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Pittsburgh
Steelers History
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Pittsburgh Steelers,
professional football team and one of six teams in the Central
Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) of the National
Football League (NFL). Under the league’s realignment
plan, which will take affect in 2002, the Steelers will play
in the North Division of the AFC. Originally called the Pirates,
the Steelers wear uniforms of black and gold. The team, which
used to play at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
was scheduled to move into a new stadium for the 2001 season.
The team takes its name from the steel-producing factories in
Pittsburgh.
During the 1970s Pittsburgh became the first NFL team to win
four Super Bowls. Head coach Chuck Noll commanded a talent-laden
club starring several future Hall of Fame members, including
quarterback Terry Bradshaw, defensive end “Mean”
Joe Greene, running back Franco Harris, and linebackers Jack
Ham and Jack Lambert.
The Pittsburgh Pirates football team was founded in 1933 by
Art Rooney. He named the team after Pittsburgh’s National
League baseball team, and the two franchises shared Pittsburgh’s
Forbes Field. In 1938 Rooney signed star running back Byron
White. Nicknamed Whizzer because of his speed, White led the
league in rushing that year, but the Pirates won just two of
nine games.
After seven losing seasons, Rooney renamed his team the Steelers
in 1940. The club registered only three winning records from
1942 to 1949. Its best player during this time was two-time
rushing champion Bill Dudley. In 1946 the versatile running
back, who would eventually be elected to the Pro Football Hall
of Fame, led the NFL in rushing, interceptions, and punt returns.
From 1950 to 1957 Pittsburgh failed to produce a winning record.
The team briefly recovered between 1958 and 1963, culminating
with a 9-5 win-loss record in 1962. Pittsburgh followed a 7-4
record in 1963 with eight consecutive losing campaigns from
1964 to 1971.
The Steelers moved to their new home in Three Rivers Stadium
in 1970, the same year Pittsburgh chose quarterback Terry Bradshaw
of Louisiana Tech as the number one pick in the NFL draft. In
1972, just three years after a one-win season, head coach Chuck
Noll led the Steelers to the team’s first division title
ever. The crown marked the beginning of a dynasty that won seven
Central Division championships (including six consecutively)
and four Super Bowls from 1972 to 1980.
Noll put together a well-balanced offense starring Bradshaw,
Franco Harris, center Mike Webster, and wide receivers John
Stallworth and Lynn Swann. The defense, known as the Steel Curtain
because it closed tight on opposing offenses, featured Jack
Ham and Jack Lambert; defensive backs Mel Blount and Donnie
Shell; and linemen Joe Greene, L. C. Greenwood, and Dwight White.
Pittsburgh fielded the AFC’s top-rated defense for three
consecutive seasons, from 1974 to 1976.
Pittsburgh rolled through the playoffs in both 1974 and 1975
and won the Super Bowls that followed both seasons, holding
the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys to a combined 23 points
in the two games. Three years later the Steelers again reached
the Super Bowl. They defeated the Cowboys 35-31 in what is considered
one of the most thrilling championships in NFL history. Bradshaw
threw four touchdown passes, and the Steelers led the game 35-17
with just under seven minutes left to play. Dallas quarterback
Roger Staubach led his team to two more touchdowns before Pittsburgh
recovered a Dallas onside kick and won the game. Pittsburgh
earned its fourth title in 1980, defeating the Los Angeles Rams
31-19.
Noll collected two more division titles in the following 12
seasons, but under him the Steelers did not return to the Super
Bowl. When he retired after the 1991 season, he ranked fourth
in NFL history with 209 career victories. Club founder Art Rooney
died in 1988, having owned the Steelers for 55 years. His son
Daniel M. Rooney became the franchise president.
Former NFL linebacker Bill Cowher was hired as head coach in
1992 and built solid teams in the early 1990s with running back
Barry Foster, linebacker Greg Lloyd, and quarterback Neil O’Donnell.
Cowher led Pittsburgh to three straight division crowns from
1994 to 1996. Following the 1995 season the Steelers again played
in the Super Bowl, but they lost to the Cowboys 27-17. Running
back Jerome Bettis led the team in the 1996 season as Pittsburgh
clinched the AFC Central Division and beat the Indianapolis
Colts 42-14 in the playoffs before losing to the New England
Patriots, 28-3.
1975 IX Defeated Minnesota Vikings, 16-6
1976 X Defeated Dallas Cowboys, 21-17
1979 XIII Defeated Dallas Cowboys, 35-31
1980 XIV Defeated Los Angeles Rams, 31-19
1996 XXX Lost to Dallas Cowboys, 27-17. |
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