1943 due to loss of players during World War II (temporary merger with Philadelphia Eagles): 1944 due to loss of players during World War II (temporary merger with Chicago Cardinals): The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers, whose history may be traced to a regional pro team that was established in the early 1920s, joined the NFL as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8, 1933.

[18] In 1970, the year they moved into Three Rivers Stadium and the year of the AFL–NFL merger, the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of three old-guard NFL teams to switch to the newly formed American Football Conference (the others being the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts), in order to equalize the number of teams in the two conferences of the newly merged league.

[20] The Steelers' history of bad luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll from the NFL champion Baltimore Colts for the 1969 season.

[21] Noll's most remarkable talent was in his draft selections, taking Hall of Famers "Mean" Joe Greene in 1969, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount in 1970, Jack Ham in 1971, Franco Harris in 1972,[22] and finally, in 1974, pulling off the incredible feat of selecting five Hall of Famers in one draft year, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Donnie Shell and Mike Webster.

[31] In 1992, Chuck Noll retired and was succeeded by Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Bill Cowher, a native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Crafton.

However, the Steelers lost to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, two weeks after a thrilling AFC Championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

[43] With wins over the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Round and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship,[44][45] Tomlin became the third consecutive Steelers Head Coach to go to the Super Bowl, equaling the Dallas Cowboys (Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer) in this achievement.

Later, the colors came to represent the ingredients used in the steel-making process: yellow for coal, red for iron ore, and blue for scrap steel.

Longtime field and equipment manager Jack Hart was instructed to do this by Art Rooney as a test to see how the logo appeared on the gold helmets; however, its popularity led the team to leave it that way permanently.

The Steelers, along with the New York Giants, are one of only two teams in the National Football League to have the players' uniform numbers on both the front and back of the helmets.

It is similar to the current uniforms but without the Steelers logo on the left chest and use block lettering and numbers in place of Futura Condensed.

They also have rivalries with other teams that arose from post-season battles in the past, most notably the Las Vegas Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, and Tennessee Titans.

The Bengals beat the Steelers in Week 13 of the 2005 season 38–31, and wide receiver T. J. Houshmandzadeh used a Terrible Towel to polish his cleats while walking up the tunnel after the game, fueling the rivalry.

A central figure is Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, often inflicting brutal hits, resulting in serious injuries to several Steelers on multiple occasions.

In the 2015 Wild Card playoff game in Cincinnati, Burfict was the culprit of a late penalty directly responsible for an extremely unlikely 18–16 Steelers comeback victory.

The Patriots won six of seven meetings over a ten-year period (1998–2007) before the Steelers broke through with a 33–10 victory at Foxborough in 2008, after Matt Cassel turned the ball over five times.

The only other franchises with winning AFC playoff records against Steelers include the Los Angeles Chargers (2–1), the Jacksonville Jaguars (2–0), and the Denver Broncos (5–3).

The Steelers' rivalry with the Broncos dates from 1970, but the first notable contest came in 1973, when Denver dealt Pittsburgh its first regular-season defeat at Three Rivers Stadium, 23–13.

In 2011, after appearing in Super Bowl XLV, the Steelers had their campaign to repeat as AFC Champions dashed in Denver after a stunning overtime upset by the Tim Tebow-led Broncos in January 2012, in what would become known as the "316 game".

A lifeless performance in a 23–18 loss at Vegas on September 23, 2023, contributed to the later firing of Raiders coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler.

The teams featured an all-star matchup at quarterback between the Steelers' Terry Bradshaw and the Cowboys' Roger Staubach, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame.

In 1977, Staubach and the Cowboys won Super Bowl XII, their second and last loss of their season being inflicted by Bradshaw and the Steelers, 28–13 at Three Rivers Stadium in November.

The Steelers have lost ten straight games on the road against the Eagles dating back to 1966, which was also the start of the Super Bowl era.

[131] The Pittsburgh Steelers have numerous unofficial fan clubs in many cities throughout the country, that typically meet in bars or taverns on game days.

The Terrible Towel has been described by the Associated Press as "arguably the best-known fan symbol of any major pro sports team".

Another song from hometown rapper Wiz Khalifa, "Black and Yellow", which is an ode to growing up in Pittsburgh, is also a standard part of the Steelers home game experience.

Constructed in 2000, the facility combines the vast expertise of sports medical professionals and researchers as well as hosting the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team.

Pompeani and former Steelers lineman Chris Hoke also host the Xfinity Xtra Point following the game on days when CBS does not have that week's NFL doubleheader.

[236] The Foundation, started by Steelers president Art Rooney II, focuses on education and research regarding brain injuries and sports-related concussions.