Established: 1933
Home Field: Heinz Field – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owner(s): The Rooney Family, John Stallworth
General Manager: Kevin Colbert
Head Coach: Mike Tomlin

The Steelers were established in 1933 as part of the NFL. They were originally called the Pittsburgh Pirates, and are the fifth oldest franchise in the league. They currently play in the AFC North.

Like many new teams, the Steelers got off to a pretty rough start. Through the first decade of the team’s existence, they never placed higher than second in the league, and never posted a record better than .500. They faired better through the 40s; however, they failed to secure any championships. For a brief period during World War II, the stealers teamed up with Philadelphia Eagles to form the “Steagles” due to a player shortage. They also merged with the Chicago Cardinals the following year to form the “Card-Pitt” team.

It wasn’t until the 1969 season that the Steelers began to form a winning team. Chuck Noll, who had a talent for drafting future hall of fame players, was hired as the head coach. He slowly began to put together a team of fantastic players, including “Mean” Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, and Franco Harris. By 1974, the team was stacked and thus began the Steelers dynasty. During this time, the Steelers amassed four Conference and Super Bowl Championships. It was to be their most successful era.

The success lasted until the mid 80s when the team suffered a dry spell that would last until the early 90s. In 1992, Bill Cowher took over for Noll as the head coach. Under the guidance of Cowher, the team made consistent playoff appearances, and took home consistent division championships, but were unable to get a Super Bowl championship until 2005 when they beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 to secure their fifth League Championship.

Current head coach Mike Tomlin took over for Cowher in 2007 and has continued to successfully lead the Steelers. They won their sixth Super Bowl in 2008, making them the current defending champions.

Championships

League Championships
Super Bowl: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, 2008

Conference Championships
AFC: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1995, 2005, 2008

Division Championships
AFC Central: 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001

Steelers Trivia

• The Steelers were one of three teams to join the newly formed AFC when the AFL and NFL merged. They were paid $3 million for volunteering to change conferences.
• For a time during the 1974 season, Joe Gilliam was named the starting QB, making him the first African-American starting QB in the NFL.
• The team changed their name from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Steelers in 1940.