1997 Pittsburgh Steelers season

Last updated

1997 Pittsburgh Steelers season
Owner The Rooney Family
General manager Tom Donahoe
Head coach Bill Cowher
Home field Three Rivers Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st AFC Central
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Patriots) 7–6
Lost AFC Championship
(vs. Broncos) 21–24
Pro Bowlers
6
AP All-Pros
5
  • Dermontti Dawson (1st team)
  • Levon Kirkland (1st team)
  • Carnell Lake (1st team)
  • Jerome Bettis (2nd team)
  • Yancey Thigpen (2nd team)
Team MVPJerome Bettis
Team ROY Chad Scott

The 1997 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 65th season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League.

Contents

This season was considered a transitional year due to many key free agent losses in the offseason, as well as the first season of Kordell Stewart starting at quarterback.

The Steelers finished with an 11–5 record, their fourth consecutive AFC Central top seed, and their sixth straight playoff appearance. In doing so, Steelers head coach Bill Cowher tied Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown with most consecutive playoff appearances to start a head coaching career in the NFL—a record Cowher still co-owns with Brown, as the Steelers missed the playoffs the following season.

The Steelers made 572 rushing attempts in 1997, the most in the 1990s. [1] Their 2,479 total rushing yards were the third-most of the decade by any team.

The Steelers went into the season introducing a new font style numbers on jerseys matching the ones they wear on the helmets and the Steelers logo patch on uniform. This was the only season where the white away jerseys featured the players last names in black letters. It would switch back to gold lettering with black trim the next season.

The Steelers would host the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years; however, they would ultimately lose to the eventual Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. That game was the last playoff appearance for the Steelers during the 1990s and they did not return to the postseason until 2001.

Offseason

The Steelers saw many key free-agents leave the team, the biggest being cornerback Rod Woodson, whose ten-year tenure with the team ended due to a dispute over money with the Rooney family. Woodson would sign with the San Francisco 49ers as a result, though the Steelers would see him again in the following four seasons afterward as a member of the rival Baltimore Ravens. Other free-agent losses included Chad Brown, Ernie Mills, Andre Hastings, Deon Figures, and Brentson Buckner, among others. The team did manage to keep its other prized free-agent besides Woodson, locking up Jerome Bettis (who they had acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Rams the year before) with a four-year deal.

The team also had a transition at quarterback. After pushing Bill Cowher play exclusively at quarterback, Kordell Stewart was handed the starting job and dropping his "Slash" role on the team. Stewart would have success with the team this season, but would be inconsistent afterwards.

The team also made some minor changes to the uniforms this season, the first changes since gold pants were adopted as part of the white jerseys in 1972. The jersey numbers, previously having the old-style block numbering, were switched to the rounder style (Futura Condensed) as seen on the helmets. In addition, the Steelers logo was added to the left shoulder and the names became single color (black) fonts on the white away jersey. The names returned to gold on black the following year. The uniforms have remained the same since these changes as of 2007.

NFL Draft

1997 Pittsburgh Steelers draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
124 Chad Scott   Cornerback Maryland
253 Will Blackwell   Wide receiver San Diego State
382 Paul Wiggins   Tackle Oregon
391 Mike Vrabel  *  Linebacker Ohio State
5154 George Jones   Running back San Diego State
6186 Daryl Porter   Safety Boston College
6199 Rod Manuel   Defensive end Oklahoma
7223 Mike Adams   Wide receiver Texas
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1997 Pittsburgh Steelers staff

Front office

  • President – Daniel M. Rooney
  • Vice president – John R. McGinley
  • Vice president – Arthur J. Rooney, Jr.
  • Vice president and general counsel – Arthur J. Rooney II
  • Administration advisor – Chuck Noll
  • Director of business – Mark Hart
  • Business coordinator – Dan Ferens
  • Accounts coordinator – Jim Ellenberger
  • Office/ticket manager – Geraldine Glenn
  • Marketing coordinator – Mark Fuhrman
  • Merchandising manager – Tim Carey
  • Assistant marketing manager – Lynne Molyneaux
  • Media relations coordinator – Rob Boulware
  • Assistant/community relations – Ron Miller
  • Football operations
  • Director of football operations – Tom Donahoe
  • Personnel staff
  • College personnel coordinator – Tom Modrak
  • Pro personnel coordinator – Charles Bailey
  • College scout – Bob Lane
  • College scout – Max McCartney
  • College scout – Phil Kreidler
  • BLESTO College Scout – Mark Gorscak

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Conditioning coordinator – Chet Fuhrman
  • Medical staff
  • Ophthalmologist – Dr. Randy Beatty
  • Physician, orthopedic – Dr. James P. Bradley
  • Neurological surgery consultant – Dr. Joseph Maroon
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Richard Rydze
  • Physician, consultant – Dr. Abraham J. Twerski
  • Physician, M.D. – Dr. Anthony P. Yates
  • Training staff
  • Head trainer – John Norwig
  • Assistant trainer – Rick Burkholder
  • Equipment manager – Rodgers Freyvogel
  • Field manager – Rich Baker
  • Field/equipment assistant – Paul Gallagher
  • Equipment consultant – Tony Parisi
  • Video coordinator – Bob McCartney
  • Video assistant – Pat Dolan
  • Player development coordinator – Anthony Griggs
  • Photographers – Mike Fabus, Bill Amatucci,Michael Drazdzinski

[2]

Notable additions include Paul Wiggins and Mike Vrabel.

