Steelers Triviology: Fascinating Facts from the Sidelines

By Christopher Walsh

When it comes to football, this new series is the mother-load of fun and information! You'll find questions ranging from the most basic to questions that will challenge even the most die-hard fans. Some of the chapters include: famous firsts, training camps, stadiums, records, quotes, postseason runs, jersey numbers, drafts/trades and, of course, the players and coaches. From the person who is getting ready to attend his or her first game to the fan who lives and breaths the sport and is always looking to get an edge on friends, Steelers Triviology has something for everyone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781617495724

Book preview

Author

1. The Basics

Jim O’Brien told the following story in his book, Doing it Right.

One day during the offseason, Art Rooney was having dinner with sportscaster Curt Gowdy and their wives when the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers learned that Ralph Giampaolo, a longtime member of the Three Rivers Stadium grounds crew, was also there at his dog track in Palm Beach.

Rooney invited Giampaolo up his private box to join them.

I’ll never forget the way he introduced me, Giampaolo recalled. ‘This is Ralph Giampaolo, a member of our organization.’ Not a member of our ground crew. Not some rinky-dink bum, but a member of our organization. As far as Gowdy knew, I was vice-president of the team. Mr. Rooney made me feel 10 feet tall.

Although Rooney died in 1988, there are still daily reminders of his influence and impact on the organization, including portraits, a statue outside of Heinz Field, and his cigars—which some people swear they can still smell.

When the Steelers recently celebrated their 75th anniversary, a special collection of items was put on display in the Coca-Cola Great Hall at Heinz Field, including throwback jerseys, Super Bowl footballs, and personal mementos of the Steelers.

At its heart though, was a glass case that held an ashtray with three spent matches and an unused vintage cigar. The name on the cigar box read Braces, an El Presidente brand imported from Honduras. And although there were various informative descriptions about who the items had belonged to and what the man was about, only three letters were needed at the front of the case to identify their significance: AJR.

Arthur Joseph Rooney.

Art Rooney sits behind his desk, enjoying one of his trademark cigars. (Getty Images)

1. What’s the origin of the Steelers’ logo?

2. What are the three stars on the logo and what do the colors represent?

3. What color were the helmets when the logo was first used?

4. Who put the logo on only the right side of the helmet?

5. Why is it only on one side?

6. How much did Art Rooney pay to start the franchise in 1933?

7. According to Pittsburgh lore, how did he come up with the money?

8. In 2008, what did Forbes estimate the franchise to be worth?

9. True or false? The Rooney family has always owned the franchise.

10. True or false? In its early days the team played in places like Latrobe, Louisville, New Orleans, and Youngstown to avoid competing with baseball and college football?

11. Which number is bigger: the number of wins during the 1930s, or the number of head coaches?

12. True or false? The Steelers are the oldest franchise in the American Football Conference.

13. Who was considered the NFL’s first big-money player?

14. How much was his contract with Pittsburgh worth?

15. What did he delay to sign the contract?

16. What prominent position did he go on to achieve?

17. Who was the last Steelers coach to not have a winning record?

18. Which popular college coach turned down the Steelers’ offer to become head coach in 1969?

19. During its first 40 years, how many winning seasons did the franchise have?

20. Who came up with the idea of the Terrible Towel?

21. Who or what became the Steelers’ official mascot in 2007?

22. True or false? Since the 1970 merger of the National and American Football Leagues, the Pittsburgh Steelers own the best regular-season record in the NFL.

23. Through the 2010 season, the Steelers had 577 total wins, the fourth most in NFL history. Name the three teams ahead of them.

24. Name the only team to have a better regular-season record in the free-agency era (since 1983).

25. How many head coaches have the Steelers had since 1969?

26. True or false? Mike Tomlin became the youngest head coach in NFL history to both coach in and win a Super Bowl when he led the Steelers to a 27–23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

27. True or false? Only Bill Cowher was faster in winning a Super Bowl after becoming the head coach of the Steelers.

Answers

1. It was the logo of the U.S. Steel Corporation (now known as USX Corporation), and later used by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) to represent the whole industry. It was adopted by the Steelers in 1962.

2. The three stars are actually hypercycloids, and the colors represent the materials used to make steel: yellow for coal, orange for ore, and blue for steel scrap.

3. Yellow

4. Equipment manager Jack Hart.

5. The logo was only used on the right side because the organization wanted to test them out before making a final decision. When the 1962 Steelers finished 9–5 for its best finish to date, they kept them and further marked the occasion by changing the helmets from yellow to black.

6. $2,500

7. A big day at the racetrack.

8. $1 billion

9. False. Art Rooney sold it in 1940, only to reacquire it with a partner a year later.

10. According to The Football Encyclopedia, by David Neft, Richard Cohen, and Rick Korch (1994), it’s true.

11. Pittsburgh had 22 wins in the 1930s, compared to five head coaches.

12. True

13. Byron Whizzer White

14. $15,800

15. His Rhodes scholarship.

16. Byron Whizzer White served 31 years as justice of the United States Supreme Court before retiring in 1993.

17. Bill Austin was 11–28–3 from 1966–68.

18. Joe Paterno

19. Nine

20. Myron Cope

21. Steely McBeam

22. True. Through the 2010 season the Steelers were 384–246–2, for a .612 winning percentage. The teams closest to them were the Miami Dolphins (379–251–2, .600) and Dallas Cowboys (373–259–0, .592).

23. The Chicago Bears (719), Green Bay Packers (690), and New York Giants (656).

24. The New England Patriots are 185–103–0 (.644) since 1993, while the Steelers are 181–106–1 (.630).

25. Three

26. True

27. False. Tomlin did it in his second year, making him the fastest to win a Super Bowl title in Steelers history.

2. League History

It all goes back to the 1860s and the campuses of two rival Ivy League schools, when Rutgers and Princeton decided to a play each other in a new sport that was a hybrid of soccer and rugby, but looked more like an organized riot. On November 6, 1869, they met using modified London Football Association rules and Rutgers won 6–4, despite one of its professors pointing his umbrella at participants and yelling, You will come to no Christian end. There were roughly 100 people in attendance.

From there, the game quickly began to evolve, with Walter Camp, considered the father of American football, setting down rules in 1876 and continued to revise them until his death in 1925. His numerous innovations included one side potentially having undisputed possession of the ball until it gave it up or scored, the number of players on the field for each team reduced from 15 to 11, and the creation of the quarterback and center positions, in addition to the forward pass.

While football became a major attraction of local athletic clubs, with the Allegheny Athletic Association and Pittsburgh Athletic Club credited with having the first professionals, the first attempt at a pro league was made in 1902 when baseball’s Philadelphia Athletics (managed by Connie Mack) and Philadelphia Phillies created pro football teams, joining the Pittsburgh Stars.

After years of unsettled confusion—with salaries rising, players jumping from team to team, and college athletes being used while still in school—an organizational meeting was held in 1920 at the Jordan and Humpmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio, to begin drawing up plans for a centralized league with one set of rules, the American Professional Football Conference. Two years later, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League.

The rest, as they say, is history.

1. What law change benefitted both the Pirates (now Steelers) and Eagles when they entered the NFL?

2. Who came up with the idea to hold an annual draft of college players, with teams selecting in inverse order?

3. When his team