Steelers Game Notes

Back in the day I worked in the West Virginia University Sports Communications department (that’s where I met my future hubby). Every Sunday during football season, we would need to submit game notes. These are little factoids that would go into a packet of information for the media.

Typically, game notes are read by the sports broadcasters during the games. So intern slaves like me basically make the sports anchors look smart!

Impress the folks at your Super Bowl party with some impressive fun facts.

• The Steelers have a large celebrity fan base that includes PRESIDENT OBAMA, Snoop Dog, SNL’s Seth Meyers, Burt Reynolds, Adam Sandler, Bret Michaels (Poison), Michael Keaton, Christina Aguilera (sang national anthem at a game when she was young!),

• Owned by the same family since they became a franchise in 1933, Art Rooney bought the team for $2,500 – an amount he won at Saratoga racetrack.

• Yeah, I know. A lot of teams have rally towels. But seriously, that tradition was created in Pittsburgh. The Terrible Towel was invited by longtime local sports anchor Myron Cope (he died last year on my birthday…sniff). All the proceeds from sales of the towel to go Allegheny Valley School – a home for people with developmental disabilities. It just so happens that my old friend Colin’s dad is the CEO of this school.

• According to ESPN.com (via Post-Gazette.com), there are 1,500 “Steelers bars” across the nation and around the globe – two in Thailand, two in Costa Rica and one in Peru.

• Pittsburgh is known for being a “steel town,” so naturally that is where the team bears it name. However, you may not know where the logo comes from. The three stars are based on the Steelmark logo that was created by the American Iron and Steel Institute (now knows as USX). The logo contains three “hypocycloids” or diamond shapes. A marketing campaign said that the logo had the following meaning “Steel lightens your work, brightens your leisure and widens your world.” That’s a little too deep for me. One more fact – the Steelers are the only NFL team to have their logo on only one side of the helmet.

• The Steelers are the 5th oldest franchise in the NFL. They are one of the only teams in the leauge that doesn't retire past player's numbers and does not have cheerleaders.

• The Cardinals offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, was a ball boy for the Steelers in the 1970’s. Todd was born in Pittsburgh.


(Sources: freaonomics.blogs.nytimes.com, steelers.com, ESPN.com, kdka.com, PHOTOS: Eurweb.com, daylife.com)