STEELERS BLACK -N- GOLD POST A Pittsburgh Steelers Blog from the heart of Steelers Nation.

This weekend, our own Rod Woodson goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Rod is the 23rd Steelers whose bust has been immortalized by the NFL's highest honor.

Congrats Rod. You've joined the best of the Steelers family.

Be sure to watch Rod give his acceptance speech on August 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. and broadcast live by NFLN.

Here's a list of all players, coaches and owners who played as Steelers in the Pro Football of Fame, their year inducted and seasons played with Steelers.

Players (Whole Career with Steelers)

Ernie Stautner - 1969 (1950-1963)
Joe Greene - 1987 (1969-1981)

Jack Ham - 1988 (1971-1982)

Terry Bradshaw - 1989 (1970-1983)

Mel Blount - 1989 (1970-1983)

Jack Lambert - 1990 (1974-1984)

Lynn Swann - 2001 (1974-1982)

John Stallworth - 2002 (1974-1987)

Players (Most of Career with Steelers)

Franco Harris - 1990 (1972-1983)

Mike Webster - 1997 (1974-1988)

Rod Woodson - 2009 (1987-1996)

Players (Some of Career with Steelers)

Cal Hubbard - 1963 (1936)
John "Blood" McNally - 1963
Bill Dudley - 1966 (1942, 1945-1946)
Bobby Layne - 1967 (1958-1962)
Marion Motley - 1968  (1955)

John Henry Johnson - 1987 (1960-1965)

Len Dawson - 1989 (1957-1959)

Coaches

Walt Kiesling - 1966 (1940-1942, 1954-1956)
Chuck Noll - 1993  (1969-1991)

Owners

Bert Bell - 1963 (1941-1946)
Art Rooney - 1964 (1933-1988)
Dan Rooney - 2000 (1955-Today)

 

by Ramona Dye

Best known for his 10 year run with our Pittsburgh Steelers, 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Rod Woodson played 17 seasons in the NFL and ten wearing a Steelers uniform. As our number one pick (10th overall) in 1987 NFL draft, Woodson earned seven Pro Bowl trips wearing a Steelers uniform.

Born Roderick Kevin Woodson, March 10, 1965, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the youngest of three boys, Woodson attended Purdue University being named All-American defensive back in 1985 and 1986. Woodson qualified for the Olympic Trials in 1984.

A player that quarterbacks hated to see and tried to avoid, Rod Woodson loved the challenge of facing the game's greatest wide receivers.

Known as one of the best defensive backs in NFL history, Woodson is among the NFL's all-time leaders in games played and interceptions as a defensive back. Woodson recorded seventy-one interceptions, which ranks third all-time. Woodson all amassed 1,483 interception return yards, 32 fumble recoveries (15 offensive and 17 defensive), 137 fumble return yards and one fumble returned for a touchdown.

The Steelers Years

Most in Pittsburgh still love Rod Woodson for what he brought to the game. While he played for our Steelers, Steeler Nation fans hung a banner in Three Rivers Stadium that read "Rod is God".

A major highlight in his career came in 1995 when Woodson became the first player to ever return from re-constructive knee surgery in the same season. He tore his ACL in our season opener against the Detroit Lions and was able to return and play in Super Bowl XXX between our Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys just 19 weeks later. In that game, he responsible for a play that broke up a touchdown pass to Michael Irvin. After the play he hopped up from the ground and pointed at his reconstructed knee with a smile on his face, even though, our Steelers would go on to lose the Super Bowl.

Woodson's career with Pittsburgh took a turn after he became a free agent, after the Rooney family elected not to renew his contract over a pay dispute as well as the salary cap. (The team had a similar dispute with Franco Harris in 1984 and later with Alan Faneca in 2008.)

Although he stayed in Pittsburgh to raise his family, Woodson went on to play football for three other teams. Signing with the San Francisco 49ers for the 1997 season, Woodson transitioned from a cornerback to a safety successfully.

After a one-season stint with the 49ers, Woodson moved to Baltimore, playing for the Ravens from 1998 to 2001. Here, Woodson played as a key member of the team that won Super Bowl XXXV.

From 2002 until 2003, Woodson played in Oakland where he appeared in his third Super Bowl. In the Raiders 2002 Super Bowl Season, thirty-seven year old Woodson led the NFL with eight interceptions for the first time in his career. 

Woodson was released by the Oakland Raiders on July 27, 2004 after failing his team physical.

