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Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers helmet Steelers
Helmet Logo
Information
League NFL National Football League
Conference AFC AFC
Division AFC North
Established 1933
Home field Heinz Field
City Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Uniforms
Steelers color uniform Steelers white uniform Steelers alternate uniform
Color White Alternate
Home Field
Championships
League
NFL 6
1974 • 1975 • 1978
1979 • 2005 • 2008
Super Bowls
Lombardi Trophy logo gray 6
IX • X • XIII
XIV • XL • XLIII
Conference
Conference Championship logo2 8
1974 • 1975 • 1978 • 1979
1995 • 2005 • 2008 • 2010
Division
20
1972 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976
1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1983
1984 • 1992 • 1994 • 1995
1996 • 1997 • 2001 • 2002
2004 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the National Football League (NFL) as part of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the AFC North division. Founded on July 8, 1933, the Steelers have played home games at Heinz Field since 2001.

The Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC and the 7th-oldest franchise in the NFL. The team was founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933 by Art Rooney, taking its original name from the baseball team of the same name, then switched to Steelers in 1940 to better represent the city's steel industry. The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since its founding. The current owner is Art's son, Dan Rooney, who has given much control of the franchise to his son Art Rooney II.

The team only appeared in only one playoff game in its first 40 years, however Pittsburgh experienced a dynasty in the 1970's, winning four Super Bowl championships. The Steelers have won more Super Bowl titles (six), won more AFC Championship Games (eight) and hosted more conference championship games (11) than any other AFC or NFC team. The Steelers won their most recent championship, Super Bowl XLIII, during the 2008 season.

NFL Team history

Founding

The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL first took to the field as the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20, 1933, taking its original name from the National League baseball team of the same name, as was common practice for NFL teams to do at the time. Prior to the 1940 season, owner Art Rooney Sr. changed the team name to Steelers to more properly represent the city’s dominant steel industry.

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". In 1944, they merged with the Chicago Cardinals and were known as Card-Pitt (or, mockingly, as the "Carpets", who finished 0-10). After the war, the Steelers returned in 1945.

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 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 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 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.

Membership

League affiliations
NFL National Football League (1933-present)
  • Eastern Division (1933–1943, 1945-1949)
  • Western Division (1944)
  • American Conference (1950–1952)
  • Eastern Conference (1953-1969)
    • NFL Century (1967–1969)
  • AFC American Football Conference (1970-present)

Championships

Although they never won an NFL Championship from the team's birth in 1933 to the first Super Bowl played during the 1966 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have since won six Super Bowl titles, the most of any NFL team.

Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL February 5, 2006
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
Seahawks helmet Seattle Seahawks 10
Steelers helmet Double arrow icon Pittsburgh Steelers 21
MVP: Hines Ward (WR)

After stumbling to a 7-5 start during the 2005 season, the Steelers rebounded and entered Super Bowl XL finishing the regular season with an 11-5 record. The Steelers became the first team to win three road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl, then win it all. Pittsburgh defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-17; the top-seeded Indianapolis Colts, 21-18; and the Denver Broncos, 34-17, in the AFC Championship Game.

The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL over the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10. The franchise would tie the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys for most Super Bowl titles at five. After the Seahawks had drawn the game to 14-10, the Steelers clinched the game in the fourth quarter with Antwaan Randle El connecting with Hines Ward 43-yard touchdown to ice the game. Hines Ward was named Super Bowl MVP, catching 5 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards.

Super Bowl XLIII

Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII February 1, 2009
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, Florida
Steelers helmet Double arrow icon Pittsburgh Steelers 27
Cardinals helmet Arizona Cardinals 23
MVP: Santonio Holmes (WR)

Pittsburgh finished the 2008 season with the second best record in the AFC at 12–4. The defense led the NFL in fewest points (13.9) and yards (237.2) allowed per game, while also ranking second in sacks with 51 thanks to James Harrison, who led with 16 sacks to become the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In the playoffs, Pittsburgh started with a 35–24 win over the San Diego Chargers, then went on to beat, for the third time in the season, their AFC North division arch-rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, 23–14.

