A Legendary Franchise: The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are the 5th oldest team of all of the teams in the NFL..1933 was the year the team was founded. Originally they were named the Pirates..The Pirates was the same name as the city's baseball team..Before the 1940 season started, the team's name was changed to the Steelers..
The Steelers were able to make the play-offs for the first time ever in 1947..The Steelers were shut out by the Eagles 21-0 in their first ever play-off game. That game would be their last play-off game for the next 25 years..
Chuck Noll was hired in 1969, and then in 1970 the Steelers moved to their new home of Three Rivers Stadium..Drafting, was the greatest talent Chuck Noll had.. From 1969 to 1974, Noll drafted 9 Hall of Fame players.Noll's greatest draft was in 1974, when he selected 4 Hall of Fame players in one draft..That's one of those records that may never be broken..
Great drafting was the Steelers recipe to many winning seasons..The Immaculate Reception is one of the most famous plays in all of sports and that play also clinched the Steelers first ever play-off win..The Raiders were ahead 7-6 with only a few ticks on the clock left in the game..On 4th and 10, Bradshaw and the Steelers had nothing to lose. Bradshaw throws a pass downfield that looked as though it was going to incomplete and the game was going to end..The pass deflected off a Raiders defender, and a shoestring grab was made by the Steelers RB Franco Harris. Harris quickly ran into the endzone to defeat the Raiders in dramatic fashion..Many people agree or disagree on whether or not that was a legal play. However, that win started the Steelers dynasty of the 70's..The Steelers were able to dominate the 1970's. During those 10 years, they went to the play-offs 8 times, and won 4 Super Bowls in 6 years..
The Steelers didn't win as much as they did in the 80's as they did in the 70's. They were pretty mediocre for most of the 80's..Noll decided to retire after the '91 season, and Pittsburgh native Bill Cowher was hired to fill the position.. Cowher lead the Steelers to the play-offs his first 6 seasons.The legendary Paul Brown was the only other coach ever to accomplish that feat..Cowher was able to get passed the Colts in the AFC Championship game, but lost to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX during the '95 season..10 years later, Cowher and the Steelers made it back to the Super Bowl..After defeating the Seahawks 21-10 in Super Bowl XL, the Steelers were tied with 5 Super Bowl win along with the Cowboys and 49ers..The next season the Steelers went 8-8. Cowher decided that he wanted to spend more time with his family and resigned as Steelers head coach..Cowher's teams went to 6 AFC Championship Games, 2 Super Bowls, 1 Super Bowl win, and went to the play-offs 10 of the 15 years he coached..
In January of 2007, Mike Tomlin became the Steelers new head coach..Tomlin was the Steelers first ever African-American head coach..The first season with Tomlin as head coach, the Steelers went 10-6 and to the play-offs..The Jaguars defeated the Steelers in the AFC Wild Card Game..The 2008 Steelers finished with a 12-4 record as they went the Super Bowl and defeated the Cardinals 27-23.. The Super Bowl win made Tomlin the youngest coach ever to win a Super Bowl. The Super Bowl win also gave the Steelers more Super Bowl wins than any other franchise with 6.After going 9-7 in 2009, the Steelers missed the play-offs..Steelers managed a 12-4 record in 2010, and also returned to the Super Bowl..The Packers were able to hold on and defeat the Steelers in this Super Bowl, which gave the Steelers their 2nd Super Bowl loss..The Steelers were able to tie the Cowboys with 8 Super Bowl appearances. No other NFL teams have that many..
The Steelers have solid ownership by the Rooney family and look to continue with their winning for many years to come. Steelers fans can show their Steelers pride with one of the Pittsburgh Steelers Watches from Game Time.
