Early years The Steelers have had a following in
Western Pennsylvania since 1933. That year,
Pennsylvania relaxed its
blue laws allowing sporting events in the commonwealth on Sundays, paving the way for the Steelers and the
Philadelphia Eagles to begin play for the
1933 NFL season. Previously, the state had teams in
Pottsville and
Frankford, but both had already folded, due to both the
Great Depression and their inability to play on Sunday, when most NFL games took place. Much like the league itself in the early years, the Steelers had to compete with baseball and
college football teams in the city, making the team third in the hierarchy to the
Pittsburgh Pirates and the
Pitt Panthers. Despite the team's early struggles, it had a small but loyal fan base in the city due to the popularity of
American football at all levels, dating back to the 1800s, when Pittsburgh hosted the first wholly professional football game in 1895.
Rise of the Steelers By the 1950s, the Steelers had gained some popularity in the city and were on par with Pitt, but they were still a distant second behind the Pirates in the city. In the early 1970s, the Steelers began to rise in popularity. In 1969, there was the hiring of head coach
Chuck Noll and the drafting of future
Hall of Fame defensive tackle "Mean Joe" Greene.
By 1972, the Steelers were a playoff contender and began a sellout streak in
Three Rivers Stadium that carried over to
Heinz Field and still stands to this day. The team is second to the
Washington Commanders for the longest active consecutive sellout streak in league history. The team's four Super Bowl victories in the 1970s coincided with a
recession that struck the United States, and the city in particular, that would lead to the closure of several steel mills in the early 1980s. The team's success was credited with giving people in the city hope and leading to the increased fan base. Due to economic uncertainty in the area, many Steelers fans relocated to other areas but retained their identification with the Steelers as a reflection of their former hometown's steel industrial base. During the lead up to
Super Bowl XIII between the Steelers and the
Dallas Cowboys, Phil Musick contrasted the Dallas and Pittsburgh fans by saying that "Dallas is superfan
Whistling Ray and a hat that sprays the unsuspecting with water; Pittsburgh is a guy in a
gorilla suit who'll stove five of your ribs if you laugh at him."
Jack Lambert said of Steeler Nation during his Hall of Fame induction speech: "How lucky I was to have played for the Pittsburgh Steelers fans. A proud, hard-working people, who loves their football, and their players."
Player fan clubs In the 1970s many fans organized fan clubs for their favorite players. Some of these fan clubs included
Franco's Italian Army,
Frenchy's Foreign Legion,
Gerela's Gorillas,
Bradshaw's Brigade,
Lambert's Lunatics, Dobre Shunka (Good Ham, for
Jack Ham),
Rocky and the Flying Squirrels,
Shell's Bombers, and
Russell's Raiders. ==Today==