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.
Roderick Kevin Woodson is an American former professional football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Woodson was drafted in the 1987 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and played his first ten years there, and was a key member of the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV championship team. He also had two shorter stints for the San Francisco 49ers and two seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Widely considered one of the greatest all-time defensive players ever, Woodson holds the NFL record for fumble recoveries (32) by a defensive player, and interceptions returned for touchdown (12), and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. His 71 career interceptions is the third-most in NFL history. He was an inductee of the Class of 2009 of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on August 8, 2009. Woodson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016. He played most of his career as a cornerback then switched to safety during the later part of his career. Woodson was most recently the head coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers.
Acrisure Stadium, formerly and colloquially 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.
Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr., nicknamed "Big Ben", is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Miami University, and was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).
Pitt Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the eastern United States, located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1925, it served primarily as the home of the university's Pittsburgh Panthers football team through 1999. It was also used for other sporting events, including basketball, soccer, baseball, track and field, rifle, and gymnastics.
Jerome Abram Bettis Sr. is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "the Bus" due to his large size and running style, he played college football at the University of Notre Dame and was selected 10th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1993 NFL Draft. Bettis was a member of the Rams for three seasons before being traded to the Steelers, where he spent the remainder of his career. A six-time Pro Bowl and two-time first-team All-Pro selection, he is regarded as one of the greatest power runners of all time and ranks eighth in NFL rushing yards. He retired in 2006 after helping the Steelers win a Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XL, the franchise's first in over two decades. Bettis was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Troy Aumua Polamalu is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career as a strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). An eight-time Pro Bowl and six-time All-Pro selection, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 2020, his first year of eligibility.
Antwaan Randle El is an American football coach and former player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He is currently the wide receivers coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He attended Indiana University where he played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers, and also played basketball and baseball. For a time, he was also a sideline reporter for the Big Ten Network for interconference games that the Indiana football team plays.
Casey Hampton Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a five-time, Pro Bowl nose tackle and 2-time Super Bowl Champion over twelve seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to that he was an All-American college football player for the Texas Longhorns and a first round pick of the Steelers in the 2001 NFL Draft.
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL), and the first season of the 21st century. The league permanently moved the first week of the regular season to the weekend following Labor Day. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the NFL's week 2 games were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7, 2002. To retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, including Super Bowl XXXVI, were rescheduled one week later. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, defeating the St. Louis Rams 20–17 at the Louisiana Superdome.
Carnell Augustino Lake is an American former professional football player and coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL). He was a safety and cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He is a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was the cornerbacks coach for the UCLA Bruins under head coach Rick Neuheisel in 2009 before leaving after one season for family reasons. He was the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive backs coach until February 2018.
Mark Eric May is an American former professional football player who was a guard for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. May played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers and earned unanimous All-American honors. He was selected in the first round of the 1981 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers, and Arizona Cardinals.
Michael Pettaway Tomlin is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, seven division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and a title in Super Bowl XLIII. At age 36, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, a record which was later beaten by Sean McVay in Super Bowl LVI. Tomlin has never had a losing record during his 16 seasons as a head coach, which is the longest current streak in the NFL.
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 following is a timeline of the history of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US.
The Pittsburgh–Syracuse football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Pittsburgh Panthers and Syracuse Orange. It began in 1916 and has been played every year since 1955. The Panthers and Orange were both Eastern football independents for most of their history but have shared the same football conference since 1991 when the Big East Football Conference was formed from Eastern football independents. Pitt is the most played opponent for Syracuse and Syracuse is the third most played opponent for Pitt. Sharing membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since 2013, the Panthers and Orange are designated cross-divisional opponents. Beginning in 2023, the ACC eliminated the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, going to one division. The Panthers and Orange were designated primary opponents, ensuring they will meet annually. They have played a total of 78 times, with Pittsburgh leading the series 43–31–3.
The 2016 Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh football game was a regular-season college football game between the Syracuse Orange and the Pittsburgh Panthers, played on November 26, 2016 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The game held the record for the most combined points scored in an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) regulation game with 137 total points, breaking the previous record by a single point. The record was broken on November 5, 2022 when the SMU Mustangs defeated the Houston Cougars 77–63 for a combined 140 points.
