NFL Team History: The Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers Were Formerly the Pittsburgh Pirates

The professional football franchise owned by Art Rooney located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, originally identified as the Pittsburgh Pirates, began competing in the National Football League in 1933. The Pittsburgh franchise is the fifth oldest franchise in the NFL.

The Pirates faced the New York Giants in their first NFL Game. The Giants welcomed the Pirates to the NFL by defeating them 23-2. The Pirates would record their first victory a week later by edging out the Chicago Cardinals 14-13. Unfortunately, the Pirates were unable to maintain the momentum as they posted a record of 3 wins, 6 losses, and 2 ties in the introductory campaign.

In fact, the Pirates best record throughout the decade of 1930's would occur in 1936 when they posted a 6-6 record.

The Pittsburgh based franchise encountered several major changes as the 1940's commenced. Following the 1940 NFL season, owner Art Rooney sold the franchise to Alexis Thompson. Following the sale, Rooney acquired 50% interest in the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. Rooney and Eagles co-owner Bert Bell arranged a deal to exchange the two Pennsylvania franchises. When it was all said and done, Rooney's new Pittsburgh team was the former Philadelphia squad.

In 1941, the Rooney and Bell changed the franchise name from Pirates to Steelers. The name Steelers originated from the fact that Pittsburgh was a leading city in the steel industry.

The 1942 season marked the first winning season for the Steelers as they won 7 games versus 4 losses.

Unfortunately, World War II brought on a shortage of players forcing several teams to disband. However, some teams opted to combine resources with opposing teams. For instance, in 1943, the Steelers and the Eagles united forming a team which was referred to as Phil-Pitt. A year later, the Steelers fused with the Chicago Cardinals, and were identified as Card-Pitt.

Conditions in 1945 allowed the Steelers to return to their former state of autonomy.

A devastating 21-0 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1947 post-season game began an agonizing procession of 25 seasons without a post-season berth.