By Tyler Sweet
Every Sunday, NFL fans go about their own specific rituals and ruitines to prepare themselves for the afternoon excitement of professional football. Sports bars, restaurants, and gathering areas following a Sunday church service all become destinations of football gossip.
There is just something about football season that tends to make our individual differences transparent and bring us all together to experience the highs and lows of one of the greatest games in the world.
Growing up in western Pennsylvania, I embraced the Steelers at a young age, cheering for the mediocre teams of the mid-90’s. I quickly realized that there was something more to being a Steeler fan than sitting in front of the television hoping and praying for a win.
Being a Steeler fan gave me, even at a young age, a sense of belonging. I loved hearing the rowdy fans at Three Rivers Stadium during pregame introductions.
It was on a typical gameday in September that I can specifically remember the first time I heard the term ‘Steeler Nation’. I was listening to Myron Cope on the radio while watching the game on our muted TV.
It gave me chills then, and it gives me chills now to see and hear the thousands of passionate fans on Sundays waving the Terrible Towel with pride and to know that we are all united as a single unit ready to back our team no matter what.
With Steelers bars in most major cities around the country, and the large gatherings of Steeler fans at every away game, it has been well documented that the Steelers have one of, it not the largest fan bases in all of sports. Whether your on vacation in Florida, California, or even in another country, Steelers logos are easy to find.
The true world-wide spread of Steeler Nation will be solidified when the Steelers visit Wembley Stadium in London in a week 4 regular season matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. As they do at every other away game, Steelers fans will flock London in large numbers and once again provide an atmosphere worthy of the great Steeler tradition.
There will be ups and downs, like every season. But it is important to realize that regardless of whether the Steelers are 0-16 or 16-0 come January, we are the best damn fan base in the NFL and we stand by our franchise and players as if they were part of our very own family.
Although playoff berths or Lombardi trophies aren’t handed out in the preseason, it is our first chance to welcome back our veterans and welcome all the new players and coaches to the family.
So this weekend at Heinz field as the music plays and the team makes its way down the hallway, make sure the boys know that waiting at the end of the tunnel for the first time of the 2013 season, will be the Steeler Nation risen as one.
Preseason, regular season, or playoffs, cheering for the Steelers gives us that special pride. The Pride of the Steeler Nation!
7 Comments
Leave a Reply
Show Your Team Spirit
Get Your Steelers Tickets
Steelers Gab Newsletter
Sign up to receive our Steelers Gab newsletter, and keep up to date with all the latest Pittsburgh Steelers news.
Jim Jones
August 7, 2013 at 9:36 pm
First off, you have no evidence to support the statement that if the Steelers hit hard times that the fans will stand by them. Now by hard times I talking 4 or more years of 5 or less wins, not an occasional bad season. Pittsburgh has the most bandwagon fans I have ever seen. Look at the Pirates, near the bottom of the league in attendance for years then the Pirates get good and they sellout every night. Same exact senario with the Penguins. What makes Steeler fans any different? It’s pretty simple to root for a winner but its hard to root for a loser. When the Steelers hit hard times lets see if the “fans” are still sitting in the stands on a cold December afternoon waiving that stupid towel. If history of Pittsburgh sports fans is any indication, they will be found nowhere.
Scott v
August 8, 2013 at 12:15 am
What is wrong with you man. Are you really so upset that your team is not the steelers that you have to be the first to comment on a story about the pride of the Steeler fans. Or is it your secret obsession. I am from a small town in Virginia, where everyone is either a Redskin or a Cowboy fan. At age 4 my great grandfather won a cigarette contest and had a choice on three different sports teams hats. He chose the Pittsburgh Steelers hat and gave it to me. At that time I became a Steeler fan for life regardless if we loose every game from here on out I will still argue that my team is the best damn team in the nfl. As a Pittsburgh fan I don’t get on any other teams articles and comment because I don’t care about their team I focus on mine. You people make me sick. This is a great story of another one of our great fans love for hearing that crowd scream for the steelers and the pride we have as we swing our terrible towels and your cry baby ass is so jealous that you have to comment. So please go get a life and a team because we don’t wont you in Steeler Nation.
Hunter Hodies
August 8, 2013 at 5:20 pm
Jim you know nothing of sports. You’re a immature idiot with no knowelge of anything. Stop crying here. The Penguins fans went through bad times and I still rooted for them and same with me for the Steelers. I would stop talking now.
Al Newmann
August 8, 2013 at 7:13 am
maybe ol’Jim is preparing to drink the kool-aid at Jonestown ?
DRose
August 8, 2013 at 10:47 am
Tyler….What team were you watching??…”mediocre teams of the mid-90’s”…they had an above .650 record from 92 to 97.
George H
August 8, 2013 at 3:39 pm
Seriously… I know this is in hindsight but if Ben was playing back in the 90s for the Steelers I bet we would have won a few SBs. We had a few SB caliber teams but never a qb to put us over the top
Blkandgold4Life
August 13, 2013 at 10:10 pm
Fortunately The Steelers wont see multiple 5 win seasons..I’ve been a fan since 78 Saw the downfall in the 80s and the heartbreaks in the 90s loosing 4-5 AFC championships and Three Rivers Stadium stayd at full capacity. We are the most dedicated fans in Sports..not just the NFL