In May of 1933, Art “The Chief” Rooney, Sr., a horse race enthusiast, boxing promoter and semi-pro football owner, applied for an NFL franchise for which he paid a cool $2,500. By comparison, the Houston Texans — the league’s newest team — was purchased for $700 million in 2002.
On July 8, the Pittsburgh franchise was officially founded. Under the Pittsburgh Professional Football Club, Inc., the team was initially named the Pirates after the baseball team. Baseball was the most beloved sport in the United States at the time, and the NFL hoped that sharing the baseball team’s name would attract fans to a game that was still in its infancy.
Derived from the city of Pittsburgh’s flag, the football team adopted black and gold colors along with the city crest as its first logo.
Back then, ticket sales were the sole source of income for ball clubs, and the team was on the verge of folding. Seven years of dreadful performances by the Pirates resulted in minimal interest and low attendance at Forbes Field. A carousel of five different head coaches and a record of 22-55-3 prompted a fed up Rooney to make a change.
With the assistance of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the organization conducted a name-the-team contest, a promotion that would conclude in the Pirates’ new moniker: The Steelers. The name paid homage to the blue-collar culture of Pittsburgh and its bustling steel industry.
However, a new name doth not a winner make. The newly-minted Steelers still faced decades of heartache. Even when head coach Chuck Noll came along in 1969, it took his team a few more years to get rolling. After Noll’s first winning season (11-5) in 1972, the Steelers have rarely looked back.
In the team’s 87-year existence, they have compiled a record of 631-552-21. The Steelers, with six Super Bowl rings in eight appearances, are currently in a tie for fourth in total NFL Championships behind the Green Bay Packers (13), Chicago Bears (nine) and New York Giants (eight).
Props to Bleacher Report on their fantastic 2011 article, Pittsburgh Steelers: How They Went from Pirates to Steelers, which was referenced often when conducting research for this post.
