The NFC South has recently seen two teams — the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — unveil new uniforms.
It’s been decades since the Steelers have had a complete overhaul of their jersey design. Let’s take a look at how it’s changed over the years.
During World War II, the NFL saw many men head off to the battlefields. For two consecutive seasons the Steelers, who had changed their name from the Pirates in 1940, merged with other teams to fill rosters.
In 1943, after merging with the Philadelphia Eagles, they were the Phil-Pitt Combine (better known as the Steagles) and donned uniforms with green uppers and gray lowers. In 1944, the team merged with the Arizona Cardinals to become the Card-Pitt Carpets and had two uniforms — white pants with red shirts and white pants with blue shirts.
Thankfully, the team changed its name back to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1945. Since then, they haven’t strayed much from their classic threads.
The last dramatic change happened in 1966 when the Steelers wore the “Batman” jersey.
With the exception of those worn from 2007-11, the throwback jerseys have been rather unpopular.
1994’s throwback resembled more of a soccer jersey and featured the Steelers’ very first logo, the city of Pittsburgh’s coat of arms. This was their home jersey in 1933 only when they were known as the Pirates. The 2007 throwback upper was used in a variation of the color rush uniform when the league unveiled them in 2015.
Let’s not talk about the dreaded bumblebee which met its demise in 2016.
Here you’ll find a snazzy GIF that will take you through the evolution of the jersey through 2015.
The Steelers have not done a complete redesign in decades. I’d like to see all gold with black names/numbers, a nod to the 1940 Steelers. Do you think it’s time the Steelers joined the craze? What would you like to see?
