The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North Division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the seventh-oldest franchise in the NFL, and the oldest franchise in the AFC.
Terry Paxton Bradshaw is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday. Bradshaw is also an actor and recording artist, having participated in several television shows and films, most notably co-starring in the movie Failure to Launch, and releasing several country music albums. He won four Super Bowl titles in a six-year period, becoming the first quarterback to win three and four Super Bowls, and led the Steelers to eight AFC Central championships. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility. Bradshaw was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's (NFL) championship game. The winner is chosen by a panel of 16 football writers and broadcasters, and, since Super Bowl XXXV in 2001, fans voting electronically. The media panel's ballots count for 80 percent of the vote tally, while the viewers' ballots make up the other 20 percent. The game's viewing audience can vote on the Internet or by using cellular phones; Media voters are asked to vote with about five minutes remaining in the game, but are allowed to change their mind when the game ends. They can nominate one player from each team, with instructions to count their vote for the player on the winning team. Voters cannot select an entire unit.
Acrisure Stadium, formerly known as Heinz Field, is a football stadium located in the North Shore neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It primarily serves as the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Pittsburgh Panthers of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The stadium opened in 2001 as Heinz Field, following the controlled implosion of the teams' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium. In 2021, the H. J. Heinz Company declined to renew the stadium's naming rights. The City of Pittsburgh green-lit Acrisure's bid to purchase the rights in 2022.
Charles Henry Noll was an American professional football player and head coach. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, his sole head coaching position was for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1991. When Noll retired after 23 years, only three other head coaches in NFL history had longer tenures with one team.
Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2003. Fitzgerald was selected by the Cardinals with the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. He is widely considered by fans, coaches and peers to be one of the greatest receivers in NFL history.
Joseph Frank Walton was an American football player and coach who retired after 20 years as the head coach and creator of the football program at Robert Morris University. Walton played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a pass catching tight end for the Redskins and Giants. He served as head coach of the New York Jets for seven seasons, guiding them to the playoffs twice. He also served as an assistant coach for the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers during a 20-year period.
Walter William Harris is a former American football player and coach. Harris served as the head football coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California from 1989 to 1991, the University of Pittsburgh from 1997 to 2004, and at Stanford University from 2005 to 2006, compiling a career college football record of 69–85.
Charles Anthony Tillman, nicknamed "Peanut", is an American former football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft.
Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating back to the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey, and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers football team, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins; while the University of Pittsburgh Panthers compete in a Division I Power Five conference, the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, in both football and basketball. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris also field Division I teams in men's and women's basketball and Division I FCS teams in football. Robert Morris also fields Division I men's and women's ice hockey teams.
The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football competition, now termed the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, since the beginning of the school's official sponsorship of the sport in 1890. Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award is given annually to an American football player in the National Football League (NFL) who "best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community". The award is presented by Athletes in Action (AIA), a sports ministry associated with Cru. It is awarded to the winner each year at the Super Bowl Breakfast, an NFL-sanctioned event that occurs the day before the Super Bowl. The nominee list is compiled by a group of individuals made-up of the Public Relations Directors of every NFL team, past award winners and AIA staff. The list is trimmed to 10 players, with the award winner chosen by AIA leadership and past award winners. However, some past awardees have been chosen by fellow NFL players after the initial list is trimmed down to 10. The award was first given at the second Super Bowl Breakfast in 1989. Bart Starr, the Hall of Fame former quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, partnered with AIA to present the award that bears his name. Starr was selected by AIA because he was an "individual of impeccable character who has served his family and community faithfully through the years and is a role model for athletes and business people alike". Starr presented every award until 2015, when a stroke prevented him from attending the Super Bowl Breakfast anymore. Since 2015, former NFL coach Tony Dungy and Starr's son have presented the award in his honor.
Luke August Kuechly is an American former professional football linebacker who spent all eight seasons of his National Football League (NFL) career with the Carolina Panthers. He was selected by the Panthers ninth overall in the 2012 NFL draft. Kuechly played college football for the Boston College Eagles, twice earning consensus All-American honors.
The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is presented annually by the National Football League (NFL) honoring a player's commitment to philanthropy and community impact, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called simply the NFL Man of the Year Award. Shortly after Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton died, the award was renamed to honor his legacy as a humanitarian.
Bobby Joseph Wagner is an American football linebacker for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah State and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft. Wagner also played for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.
Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the NFL Record and Fact Book and Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. The Associated Press (AP) has been giving the award since 1972; Pro Football Writers of America/Pro Football Weekly since 1970; and Sporting News has announced winners since 2008. The Newspaper Enterprise Association was the originator of the award in 1966. However, it became defunct after 1997. Also going defunct was the United Press International (UPI) AFC-NFC Defensive Player of the Year Awards that began in 1975.
The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots in the NFL Kickoff Game. The season concluded with Super Bowl LII, in which the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to win their first Super Bowl title, and fourth NFL championship, in franchise history, and making the NFC East the first and currently only division where every team has won a Super Bowl.
The 9th Annual NFL Honors was an awards presentation by the National Football League that honored its players from the 2019 NFL season. It was held on February 1, 2020, at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, Florida and was pre-recorded for same-day broadcast on Fox in the United States at 8:00 PM/7:00 CT. Five inductees announced during taping of the ceremony will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio August 5–9, 2021, the event having been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hosted by Steve Harvey for the second consecutive year.
The 10th Annual NFL Honors was an awards presentation by the National Football League that honored its players from the 2020 NFL season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a multi-site ceremony, with two sites being used in the host city of Tampa, Florida; the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and host stadium Raymond James Stadium, and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