Mr. Versatility

Our Pittsburgh Steelers star is considered one of the most versatile players in the National Football League. 

Woodson racked up 4,894 kickoff return yards, 2,362 punt return yards, 17 touchdowns, two kickoff returns and two punt returns for touchdowns.

Mr. Records

Woodson holds the league record for interceptions returned for touchdowns with twelve, and is tied with eleven other players for the record for most fumble recoveries, three, in a single game. His 1,483 interception return yards are also an NFL record.

Woodson was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993 by the Associated Press, named to the Pro Bowl eleven times, a record for a defensive back and also the first player to earn trips to the Pro Bowl at cornerback, safety and kick returner.

Woodson finished second to Darrell Green in the 1988 NFL Fastest Man Contest. He was also a nine time All-Pro selection.

In 1994, he was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team. What made it notable was that Woodson was one of only five active players to be named to the team. The others were Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Reggie White and Ronnie Lott.

In 1999, Woodson was ranked number 87 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players and The College Football News has also honored him as one of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. In 2007, he was ranked number 22 on USA Today list of the 25 best NFL players of the past 25 years.

On January 31, 2009, Rod Woodson was was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility becoming the 18th Steelers related person to be enshrined.

Life After the NFL

Currently, Woodson splits his time between NFL Network studios in Los Angeles and his home in Pleasanton, where he lives with his wife and 5 children. Also, Rod helps coach the defense at Valley Christian Senior High in Dublin, California along with former Raider John Parrella.

Woodson was part of the studio team for BBC Sport's NFL coverage in 2007, including Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLIII.

Woodson is sponsoring a charity benefit on July 25, 2009 at the Oakland Coliseum - just two weeks before he enters the Hall of Fame. All proceeds go to the Football and Scholarship programs for the high school where Rod coaches.

It is unlikely that the Steelers will remove Woodson's number 26 from circulation since longtime cornerback Deshea Townsend wears that jersey number. As of the 2008 season, Townshend has played longer with the Steelers than Woodson did.

Pittsburgh drafted Townsend in 1998 around the same time that Woodson signed with the archrival Ravens, and still had a bitter relationship with the Rooneys at the time.

I want to thank Rod Woodson on behalf of all of us here at the Steelers Black n Gold Post and the Steeler Nation for what he brought to the game of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a great player and teammate. As fans of the Black and Gold, we thank you Rod for letting us live through your  accomplishments on the field.

Watching Rod leap high into the air for his next interception and return the pick with lightening speed for a touchdown took my breath away. My heart pounded and I felt breathless with excitement, my fingers crossed, and yes, saying prayers when Rod scored on the field.

"Rod is God" will live on in the hearts of this fan as I am sure most of the Steelers Nation, FOREVER!

As Always, Here We Go!

Below is a video, a tribute to Rod Woodson.

Here's a great fan tribute to Rod Woodson, inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 2009, and great Steelers cornerback between 1987 and 1996.

by Ramona Dye

Division Rivalries are born of experience. Our Steelers, the Browns, Bengals and Ravens face each other two times a season in pursuit of the AFC North title. Fans, Players and coaches draw on the memories of past games as the look forward to each game against their rivals.

Every game adds another chapter to the rivalry. Heart breaking losses, last minute drives, trash-talking, bone crushing hits, fights on the field -- all these things factor into another reason to hate your rival.

While the Browns-Steelers rivalry is the only AFC North rivalry that predates the AFC Central, two old AFC Central rivals deserve mention --  Houston Oilers and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

House of Pain

The Houston Oilers were one of the AFL's founding franchises. In 1970, they joined the AFC Central along with the Steelers, Browns, and Bengals, and soon developed heated rivalries with all three (especially our Steelers).

Known as the "House of Pain," the Houston Astrodome became one of the toughest places in the NFL to play for any road team.

The Catch that Wasn't

During the 1979-1980 AFC Championship game, our Steelers faced the Oilers. 

The Oilers jumped to an early 7-0 lead when Vernon Perry of the Oilers picked Terry Bradshaw returing the pick 75 yards for the score. After the teams traded ield goals, our Steelers took the lead with two Bradshaw TD passes, a 16-yarder to tight end Bennie Cunningham and a 20-yard one to wide receiver John Stallworth.

Late in the third quarter, with the Steelers leading 17-10, Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini threw a pass to Mike Renfro at the back of the end zone. Renfro caught the ball with both feet in bounds before he fell out of the end zone. 

However, officials claimed to not have seen the catch and ruled that Renfro lacked control of the ball before going out of bounds. The Oilers settled for a 23-yard field goal.