With Raymond James Stadium as the backdrop, the Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals at Super Bowl XLIII to win their record sixth Super Bowl championship. With the second half drawing to a close and Arizona driving, James Harrison intercepted a pass and returned it for a 100-yard touchdown to end the half, helping the Steelers take 17-7 lead. Arizona would comeback in the fourth quarter, taking the lead 23-20 until the final Steelers drive when Ben Roethlisberger threw the game-clinching 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes, who would earn Super Bowl MVP for recording nine receptions for 131 yards and winning touchdown catch.

Achievements

Achievements
AP Most Valuable Player Offensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year Super Bowl MVP
1978 Bradshaw1 Terry Bradshaw 1972 JGreene1 Joe Greene 1974 FHarris2 Franco Harris
1974 JGreene1 Joe Greene 1975 Swann1 Lynn Swann
1975 Blount1 Mel Blount 1978 Bradshaw2 Terry Bradshaw
1976 Lambert1 Jack Lambert 1979 Bradshaw1 Terry Bradshaw
1993 RWoodson1 Rod Woodson 2005 HWard2 Hines Ward
2008 JHarrison1 James Harrison 2008 SHolmes2 Santonio Holmes
2010 Polamalu1 Troy Polamalu

Packers Rivalry

Steelers
Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers
Packers lead series 19–14
Season Date Winning team Score Stadium Series Box
1933 Oct. 15 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 47–0 City Stadium 1–0 Football icon
1935 Oct. 6 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 27–0 City Stadium 2–0 Football icon
Nov. 24 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 34–14 Forbes Field 3–0 Football icon
1936 Oct. 25 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 42–10 Wisconsin State Fair Park 4–0 Football icon
1938 Oct. 23 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 20–0 City Stadium 5–0 Football icon
1940 Oct. 27 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 24–3 Wisconsin State Fair Park 6–0 Football icon
1941 Nov. 23 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 54–7 Forbes Field 7–0 Football icon
1942 Nov. 23 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 24–21 Wisconsin State Fair Park 8–0 Football icon
1946 Oct. 20 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 17–7 City Stadium 9–0 Football icon
1947 Nov. 2 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–18 Wisconsin State Fair Park 9–1 Football icon
1948 Nov. 7 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–38 Forbes Field 9–2 Football icon
1949 Nov. 20 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–30 Wisconsin State Fair Park 9–3 Football icon
1951 Oct. 7 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 35–33 Wisconsin State Fair Park 10–3 Football icon
Nov. 11 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–28 Forbes Field 10–4 Football icon
1953 Oct. 24 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–31 Forbes Field 10–5 Football icon
1954 Sep. 26 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–21 City Stadium 10–6 Football icon
1957 Nov. 24 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 27–10 Forbes Field 11–6 Football icon
1960 Oct. 30 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 19–13 Forbes Field 12–6 Football icon
1963 Nov. 3 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 33–14 Milwaukee County Stadium 13–6 Football icon
1965 Sep. 19 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 41–9 Pitt Stadium 14–6 Football icon
1967 Dec. 17 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–24 Lambeau Field 14–7 Football icon
1969 Nov. 2 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 38–34 Pitt Stadium 15–7 Football icon
1970 Dec. 6 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 20–12 Three Rivers Stadium 16–7 Football icon
1975 Oct. 26 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–16 Milwaukee County Stadium 16–8 Football icon
1980 Nov. 2 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–22 Three Rivers Stadium 16–9 Football icon
1983 Sep. 11 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–25 Lambeau Field 16–10 Football icon
1986 Nov. 2 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–27 Three Rivers Stadium 16–11 Football icon
1992 Sep. 27 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 17–3 Lambeau Field 17–11 Football icon
1995 Dec. 24 Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 24–19 Lambeau Field 18–11 Football icon
1998 Nov. 9 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–27 Three Rivers Stadium 18–12 Football icon
2005 Nov. 6 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–20 Lambeau Field 18–13 Football icon
2009 Dec. 20 Steelers helmet Pittsburgh Steelers L 36–37 Heinz Field 18–14 Football icon
2010 Super Bowl XLV Packers helmet Green Bay Packers W 31–25 Cowboys Stadium 19–14 Football icon

External links

References

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