Brett Keisel helped the Steelers bring two Super Bowl trophies back to Pittsburgh, and he wants to see that again. Indeed, he wants to see all of Pittsburgh’s major sports teams reclaim their former glory. Believe it or not, there was a time that even the Pirates were actually good—ask your parents or grandparents. That is the culture in which the previous generation grew to maturity, and Keisel vented about its absence.
“Really miss City Of Champions!”, he wrote on X, saying that the “Pirates want to lose”. He added, “Steelers paint a pretty picture but haven’t won a playoff game since January, 2017. Pens haven’t been competitive since 66 sold the team. What happened to our standards?”.
Standards are a matter of debate when it comes to Steelers fans, and frankly, it comes down to interpretation. There is the standard of expectation, and then there is the standard of execution. The Steelers hold themselves to a standard of expectation of which they have continually fallen short. On that, at least, there is certainly no debate. The standard level of play they have exhibited in recent years hasn’t produced the results.
The Steelers are still one of few teams in this century with multiple championships, and only two have more. But they haven’t won a Super Bowl since 2008, haven’t played in one since 2010, and haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.
Brett Keisel played through a lean period or two in Steelers history, particularly late in his career. After Pittsburgh lost the 2010 Super Bowl, the team backslid for years before a brief recovery. But they only won three total playoff games, reaching the conference finals once, and nothing since.
Mind you, Pittsburgh’s other teams haven’t done much better than the Steelers. The Penguins haven’t made the playoffs since the 2021-22 season, and haven’t advanced to the second round since 2017-18. They did win the Stanley Cup twice just before that, in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
They also won the Stanley Cup in 2008-2009, at the same time the Steelers won their last Super Bowl. As for the Pirates, they haven’t even advanced to the postseason since 2015. They’ve only finished .500 or better once since then, and .509 at that (82-79). Halfway into the 2025 season, they have one of the worst records in baseball, 14 games below .500.
Let’s just say we’re a far cry from the 1970s for Pittsburgh sports. During that decade, the Steelers won the Super Bowl four times, and even the Pirates won the World Series twice. Granted, the Penguins weren’t very good at the time, but they had a run in the 1990s. That Mario Lemieux guy—the 66 to which Keisel refers—was pretty good, eh?
Brett Keisel, of course, remains very active in Pittsburgh and with the Steelers. He announced their fifth-round selection of DL Yahya Black earlier this year, for example. Back on X, he admitted that he was “venting”, adding, “I want to see the next gen get a parade dahn tahn”. Because who doesn’t love a good parade?
