with gold lettering, white pants with black and gold stripes, and a gold helmet were first used during the Steelers' 75th anniversary season in 2007 . They were meant to evoke the memory of the 1963 – 1964 era uniforms. The uniforms were so popular among fans that the Steelers' organization decided to keep them and use them as
12312-490: Was delayed en route to camp which was held at St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia. By the time Keisling arrived, Neale already had the offense learning the T-formation , which was all the rage in those days because of its success in college football that was used by Frank Leahy at Notre Dame and by Red Blaik at Army . This conflict led to Neale serving as the team's offensive coordinator ; while Kiesling served as
12426-418: Was instructed to do this by Art Rooney as a test to see how the logo appeared on the gold helmets; however, its popularity led the team to leave it that way permanently. A year after introducing the logo, they switched to black helmets to make it stand out more. The Steelers, along with the New York Giants , are one of only two teams in the National Football League to have the players' uniform numbers on both
12540-417: Was set up to conduct interviews for the head coaching vacancy. On January 22, 2007, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin was announced as Cowher's successor as head coach. Tomlin is the first African-American to be named head coach of the team in its 75-year history. In his first season, he led the Steelers to a 10–6 record and AFC North title. The team fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars 31–29 in
12654-481: 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, a feat that had been accomplished only by legendary coach Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns . In those first six seasons, Cowher coached them as deep as the AFC Championship Game three times and following
12768-604: Was the 73rd scoreless tie in NFL history, scoreless ties had gradually become less and less common in the 1930s and early 1940s, and there has not been a scoreless tie in the NFL for 80 years and counting. The Redskins (5–0–1) and Bears (7–0–1) were still unbeaten going into Week Eleven , and met in Washington on November 21, with the Redskins winning 21–7. The Redskins had their first loss in Week Twelve when they lost to Phil-Pitt, 14–27, on November 28. The Bears clinched
12882-509: Was the last surviving player of the combine and died in 2016. All three of the surviving players belonged to the Eagles. Ted Doyle, who died in 2006, was the last surviving Steeler player from the team. In addition the Steelers recreated the Steagles era in their "Turn Back the Clock" ceremonies, including broadcasting in black and white on the Jumbotron and airing World War II footage during
12996-433: Was their best ever; no other team has ever drafted five future Hall of Famers in one year, and only very few (including the 1970 Steelers) have drafted two or more in one year. The players drafted in the early 1970s formed the base of an NFL dynasty, making the playoffs in 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. They also enjoyed
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