Our Steelers would go on to win 27-13, with another Matt Bahr field goal and a Rocky Bleier 4-yard rushing touchdown.

While our Franco Harris rushed for 85 yards and caught 6 passes for 50 yards, our defense shutdown Oilers running back Earl Campbell, the NFL's leading rusher during the season, with a mere 15 yards on 17 carries.

An estimated 70,000 Texans turned out to commiserate with the Oilers in the dead of a January night in Houston after that 27-13 AFC championship loss in Pittsburgh.

The Jags

In 1995, the Jacksonville Jaguars were an expansion team added to the AFC Central division. Off to a great start, the Jaguars became instant rivals with our Steelers. This division rivalry lasted only seven years. In 2002, the NFL moved the Jags to the AFC South.

League Re-alignment and Franchise Moving

 The division rivalry that began in a nearly new Astrodome and a brand-new Three Rivers Stadium would wind up in a nearly new Adelphia Coliseum and a brand-new Heinz Field more than 30 years later. It wasn't just the venues that changed as the 1970s gave way to the '80s, the '90s and, finally, a new century that the cities changed as well. The Houston Oilers shifted to Memphis in 1997 and then to Nashville a year later, becoming the Tennessee Titans. In 2002 the NFL re-aligned the league, moving the Tennessee Titans to the AFC South.

Even as coaches and players, the nicknames and the locales changed, the division rivalry between the Titans/Oilers and our Steelers has lived on.

by Ramona Dye

Trash-talking, big games, crushing hits, games with playoff implications -- all of these factors have helped in making Steelers-Ravens into one of the fiercest rivalries in the NFL.

Most times, team rivalries fuels fans. Yet, the rivalry between the Baltimore Ratbirds and Baltimore Ratbirds pushes the players to the extreme.

"The coaches hate each other, the players hate each other... There's no calling each other after the game and inviting each other out to dinner. But the feeling's mutual, they don't like us, and we don't like them. There's no need to hide it, they know it, and we know it. It's going to be one of those black and blue games." -- Steelers WR Hines Ward

The Beginning of a Rivalry

Art Modell moved his Cleveland Browns to Baltimore at the end of the 1995 season. This move caused legal action between the City of Cleveland and the NFL. This action resulted with the City of Cleveland retaining the Browns' name, colors, uniform design, franchise records, franchise history Browns club records and connections with Pro Football Hall of Fame players. Also, the City would get a new team regarded as the "reactivated" Cleveland Browns to begin play for the 1999 season.

Modell's Baltimore team, while retaining all current player contracts, would officially be the expansion team, a "new franchise" named the Baltimore Ravens.

Even with all of the changes our Steelers still remembered the Browns-Steelers rivalry. It was reason enough for the us Steeler fans to want to beat them. We still held a resentment towards Art Modell for ending Pittsburgh's greatest division rivalry. 

You could tell our Steelers and the Ravens did not like each other by the way in which most plays ended. The nasty bone crushing hits could have faded away but instead it has become more intense.

When Steelers management snubbed one-time Steelers Rod Woodson after he expressed interest in returning to the Steelers from the 49ers, Woodson signed with the Ravens. The 2009 Hall of Fame Enshrinee would go on to pick apart the Steelers front office claiming they allowed too many talented players to go to other teams instead of making any effort to keep them.

Our Steelers had missed the playoffs three years in a row while at the same time, the Ravens were building their own identity as a physical, hard hitting football team. Most of us could see that Ratbirds were trying to copy our success formula of the 1970's Steel Curtain defense. 

Our Steelers suffered a shutout loss to the Ravens with the opening game in the 2000 season. After the game, the Ravens' tight end Shannon Sharpe commented, "The Steelers have some real problems that they need to have addressed. That's probably the worst in my 11 years I've seen a Steelers team look. And I'm sure Bill Cowher is very disappointed, because they've got a lot of internal turmoil."

After the second game that season in which our Steelers won 9-6, passed the Ratbirds for second place in the AFC Central and ruined the Ravens streak of games without a touchdown to five, a seething Cowher had a request for the reporters, "Can you guys please go tell Shannon Sharpe that our problems here are fine? And I appreciate his concern after the first game about all the internal problems we had. Tell him we're fine. Thanks."

Our Steelers finished the season with a winning record, falling short of the playoffs. Yet, for the first time in a few years, they seemed to be getting back to Steelers football.

