History Of The Pittsburgh Steelers Team

 

Pittsburgh Steelers was founded the 8th of July 1933 by Arthur Joseph Rooney. Rooney paid $ 2500 to get the Pittsburgh Pirates into the Eastern Division. Pittsburgh Pirates played very bad in the beginning. In the first 7 seasons they only won 22 games. The economy in the club was also very bad all the time until 1948. Rooney financed the club by betting on horses and arranging boxing matches. Rooney has in other words been the most important person in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.

 

In 1940 Pittsburgh changed their name from Pirates to Steelers. Pittsburgh’s baseball team was also named Pirates which caused some confusion. The name Steelers was chosen to celebrate the area’s industry – the steel industry. In 1942 Steelers got their first winning season where they ended 7-4 that was a very important year in the Pittsburgh Steeler history. In the beginning of 1943 many of the Steelers players were in the army because of II world war. That resulted in some shortage of players which was the reason why the joint venture of Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles – The Steagles. But it did not result in a better team. In a way it just meant a team with twice as many poor players. That period was not the most successful in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.

 

When the players returned from the war the team was lead by the head coach: Jock Sutherland. He was an expert in motivating his players to perform their best. In 1947 Steelers shared first place in NFL Eastern Division with Philadelphia Eagles. In the following years the Steelers did not play well, but on the other hand they did not play bad either.. They were especially good at beating the opponent’s offence. Every time another team was to meet Pittsburgh Steelers their defence always looked forward to the match because they knew the Steelers offence was not any good. On the other hand their offence was scared to death because Steelers defence was dreadfully good. It was Steelers defence that always brought them to the playoffs (without winning anything). The team has ever since been characterized by a great defence throughout the entire history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.

 

After Sutherland’s sudden death in 1947 John Michelosen was appointed head coach. He did not revolutionize the Pittsburgh Steeler history since he only lasted until 1951. His record showed 20-26-2. In the course of the next many years head coaches were exchanged regularly and it was not until Art Rooney presented the 37 years old Chuck Noll as new head coach (27-Jan-1969) things turned around in Steelers favour. The first sign of new times in the Pittsburgh Steeler history came when Noll chose DT Joe Greene in the draft who later got the nick name Mean Joe after an episode where he had tackled a player very hard far out of bounce. After a miserable first season for Noll where he ended 1-13 Steelers chose with their first overall draft choice, QB Terry Bradshaw. He became a dominating figure in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.

 

In 1970 Steelers was moved to AFC Central because AFL and NFL were joined. Steelers also got a new stadium that year when Three Rivers Stadium was built. In the beginning of the 70’th Steelers was getting better and better and in 1972 they won their first division title in the Pittsburgh Steeler history. Their first playoff match on Three Rivers Stadium was a great match against their new rivals Oakland Raiders. Steelers won 13-7 on a last second touch down by Franco Harris, who was drafted in 1972. The game that Steelers team was playing has later been named The Immaculate Reception. After the game fans stormed the field to celebrate their heroes triumph, but Art Rooney knew nothing about that since he had gone down to the changing rooms before the game was over to prepare for his sad players. He was in for at surprise! In spite of a 21-17 defeat to Miami Dolphins in the following week Steelers had now reached a level they had never been near before in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.
 

It took Steelers 40 years to win their first division title, but to the next decade they were to set new standards within professional football.
In 1974 Steelers won the first out of six AFC central championships and the same year they won Super Bowl IX over Minnesota Viking's and Art Rooney could lift the Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.

In 1975 Steelers won the first 11 fights and ended 12-2. In Super Bowl
X they won over Dallas Cowboys 21-17 and became the third team to win two Super bowls in a row. In 1976 the Steelers season started incredibly bad and after the first five matches they were at 1-4. But they pulled themselves together and won the remaining nine matches so that they ended 10-4. Unfortunately they lost 24-7 to Oakland at the end game.
In the following season they lost to Denver Broncos in the first playoff fight.
In 1978 Steelers had the best record ever in NFL 14-2 and they went all the way and won the end game. In Super Bowl Xiii they won over Dallas Cowboys once again. This time 35-31 and Steelers became the first team in NFL history to win three Super bowls.

Again the year after they were to set new standards in NFL and in the Pittsburgh Steeler history. In Super Bowl XIV they won over Los Angeles Rams 31-19 and became the first team to win four Super bowls and the only team to win back-to-back Super bowls twice. This was a high in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. With six AFCs central victories in a row, eight years in a row with playoffs as well as four Super Bowls, Steelers was undoubtedly the seventies team.

 

The defense from that period got because of their hardness the nickname "The Steel Curtain". In 1980 the Steelers dynasty ended with a bang. In both 80 and 81 they were not able to reach the end games. In 1982 Steelers had 50 years jubilee and it was celebrated by reaching the end games, which however ended in a defeat to San Diego Chargers. This became the last end game match in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team that was played on Three Rivers Stadium until 1992. In 1983 Steelers won their 8. division title, but lost the end game to Los Angeles Rams. The year after Pittsburgh Steelers won the division title once again, but lost to Miami in the AFC final with 45-28 and that meant that Steelers couldn't come in Super Bowl for the fifth time. Steelers had had 13 winning season's in a row, but that ended abruptly in 1985 when they ended 7-9 and 6-10 the year after. Also 1987 ended with a disappointment, where every one thought Steelers would come to the end game, but the dreams burst when they lost the last two fights and ended 8-7. The start of the 1988 season was simply awful in the Pittsburgh Steeler history and Steelers ended 5-11. This was also the year where Arthur J Rooney died and his son Dan Rooney took over the chairman role for the Steelers team. The year after started, if possible, even worse. The first two matches were lost with 51-0 and 41-10. The team fought and ended 9-7. This meant that they reached the end games after all. Unfortunately they lost the playoff match to Denver 24-23 after having beaten Houston 26-23 in overtime the week before. The 80th were indeed not the best period in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team.