Roster

1997 Pittsburgh Steelers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Rookies in italics
53 active, 4 inactive, 3 practice squad

Preseason

Preseason

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
1 July 27vs. Chicago Bears W 30–171–0 Croke Park (Dublin, Ireland)
2August 2at Kansas City Chiefs W 28–142–0 Arrowhead Stadium
3August 11 Philadelphia Eagles W 42–263–0 Three Rivers Stadium
4August 17 Detroit Lions W 28–204–0Three Rivers Stadium
5August 22at Carolina Panthers W 27–195–0 Ericsson Stadium

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
1August 31 Dallas Cowboys L 7–370–1 Three Rivers Stadium
2September 7 Washington Redskins W 14–131–1Three Rivers Stadium
3 Bye
4September 22at Jacksonville Jaguars L 21–301–2 Alltel Stadium
5September 28 Tennessee Oilers W 37–242–2Three Rivers Stadium
6October 5at Baltimore Ravens W 42–343–2 Memorial Stadium
7October 12 Indianapolis Colts W 24–224–2Three Rivers Stadium
8October 19at Cincinnati Bengals W 26–105–2 Cinergy Field
9October 26 Jacksonville Jaguars W 23–17 (OT)6–2Three Rivers Stadium
10November 3at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–136–3 Arrowhead Stadium
11November 9 Baltimore Ravens W 37–07–3Three Rivers Stadium
12November 16 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–38–3Three Rivers Stadium
13November 23at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–238–4 Veterans Stadium
14November 30at Arizona Cardinals W 26–20 (OT)9–4 Sun Devil Stadium
15December 7 Denver Broncos W 35–2410–4Three Rivers Stadium
16December 13at New England Patriots W 24–21 (OT)11–4 Foxboro Stadium
17December 21at Tennessee Oilers L 6–1611–5 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday August 31, 1997): vs. Dallas Cowboys

1234Total
Cowboys01717337
Steelers00077

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

  • Dallas – Miller 12 pass from Aikman (Cunningham kick)
  • Dallas – Irvin 42 pass from Aikman (Cunningham kick)
  • Dallas – FG Cunningham 52
  • Dallas – Irvin 15 pass from Aikman (Cunningham kick)
  • Dallas – FG Cunningham 24
  • Dallas – Johnston 13 pass from Aikman (Cunningham kick)
  • Dallas – FG Cunningham 28
  • Pittsburgh – Bruener 4 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)

Week 2 (Sunday September 7, 1997): vs. Washington Redskins

1234Total
Redskins0310013
Steelers700714

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather:74 °F (23 °C) (Partly Sunny)
  • Game attendance: 58,059
  • Referee: Ron Blum
  • TV announcers: (FOX) Dick Stockton (play by play), Matt Millen (color commentator), Pam Oliver (sideline reporter)

Scoring drives:

  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Washington – FG Blanton 37
  • Washington – Mitchell 97 kickoff return (Blanton kick)
  • Washington – FG Blanton 28
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 1 run (N. Johnson kick)

Week 3 (Sunday September 14, 1997): Bye Week

Week 4 (Monday September 22, 1997): at Jacksonville Jaguars

1234Total
Steelers707721
Jaguars71031030

at Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Florida

Scoring drives:

  • Jacksonville – Means 1 run (Hollis kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 6 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Jacksonville – Smith 11 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick)
  • Jacksonville – FG Hollis 20
  • Pittsburgh – Thigpen 4 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Jacksonville – FG Hollis 45
  • Pittsburgh – Bruener 1 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Jacksonville – FG Hollis 27
  • Jacksonville – Hudson 58 blocked field goal return (Hollis kick)

Week 5 (Sunday September 28, 1997): vs. Tennessee Oilers

1234Total
Oilers0631524
Steelers10213337

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EDT
  • Game weather:67 °F (19 °C) (Cloudy)
  • Game attendance: 57,507
  • Referee: Bernie Kukar
  • TV announcers: (NBC) Jim Donovan (play by play), Beasley Reece (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Week 6 (Sunday October 5, 1997): at Baltimore Ravens

1234Total
Steelers07142142
Ravens141001034

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

Scoring drives:

  • Baltimore – Green 22 pass from Testaverde (Stover kick)
  • Baltimore – Morris 1 run (Stover kick)
  • Baltimore – Kinchen 24 pass from Testaverde (Stover kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Baltimore – FG Stover 34
  • Pittsburgh – Blackwell 97 kickoff return (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 8 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Bruener 4 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – C. Johnson 17 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Baltimore – Alexander 10 pass from Testaverde (Byner pass from Testaverde)
  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 74 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Baltimore – Safety, Miller ran out of end zone