Lacking an offense, the Ratbirds rode on the backs of a defense that allowed the fewest points in NFL history for a 16-game season. Our rivals continued their dominance all the way to a win over the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

2001: A Rivalry Grows

The championship talk created even more fuel for the rivalry. Was the Ravens defense the best ever, even better than our Steel Curtain defense of the 70's? And what would happen in the 2001 season?

When the Ravens came to Pittsburgh in November, the Steelers felt they had to prove something to the defending champions. Steelers players believed their defense was ever bit as good as the Ravens. This game was suppose to settle the score but our Steelers suffered a 13-10 loss.

After the game, linebacker Joey Porter stoked the rivalry more when he said, "They won the game, but they definitely know how good our defense is." 

Trash-talking from both side filled the week leading up to the 2001 rematch in Baltimore. The AFC Central title hung  in the balance that Sunday night and ESPN used every audio clip they could find to fuel this rematch.

The players continued to trash-talk, Our own Plaxico Burress proclaimed that the Steelers had "physically beat" the Ravens in the earlier game that season to which Shannon Sharpe replied, "If Hines Ward would have said that, as physical as he plays the game, OK, I could lend some credence to that. But 'Plexiglass? No."

There were rumors that the dirty Ratbirds had placed a bounty on our Steelers' top two receivers, pooling money to give as a reward to the defender who was able to knock out either Burress or Ward from the game. NFL policy forbids such cash rewards, though no proof materialized that the bounty was nothing more than talk .

Tony Siragusa, then the Ravens defensive tackle dared Steelers fans to follow him into a bathroom after the game, to which Steelers defensive back Lee Flowers responded, "We don't have no wimpy fans. Make sure his big butt shows up on the field Sunday."

The 2001 rematch game did not disappoint as the game turned into a hard-hitting physical battle with much trash-talking during the game. The game turning play happened when Kordell Stewart threw a 90-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Shaw after a Ravens punt had put our Steelers deep into our own territory.  

Our Steelers won the contest 26-21 to clinch the AFC Central division title. The win gave our Steelers our fifth consecutive win in Baltimore.

The win had our Steelers going to the playoffs for the first time since 1997 but our battle with the Ratbirds was far from over. The Ravens made it back to the wild card playoffs for the second time in two years. Baltimore linebacker Jamie Sharper had a warning specifically for the Steelers running back Jerome Bettis. "Everybody said they're the best team... We'll see. If the Bus is smart, he won't play."

Bettis did not play in the game due to a mishap of a painkiller shot into his leg which hit a nerve leaving his leg numb. But our Steelers defense prevailed, keeping the Ravens offense to under 150 yards and only 20 minutes of possession in the Ravens first playoff loss in their history. Sharpe admitted that at times the Steelers were a better team.

Although the 2001 season was over for both teams, the deep seeded rivalry had taken hold for good, among players and fans alike. It now seemed natural for the teams to remain rivals under the 2002 realignment into four-team divisions.

The Steelers-Ravens games have become synonymous with hard-hitting, physical, trash-talking football, to the point where NFL fans outside of the AFC North look forward to watching the games.

2008: Rivalry Review

In 2008, our Steelers and the Ravens boasted #1 and #2 defenses. Although our Steelers sometimes struggled to keep drives going, our Steelers defense looked to be Super Bowl-worthy, impressively outpacing the rest of the NFL in allowing the fewest yards per play. While the Ravens had found their franchise quarterback in Joe Flacco who made Baltimore, Super Bowl contenders again.

Only one of these two teams could possibly move on to the Super Bowl.

Our Steelers won both regular season games. The Ravens controlled much of the game at Heinz Field holding a 13-3 lead through the third quarter. Big Ben would thread a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes on a third and long. Linebackers Lamar Woodley and James Harrison forced a fumble from Flacco that would be returned for a touchdown putting the Steelers ahead. Our Steelers would win the game with a Jeff Reed field goal in overtime.

During the Week 15 rematch at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens clung to a 9-6 lead with the Steelers four yards away from a winning touchdown. Our Steelers had driven from their own 8 yard line and now faced a third and goal with about 50 seconds left on the clock. Roethlisberger scrambled almost to the left sideline and then back to the middle before finding Santonio Holmes standing just inside the end zone. Holmes caught the ball but the Ravens defense forced him to lunge back onto the field of play as he caught the ball.

On the field, the officials ruled that Holmes had caught the ball just outside of the end zone, which would have set up a fourth and inches play with everything on the line. However, the replay booth official called for a review of the play. Referee Walt Coleman reversed the call, signaling a Steelers touchdown!

