50 Fun Facts About Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers joined the NFL in 1933 under what original name?

Art Rooney paid a $2,500 franchise fee and borrowed the baseball team's name; the media called them the Rooneymen to tell them apart.

In which year did the franchise drop its original borrowed baseball name and become the Steelers?

The team is the seventh-oldest in the NFL and the oldest in the AFC.

Which future US Supreme Court justice did the club sign in 1938 to the biggest contract in NFL history?

'Whizzer' White played one year in Pittsburgh before joining Detroit.

What was the team nicknamed when the Steelers merged with their cross-state rivals for the 1943 season?

They went 5-4-1 in green and white; the next year's merger with the Chicago Cardinals produced the winless 'Card-Pitt', mocked as the Carpets.

Which Pittsburgh-born quarterback did the Steelers draft and cut in 1955 before he became a Colts legend?

The team's pre-merger futility spawned the slogan 'Same Old Steelers'.

Art Rooney reportedly funded the early team with winnings from a 1936 parlay at which racetrack?

The tip came from Giants owner Tim Mara, a bookmaker; the win was worth about $160,000.

Which coach, hired from the Baltimore Colts for the 1969 season, turned the franchise into a dynasty?

His first team went 1-13, which won a coin flip for the No. 1 pick and Terry Bradshaw.

The coach hired in 1969 won how many Super Bowls in Pittsburgh?

He also won nine Central Division titles and had winning records in 15 of his final 20 seasons.

The 1974 Steelers draft is considered the best ever because it produced how many future Hall of Famers?

Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster; no other team has matched it.

The Steel Curtain nickname came from a 1971 radio contest won by whom?

Seventeen people submitted the name to WTAE, so a drawing decided the winner; it played on Churchill's Iron Curtain.

Which four defensive linemen anchored the Steel Curtain?

Linebackers Lambert, Ham and Andy Russell backed them up.

'Mean' Joe Greene's nickname is usually traced to the athletic teams of which university?

North Texas plays as the Mean Green; his 'Hey Kid, Catch!' Coca-Cola ad aired during Super Bowl XIV.

The Immaculate Reception, the Steelers' first playoff win, came against which team in 1972?

Franco Harris caught a deflected Bradshaw pass intended for John 'Frenchy' Fuqua; Myron Cope first used the name on air.

Which fan club, with Frank Sinatra as its 'Brigadier General', wore military helmets bearing number 32?

Fans wore army helmets bearing his number 32; he was MVP of Super Bowl IX.

Terry Bradshaw was drafted first overall in 1970 out of which school?

Pittsburgh won the pick on a coin flip with the Bears after both went 1-13 in 1969.

Beating the Rams 31-19 in the 1979 season's title game earned the Steelers which distinction?

The win at the Rose Bowl completed four titles in six seasons.

What Super Bowl first was the only score of the first half in Super Bowl IX, the Steelers' first title?

Fran Tarkenton was downed in his own end zone; Pittsburgh beat Minnesota 16-6.

Which receiver was the first at his position named Super Bowl MVP, in the 21-17 win over Dallas in Super Bowl X?

His 64-yard touchdown catch was the highlight; he later ran for governor of Pennsylvania.

Which team did the Steelers beat 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII, the first Super Bowl rematch?

It was played at the Miami Orange Bowl, the last Super Bowl in that stadium.

Broadcaster Myron Cope conceived the Terrible Towel in which year?

The AP called it arguably the best-known fan symbol in pro sports; it has been to Everest and the International Space Station.

Proceeds from Terrible Towel sales go to which institution?

The Coraopolis school for people with disabilities has received more than $8 million.

The Steelers are the only NFL team to place their logo on just one side of the helmet. Which side?

Art Rooney ordered it as a test on the gold helmets in 1962, and fans liked it enough to keep it that way.

The three shapes in the Steelers logo are called what?

The logo is based on the Steelmark of U.S. Steel; the yellow, orange and blue came to represent the ingredients of steel.

Which 1979 Styx song is played before defensive stands to rally the crowd at Steelers home games?

The tradition began in 2002; hometown rapper Wiz Khalifa's 'Black and Yellow' is another anthem.

Which venue, home to the Steelers for 31 seasons, was imploded in 2001?

