Happy 92nd birthday to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Today, the team celebrates the date the franchise was officially founded. Art Rooney Sr., the Chief, made the bold purchase of buying an organization during the Great Depression.
Spending $2,500 to take the chance on the upstart NFL, it’s safe to say he’s gotten a good return on investment. Last August, Forbes estimated the team is worth $5.3 billion, and considering the Washington Commanders sold for over $6 billion in 2023, that estimate feels conservative. A catalyst for the sale was the rollback of Pennsylvania’s “Blue Laws,” which previously prohibited sporting events on Sundays.
Pittsburgh’s early years were lean and difficult. For many years, the team couldn’t break even. Professional football was looked down upon in favor of the “purity” of the college counterpart, and it took decades for the NFL to find true traction. The Steelers could write a similar story. Lovable losers for nearly their first 40 seasons, the team didn’t find glory until the 1970s.
Still, there were stars along the way, including Hall of Famers RB Bill Dudley, CB Jack Butler, and DL Ernie Stautner.
Now, the Steelers are regarded as one of the league’s top franchises. A model of stability with three head coaches since 1969 and three general managers since 1991, Pittsburgh is competitive on a yearly basis. Even seasons when they seemingly have no business hanging around. Now, their goal is to win a postseason game for the first time since 2016.
We’ve written about the early days of the franchise many times. Most recently, our David Orochena just completed his final biography of the Steelers’ head coaches before Chuck Noll, recently writing about Forrest “Jap” Douds, the team’s first coach in history.
Known as the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1933-1939, the franchise attempted to gain interest from its baseball namesake. A popular tactic of teams back then. The organization became the Steelers in 1940. Aside from a brief blip in the mid-40s, the franchise has remained in firm control of the Rooney family throughout history, one of three organizations to make that claim (the New York Giants Mara’s, and Chicago/Arizona Cardinals Bidwell’s are the others).
Pittsburgh faces real challenges ahead. They are no longer viewed as a present Super Bowl contender. But the 2026 NFL Draft is fast approaching, and hopefully, before the Steelers’ 93rd birthday, they’ll have found a quarterback of the future.
