Pittsburgh Steelers fans take some amount of pride in the fact that their team has one of the best-looking uniforms in the NFL. Truth be told, the first game I ever consciously watched was Super Bowl XXX, and I pulled for Pittsburgh, not knowing anything about them, because I liked their uniforms.
Still, a number of fans do prefer an earlier variation of the uniform than that which we typically see on Sundays, those being the ‘block number’ uniforms. While the team’s jerseys featured block numbers through many iterations, the iconic plain black and white jerseys were adopted in 1968, and those remained until 1997, when the rounded numbers were introduced.
For the past two seasons, though, the Steelers have brought back the ‘block number’ jerseys as their ‘throwback’ uniforms that they wear one or two times a year, and they have proven to be very popular—to the point where Art Rooney II is frequently asked if he has given consideration to returning the jerseys to that as their standard.
In fact, he was asked just that question yesterday during his question and answer session with Steelers Nation Unite members, and in so many words, he basically said to expect to see them no more than one or two times a year. The round numbers stay until further notice.
“As you know, we have been wearing the block numbers as our throwback jersey for the last couple of years. So, I think we’ll continue to do that on occasion”, he said in answering a fan’s question on the topic.
“And then now, of course, we also have the Color Rush uniforms that are really popular with our fans and players”, he went on. “And so, you know, it’s kinda fun to mix things in and these days we have two or three different uniforms that wear throughout the season and I think it’ll probably continue that way as time goes on”.
Personally, I like all three uniforms, and am just glad the bumblebees are gone. That is only because it’s a real chore to chart games with the bumblebee uniforms, however. I actually liked them from a design standpoint. It’s just really hard to see who the hell is who.
I go get a sense that the Steelers will try to wear alternate jerseys about as often as possible, anywhere between three to five times a year. They wore their color rush jerseys twice last season, and that is typically reserved for one game a year, but they got a sixth primetime game after one of their late-season games was bumped into the slot.