Week 7 (Sunday October 12, 1997): vs. Indianapolis Colts

1234Total
Colts1003922
Steelers0177024

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

  • Indianapolis – Harrison 18 pass from Harbaugh (Blanchard kick)
  • Indianapolis – FG Blanchard 37
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 23
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 7 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Lake 38 fumble return (N. Johnson kick)
  • Indianapolis – FG Blanchard 27
  • Pittsburgh – Hawkins 28 pass from Tomczak (N. Johnson kick)
  • Indianapolis – FG Blanchard 35
  • Indianapolis – Stablein 5 pass from Harbaugh (pass failed)

Week 8 (Sunday October 19, 1997): at Cincinnati Bengals

1234Total
Steelers0137626
Bengals703010

at Cinergy Field, Cincinnati

Scoring drives:

  • Cincinnati – Carter 6 run (Pelfrey kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Jones 11 pass from Stewart (pass failed)
  • PIttsburgh – Bettis 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Thigpen 11 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Cincinnati – FG Pelfrey 33
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 43
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 32

Week 9 (Sunday October 26, 1997): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

1234OTTotal
Jaguars01007017
Steelers00710623

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

  • Jacksonville – Jackson 8 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick)
  • Jacksonville – FG Hollis 20
  • Pittsburgh – Hawkins 28 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Pittsburgh – Stewart 1 run (N. Johnson kick)
  • Jacksonville – Mitchell 3 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 19
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 17 pass from Stewart

Week 10 (Monday November 3, 1997): at Kansas City Chiefs

1234Total
Steelers1000010
Chiefs0130013

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Scoring drives:

Week 11 (Sunday November 9, 1997): vs. Baltimore Ravens

1234Total
Ravens00000
Steelers101010737

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

Week 12 (Sunday November 16, 1997): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

1234Total
Bengals00303
Steelers337720

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Game time: 1:00 pm EST
  • Game weather:30 °F (−1 °C) (Light Snow)
  • Game attendance: 55,226
  • Referee: Johnny Grier
  • TV announcers: (NBC) Dan Hicks (play by play), Jim Kelly (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Week 13 (Sunday November 23, 1997): at Philadelphia Eagles

1234Total
Steelers337720
Eagles1433323

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia

Scoring drives:

  • Philadelphia – Dunn 31 pass from Hoying (Boniol kick)
  • Philadelphia – Fryar 8 pass from Hoying (Boniol kick)
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 46
  • Pittsburgh – FG N. Johnson 40
  • Philadelphia – FG Boniol 23
  • Philadelphia – FG Boniol 35
  • Pittsburgh – Bettis 19 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)
  • Philadelphia – FG Boniol 25
  • Pittsburgh – Blackwell 30 pass from Stewart (N. Johnson kick)

Week 14 (Sunday November 30, 1997): at Arizona Cardinals

1234OTTotal
Steelers7373626
Cardinals03143020

at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

  • Game time: 4:00 pm EST
  • Game weather:
  • Game attendance: 66,341
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers: (NBC) Dan Hicks (play by play), Jim Kelly (color commentator)

Scoring drives:

Week 15 (Sunday December 7, 1997): vs. Denver Broncos

1234Total
Broncos1473024
Steelers7147735

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

Week 16 (Saturday December 13, 1997): at New England Patriots

1234OTTotal
Steelers07311324
Patriots01407021

at Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Scoring drives:

Week 17 (Sunday December 21, 1997): at Tennessee Oilers

1234Total
Steelers30036
Oilers3103016

at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee

Scoring drives:

Standings

AFC Central
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(2) Pittsburgh Steelers 1150.688372307L1
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars 1150.688394318W2
Tennessee Oilers 880.500333310W1
Cincinnati Bengals 790.438355405W3
Baltimore Ravens 691.406326345L1

Playoffs

Game summaries

Both of the Steelers post-season matchups were rematches from the regular season. The Steelers had a first-round bye, then faced the AFC East champion (and defending AFC champion) New England Patriots at home. The game, which was a homecoming for young Patriots players & Pittsburgh area natives Ty Law and Curtis Martin (Martin was in fact playing in his last game with New England before signing with the New York Jets that offseason), was also a rematch of the previous year's AFC Divisional matchup, which took place in Foxborough.

After defeating the Pats, the Steelers would lose to the eventual Super Bowl XXXII champion Denver Broncos 24–21 in Elway's last trip to Pittsburgh.

AFC Divisional Playoff (Saturday January 3, 1998): vs. New England Patriots

1234Total
Patriots03036
Steelers70007

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

AFC Championship Game (Sunday January 11, 1998): vs. Denver Broncos

1234Total
Broncos7170024
Steelers770721

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scoring drives:

Honors and awards

Pro Bowlers

See: 1998 Pro Bowl

All-Pros

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References

  1. ↑ "In a single season, from 1990 to 1999, in the NFL, in the regular season, sorted by descending Rushing Attempts". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. 1 2 1997 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  3. ↑ 1998 Pittsburgh Steelers Media Guide.
  4. ↑ "1997 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  5. ↑ "1998 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ "1999 Pittsburgh Steelers". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
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