Ravens fans could not believe the call.  Later, the NFL would review the play and rule that it had been a correct call, that Holmes had possessed the ball inside of the end zone with about three inches. Those three inches clinched the AFC North title for our Steelers and forced the Ravens to win the remaining two games in order to make the playoffs as a wild card team. The Ravens ripped up their next four opponents, defeating the top-seeded Titans in their own stadium to advance to the AFC Championship.

Our Steelers and the Ravens were on yet another collision course for the biggest game in the history of their rivalry, the first all-AFC North AFC Conference championship.

"Us and the Ravens. It'd be a big game if it was only a scrimmage. It just happens to be the AFC Championship Game. -- Mike Tomlin, Steelers Head Coach

Our Steelers would go on to win the AFC Championship and send the Ratbirds back to Baltimore. A sweep in the regular season and beating them again in the playoffs to dash their dreams. Advancing to the 2009 Super Bowl our Steelers went on to win our sixth Lombardi.

Listed are a few of the highlights over the years.

• Steelers WR Plaxico Burress and Ravens CB James Trapp were ejected from a game in 2002 for fighting.
•  In 2003, the Steelers' Joey Porter, sidelined from Pittsburgh's season opener against the Ravens because of wounds he suffered in a random  shooting spree in Denver, angrily confronted the Ravens' Ray Lewis after the game because he believed Lewis was mocking Porter's sack celebration, "the Boot."
• Baltimore hosted Pittsburgh in the final regular-season game of the 2003 season, on the face of it a meaningless game because the Ravens had already clinched their playoff position and the Steelers were eliminated from the playoffs. But the Ratbirds starters remained on the field for the entire game, a 13-10 overtime win for Baltimore. As he did with many times, Joey Porter voiced his opinion on Brian Billick's handling of the game: "A smart coach, you don't play your players that long in a regular-season game that has no meaning. And he played them all the way to the end in overtime, just to beat us. That lets you know how serious the rivalry is." The Ravens' win did mark the end of the Steelers' six-game winning streak in Baltimore, and the Steelers would not win at M&T Bank Stadium again for five years. At the same time, it likely improved the Steelers' draft position enough for them to select QB Ben Roethlisberger in the 2004 NFL draft.
• In 2004, the Ravens were the only team to beat the Steelers in their 15-1 regular season. 
• Joey Porter again drew the anger of the Ravens during a 2004 game when he pushed Baltimore TE Todd Heap to the ground after Heap had clearly been injured on the previous play.
• In three consecutive contests from 2004-2005, the Ravens knocked the Steelers starting quarterback out of the game.
• The Ravens sacked Ben Roethlisberger 14 times in   two routs of the Steelers by a combined score of 58-7 during the 2006 season, including a late-season win in Pittsburgh that killed the defending champion Steelers' chance to return to the playoffs.
• In 2007, the Steelers commemorated their 75th season in the NFL at a Monday night game against the Ravens that ended up being a 38-7 blowout. On a running play just before halftime, Hines Ward delivered a crushing block to Ed Reed that sent the Ravens cornerback to the ground in a heap. Ward began motioning for the trainers to come on the field while the play was still ongoing, and ESPN's cameras caught footage of QB Terry Bradshaw and other Pittsburgh legends on the sideline cringing at the force of Ward's block.
• When Steelers 2008 first-round draft pick Rashard   Mendenhall learned he would get his first start at RB against Baltimore on Monday Night Football, he sent a text message to his friend Ray Rice, a rookie running back for the Ravens, predicting that he would have "a big game." Rice shared the text with his teammates on the Ravens defense, who prided themselves in the fact that they had not allowed a 100-yard rusher in over 20 games. Quote LB Bart Scott, "Thanks for the bulletin-board material, rookie." In a contest that was injury-filled for both sides, Mendenhall was knocked out of the game with a fractured shoulder on a hit by Ray Lewis in the third  quarter; Mendenhall had gained 30 yards on the day. A few weeks later, Ravens LB Terrell Suggs invited controversy when he told a sports talk radio host that "the bounty was out on [Mendenhall] and the bounty was out on Hines. We just didn't get him between the whistles." Suggs later provided a clarification, saying "There wasn't any bounty." This not being his first  experience with the situation. Ward told ESPN that he considered the Ravens talk of a bounty on him "a big honor," but added that "all I have to say to Mr. Suggs is that there's an NFL policy he should read."