It opened in 1970, the year the team moved to the AFC in the merger and pocketed a $3 million relocation fee.

The Steelers' North Shore stadium, opened in 2001, carried what original name?

Acrisure bought the naming rights in 2022; the University of Pittsburgh Panthers share the North Shore venue.

Steelers coach Bill Cowher grew up in which Pittsburgh suburb, about five miles from Three Rivers?

He reached the playoffs in each of his first six seasons, a feat only Paul Brown had managed.

Ben Roethlisberger, drafted 11th overall in 2004, played college football at which school?

He was Offensive Rookie of the Year and at 23 became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XL in Detroit made the Steelers the first team to win it all from which playoff position?

The 21-10 win over Seattle was 'one for the thumb', the record-tying fifth title, in Jerome Bettis's hometown.

Which Steelers receiver, later a Dancing with the Stars champion, was MVP of Super Bowl XL?

Born in Seoul to a Korean mother, he caught a touchdown from fellow receiver Randle El, the first wideout to throw a Super Bowl TD pass.

Jerome Bettis, who retired after Super Bowl XL in his home city, was nicknamed what?

The Detroit native's number 36 has never been reissued, though the team does not officially retire numbers.

Mike Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl at what age, in Super Bowl XLIII?

He was the second Black head coach to win it, after Tony Dungy.

Which linebacker's 100-yard interception return in Super Bowl XLIII was then the longest Super Bowl play?

Undrafted out of Kent State, he is the only undrafted player named AP Defensive Player of the Year.

Whose toe-tap catch with 35 seconds left beat Arizona 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII?

He caught nine passes for 131 yards and was named MVP.

Troy Polamalu famously insured which part of his body after signing a shampoo endorsement?

The Head & Shoulders deal followed an opponent tackling him by his flowing locks.

How many interceptions did Rod Woodson return for touchdowns, an NFL record?

The Purdue product also holds the record for fumble recoveries by a defender, and was 1993 Defensive Player of the Year.

T.J. Watt's 22.5 sacks in 2021 tied whose single-season record?

Myles Garrett broke it in 2025; Watt was the second-fastest player ever to 100 sacks.

Antonio Brown, who set receiving records in Pittsburgh, was drafted in which round in 2010?

The Central Michigan product twice led the league in receiving yards and made six straight Pro Bowls.

The Rooney Rule, requiring minority candidates be interviewed for head coaching jobs, dates from which year?

It is named for Dan Rooney, then chairman of the league's diversity committee; the team was also first to hire a female full-time athletic trainer.

'Bullet' Bill Dudley, the Steelers' first overall pick in 1942, led the league in what as a rookie?

He ran for 696 yards on 162 carries and made All-Pro.

The Steelers' first winning record in nine years came in 1958 after trading for which Lions quarterback?

Layne had led Detroit to two NFL championships.

The Steelers' 1947 playoff appearance, their first, ended in a 21-0 loss to which team at Forbes Field?

It was the club's only playoff game of the entire pre-merger era.

How many Super Bowl titles have the Steelers won, tied for the most in NFL history?

They share the record with the Patriots and hold the mark for conference championship game appearances with 16.

From 1969 through the 2025 season, how many head coaches had the Steelers employed?

Noll, Cowher and Tomlin: each has reached a Super Bowl, matching the Cowboys' Landry-Johnson-Switzer run.

Which family has owned the Steelers continuously since the club's founding?

Art's son Dan ran the team from 1988 until his death in 2017, and grandson Art Rooney II now leads it.

Which stadium's naming rights were sold to Acrisure in 2022?

The $281 million stadium stands on the Ohio River on the North Side.

Which team's owner tipped Art Rooney to his 1936 racetrack winnings and later became a bitter Steelers rival?

Mara was a bookmaker by trade.

Ben Roethlisberger missed the 2006 opener after an off-season crash on what?

An emergency appendectomy in September kept him out further, and Charlie Batch started week one.

How many old-guard NFL clubs, the Steelers among them, moved to the AFC in the 1970 merger?

The Browns and Colts made the move too, and each got a $3 million relocation fee that the cash-poor Steelers badly needed.

Which Oakland defensive back may, or may not, have deflected the ball on the Immaculate Reception?

Under 1972 rules, if the ball touched only Fuqua the pass was incomplete, which is why the play is still argued about.