About This Quiz
Hailing from the Rust Belt, the Pittsburgh Steelers are renowned for their toughness and glory on the NFL gridiron. How much do you really know about this star-laden team?The Steelers play in the American Football Conference (AFC) rather than the NFC. For decades, they've managed major runs of success.
The Steelers are the oldest franchise in the entire AFC. The team was established back in 1933, long before the World War II era.
Art Rooney was the team's original owner. Unlike most NFL teams, the Steelers are a family-owned enterprise and are still operated by the Rooneys.
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Rothlisberger is the tough-as-nails drama queen who plays quarterback for the Steelers. He loves the spotlight, and that's where he performs best.
During a 1972 playoff game, the Steelers were trailing the Raiders and time was running out. Harris grabbed controversial deflected pass and scored a touchdown -- it was the "Immaculate Reception."
"Mean" Joe Greene tore apart offensive lines for more than a decade. The irony? Off of the field, he was regarded as a very nice person.
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These days, Pirates refers to the city's baseball team. But in the '30s, the football team used the Pirates name. Pittsburgh's hockey team is the Penguins, proving that there is a plethora of prolific alliteration in Pittsburgh's professional sports paradise.
It almost goes without saying that hosting a championship game gives a team an incredible advantage in advancing to the Super Bowl. The Steelers have hosted this high-stakes game 11 times, more than any other team.
Bell is capable of running for more than 1,200 yards per year, a clip that's virtually unheard of in today's pass-heavy league. But he's been busted for drug issues more than once in his short career.
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The "Terrible Towel" is a Pittsburgh tradition. Fans wave these towels wildly in the air to whip up a frenzy and possibly dump the beer of the guy standing next to them.
The Towel borrowed the team's colors -- black and gold. Steelers fans are convinced that if they twirl the towels hard enough, they can will the team to a touchdown.
Every other team in the league overlooked Brown, who fell to the sixth round of the draft. He's evolved into one of the most prolific receivers in the modern NFL.
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The Steelers are exceedingly successful compared to most teams. They've played in 15 conference championship games, tying them with San Francisco for the most all-time.
In 2009, at age 36, Mike Tomlin became the youngest head coach ever to win a Super Bowl. And he's also only the 10th black head coach in NFL history.
Bradshaw, the QB who made male-pattern baldness look good, was the first QB ever to win three -- and then four -- Super Bowls.
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The Steelers made famous a legendary place called Three Rivers Stadium. But they've been playing on Heinz Field since 2001. Unlike many modern fields, it features natural grass.
The logo is borrowed from the steel industry. It's almost an exact replica of the Steelmark logo made by the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Woodson was a hard-nosed cornerback, blowing up plays and throwing down ball carriers with extreme prejudice. He had 71 interceptions in his long career.
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In the '70s, the stout Steelers defense became known as the Steel Curtain, repelling offense like so many flies. When the offense struggled, the Steel Curtain came to the rescue.
Swann was one of the most graceful wide receivers in NFL history. His sticky hands, paired with Terry Bradshaw's accuracy, helped the Steelers win multiple Super Bowls. Swann has four to his credit.
During World War II, there weren't enough football players to go around. So Pittsburgh and Philadelphia combined teams for a short time, playing as the "Steagles."
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In 2012, the Steelers began intermittently wearing jerseys from the '30s era. The jerseys feature yellow stripes, making the players look a bit like giant angry bumblebees.
Bradshaw rarely wowed fans with his statistics, due in part to his yawn-inducing 70.9 passer rating. But he was clutch when it counted.
The Steelers last played in the Super Bowl in 2011, which was against the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay jumped out to an early lead and won, 31-25.
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In the '60s, a time of tumult throughout the land, the "Steelerettes" wanted to up the ante in terms of their uniforms by going skimpy. The Rooney family responded by simply firing the entire squad.
Noll had a gift for picking amazingly talented players in the draft. He helped in the selections of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann and other legendary NFL stars.
Pittsburgh and Baltimore are rivals that both play in the AFC North. In a game that's already violent, some Steelers-Ravens contests turn into downright bloody brawls.
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The Steelers have a notable history of colorblindness. They started the first-ever black quarterback, hired the first black coaches and essentially awarded jobs based on merit, not race, even before it was fashionable to do so.
When the Steelers winning bandwagon took off in the early '70s, there was no looking back. The team has sold out every single home game for more than four decades, going back to 1972.
It's true, since the formation of the official Super Bowl, no other team has won more of those big games. Pittsburgh has six titles to its credit.
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