 

The nineties started in an unfortunate way. There were three teams who were believed to win AFC central, but Steelers attracted Black Man with a 2-4 division record.
On December 26th 1991 Chuck Noll retired after 23 years as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach. He left the team as the fifth most winning coach in the NFL history with 209 victories, 156 defeats and 1 undecided. He was also the most winning coach in the Pittsburgh Steeler history. Noll was followed by Bill Cowher. The first year Cowher was with Steelers they won the division title for the first time for eight years and ended 11-5 and Cowher was selected as Coach of the year from Associated Press. In 1993 Steelers once again reached the play offs, but it ended when they lost to KC Chiefs 27-24 in overtime in the AFC wildcard match. Steelers ended the season 9-7. The year after Steelers ended the season by winning 7 of the last 8 matches and ended 12-4. That meant another chance in the playoffs. After an easy victory over Cleveland Browns in the first round San Diego Chargers were waiting back in Pittsburgh. This match was the first playoff match played at Three Rivers Stadium since 1984. Steelers dominated the match, but could not beat Chargers who won 17-13.

 

 

In 1995 Steelers was far away from the playoffs after the first 7 games. They were 3-4 and it did not look like they were going to make it. They forgot about the first seven matches and focused on the remaining nine. This meant 8 won matches in a row and a spot in the playoffs. The season also gave room for a new player. Kordell Stewart became the season’s greatest surprise and he became an important player in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. He played as QB, RB and widereceiver. In the playoffs Steelers won. Again Steelers was home in an AFC championship match. This time against Colts. Again Steelers dominated the match statistically, but not on the scoreboard. Steelers however won the match after a late Touch Down by Bam Morris. Bill Cowher was 38 years old and became the youngest coach in Super Bowl and the Pittsburgh Steeler history. Steelers lost the final against Cowboys 27-17. In 1996 the Steelers team had many injured players which made room for many new players. RB Jerome Bettis was one of them. He came to Steelers from Rams who believed he was too controversial. Steelers ended the season 10-6 and that meant for the 5th time in a row a spot in the playoffs. In 1997 Steelers won their 4th AFC Central title in a row with at 11-5 record. They were only one game away from Super Bowl, but lost against Denver 24-21 in the AFC championship match. The 90th were a better period in the Pittsburgh Steeler history than the 80th.

 

In 1998 the season started well off. Steelers was 7-4 before a very controversial ruling changed the season. When the coin was to be thrown in overtime in a match against Detroit Lions, Bettis chose Tails, but the referee heard it as heads so Lions started with the ball. Lions pushed the ball forward and won on a field goal. This was the beginning of a miserable ending of that season in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. They lost the last 4 games and did not reach the playoffs for the first time since Cowher came to the club. The year after became another disappointing season and Steelers ended 6-10. In 2000 Steelers won 9 games, but the last match was the one they focused the most on. This was the last match played on Three Rivers Stadium. It was destroyed February 11th 2001 and ended an era in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. From the ruins of Three Rivers, Heinz Field was raised. The stadium cost 260 million dollars and was the most modern in NFL. The Heinz Field also meant new times in the Pittsburgh Steeler history. Heinz Field got a great start season where Steelers earned their best record since 1978. They ended 13-3. They won over the defending champions Baltimore Ravens before they lost against Patriots in the AFC final.

 

In 2002 an unexpected star was reborn. After having sold insurances for 2 years Tommy Maddox decided that he would play in the NFL again. When Stewart was injured Maddox took over as Steelers QB. Steelers ended 10-5-1 and met Browns in the AFC Wildcard match. Steelers was behind 24-7 in 3rd quarter. But Steelers won the match 36-33 in one of the best come backs in the entire history of NFL and indeed in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team. The week later Steelers lost against Tennessee Titans 34-31. The year after Steelers lost 10 matches and was in desperate need of new fresh players. That they got in the 2004 draft where they in the first round chose QB Ben Roethlisberger from University of Miami. Roethlisberger has been an important player until now in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team

 

Roethlisberger won the first 12 matches he started and lead the Steelers to the playoffs. In the AFC final they lost against Patriots, who later won the Super Bowl. Throughout the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers team it has been one of the most stabile in the NFL. It has always been owned by a family, been in one city and had a clear philosophy.

 

Steelers players hall of fame throughout the Pittsburgh Steeler history:

 

Bert Bell - 1963
Cal Hubbard – 1963

John "Blood" Mcnally – 1963

Art Rooney - 1964

Bill Dudley – 1966

Walt Kiesling – 1966

Bobby Layne – 1967

Marion Motley – 1968

Ernie Stautner - 1969

John Henry Johnson - 1987

Joe Greene – 1987

Jack Ham - 1988

Mel Blount - 1989
Terry Bradshaw - 1989
Len Dawson - 1989
Franco Harris - 1990
Jack Lambert - 1990
Chuck Noll - 1993
Mike Webster – 1997
Dan Rooney - 2000
Lynn Swann - 2001
John Stallworth - 2002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsored Links