Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers, American professional gridiron football team based in Pittsburgh that plays in the NFL. One of the league’s most successful and storied franchises, the Steelers have won six Super Bowl titles and eight American Football Conference (AFC) championships.
Originally called the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team was founded in 1933 by Pittsburgh resident Art Rooney, who allegedly used winnings from a wager on a horse race to establish the franchise. (Ownership of the team remains within the Rooney family to this day.) The team was not an early success; it qualified for the playoffs just once in its first 37 years. In 1940 the team changed its nickname to “Steelers” in tribute to Pittsburgh’s main industry at the time. The Steelers tied for the NFL Eastern Division title in 1947, but they were shut out 21–0 by the Philadelphia Eagles in a playoff match to qualify for the NFL championship game. Rooney watched the Steelers struggle through the 1950s and ’60s until their fortunes turned around with the arrival of head coach Chuck Noll in 1969.
From 1969 to 1972 Noll showcased his amazing skill at recognizing talent as he drafted five future Hall of Famers: defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene, quarterback Terry Bradshaw, defensive back Mel Blount, linebacker Jack Ham, and running back Franco Harris (remembered for his “Immaculate Reception,” a game-winning catch in the playoffs against the Oakland Raiders in 1972, one of the most remarkable and controversial plays in professional football history). In 1974 Noll selected four more players who would eventually be inducted into the Hall of Fame: center Mike Webster, receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, and linebacker Jack Lambert. These players went on to form a dynasty of unmatched success, winning four Super Bowls (1975, 1976, 1979, and 1980) in six seasons behind a dominant defense known as the “Steel Curtain” and an efficient offense led by Bradshaw. The Steelers teams of the 1970s were also characterized by a fervent fan base, notable for the bright yellow “Terrible Towels”—which were created by the team’s popular and idiosyncratic radio broadcaster for 35 years, Myron Cope—that fans would wave during home games. Pittsburgh faded slightly in the 1980s, with four postseason berths in the decade, and Noll retired in 1991.
Noll was replaced by Bill Cowher, who led the Steelers to the playoffs in 10 of his 15 seasons with the team. One of Cowher’s most significant personnel moves was his promotion of secondary coach Dick LeBeau to the position of defensive coordinator in 1995: in his two stints (1995–97, 2004–15) as the Steelers’ coordinator, LeBeau put together formidable defenses that defined the Pittsburgh teams of those eras. The Steelers’ defense of the mid-1990s was highlighted by stars such as future Hall of Fame cornerback Rod Woodson and linebackers Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene. Pittsburgh advanced to the Super Bowl in 1996 but lost to the Dallas Cowboys.
The Steelers continued their success into the new century, and in 2006—with a team featuring quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Hines Ward, and safety Troy Polamalu—they defeated the Seattle Seahawks to gain a fifth Super Bowl title. In 2009 the Steelers, under the leadership of second-year head coach Mike Tomlin, beat the Arizona Cardinals in dramatic fashion to capture their record sixth Super Bowl championship. After missing the playoffs following the 2009 regular season, Pittsburgh captured its third AFC championship in a six-year span in 2011 to earn a berth in Super Bowl XLV, a loss to the Green Bay Packers.
The Steelers returned to the playoffs after both the 2011 and 2014 regular seasons, but the team lost in the opening round of each postseason. Pittsburgh won its first playoff game following the 2015 season but was eliminated by the Denver Broncos in the divisional round. The team won 11 games the following year and advanced to the playoffs, where the Steelers lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game for the third time. Pittsburgh topped that regular-season performance in 2017 with 13 wins, which tied with three other teams for the most in the NFL. However, the Steelers were upset in the team’s opening playoff game. In 2018 the team went 9–6–1 while enduring a number of high-profile public spats among many of its best players, missing the postseason for the first time in five years.
From 2019 to 2023 the Steelers continued their reliably solid, if unspectacular, play under the steady leadership of Tomlin, who, since he joined the team in 2007, has never finished a season with fewer than eight wins. A strong defense was a hallmark of the team, led by linebacker T.J. Watt, a perennial Defensive Player of the Year finalist (he won the award in 2021). Pittsburgh made the playoffs after the 2020, 2021, and 2023 seasons, each time losing in the wild card round.