Steelers vs. Ravens: The all-time stats

• 18-10 overall
• 11-4 at Pittsburgh
• 7-6 at Baltimore
• 2-0 in playoffs

SWEEPS

Pittsburgh has 4 sweeps-

1997 (Pitt 42, Bal 34)        2002 (Pitt 31, Bal 18)

          (Pitt 37, Bal 00)                 (Pitt 34, Bal 31)

1998 (Pitt 20, Bal 13)        2008 (Pitt 23, Bal 20) OT

          (Pitt 16, Bal 13)                 (Pitt 13, Bal 09)

                                                      (Pitt 23, Bal 14)

Baltimore has 1          2006

                             (Bal 27, Pitt 00)

                             (Bal 31, Pitt 07)   

Longest Streak

Pittsburgh:

        1997                              2001              

( PIT 42, BAL 34)        (PIT 26, BAL 21)    

( PIT 37, BAL 20)        (PIT 27, BAL 10)         

        1998                             2002         

( PIT 20, BAL 13)        (PIT 31, BAL 18)

( PIT 16, BAL 13)        (PIT 34, BAL 31)             

        1999                             2003

(PIT 23, BAL 20)         (PIT 34, BAL 15)

Baltimore:

           2005

( BAL 16, PIT 13) OT

           2006

( BAL 27, PIT 0)

( BAL 31, PIT 7)

As Always, Here We Go!

Cowher proclaims Iraq to be "Steeler Nation"

by Ramona Dye

Yesterday, Americans everywhere celebrated Independence Day with picnics and parades, concerts and fireworks. Many hoisted up and flew the American flag.

Yet, an Independence Day celebration happened far away from the shores of the United States -- in Iraq.

Thanking U.S. soldiers were five current and former coaches including our own Bill Cowher who traveled to the Persian Gulf as part of the inaugural USO-NFL. They met and showed honor to our men in arms.

Cowher's love for Pittsburgh was again on display as he and other coaches signed autographs for hundreds of soldiers, while hundreds of terrible towels could be seen flying through the air.

Although Cowher was in some prestigious company with coaches like Titans coach Jeff Fisher, Giants coach Tom Coughlin, Ravens coach John Harbaugh and former Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, he looked up into a sea of yellow Terrible Towels waving and proclaimed Iraq to be "Steelers Nation."

Prior to going to the Persian Gulf, Cowher was quoted in saying,  "I am really excited for this trip as I have a tremendous appreciation for our troops and greatly value how they protect our freedom each day," said Cowher.  "Anything I can do to help inspire and thank our troops in any way will be a tremendous honor for me."

Cowher spent fifteen seasons as head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, amassing one hundred and forty nine regular season wins, highlighted by a victory in Super Bowl XL. Cowher led the Steelers to eight division titles and ten playoff appearances while amassing twelve post-season victories, ranking him seventh most in NFL history.

Also, Cowher tied legendary NFL coach, Paul Brown by guiding the Steelers to the playoffs in his first six seasons as head coach.

So as you can see, We are everywhere!  "Steeler Nation"  lives throughout the world.  Our "Steeler Pride" even stretches across the seas to our men in uniform.  It is wonderful to see so much "Steeler Spirit" 

As always, Here we go!

By Ramona Dye

Playing our beloved Steelers twice a year since becoming division rivals in the old AFC Central at the start of the 1970 season, the Cincinnati Bengals have dared to face off with our Pittsburgh Steelers 77 times during regular season and once in the playoffs during the 2005-06 season.

The Bengals should have played our Steelers 78 times during the regular seasons but because of the 1982 strike-shortened season, the Bengals escaped playing our Steelers only once.

Our Steelers have dominated this rivalry, winning 62 of those 77 regular season games, winning the one playoff game and sweeping the Bengals in 31 seasons. Since 1991, our Steelers have swept the Bengals a whopping 10 of 18 seasons, splitting the rest.

In spite of Steelers dominance, the Bengals have managed to split wins with us in 32 seasons and have swept us in seven seasons. The heydays of the Who Dey Bengals happened during the the 1980s, when the Bengals swept our Steelers in '80, '81, '85 and three seasons three seasons in a row between 1988 and 1990.

Bengals fans consider our Steelers as their greatest rivalry especially since the Bengals have faced the Steelers more than any other team in their own history. However, most Steelers fans today would say the Ravens have become our top division rivalry.

While not as historic as our rivalry with the Browns, the events that happened in the 2005 wild-card playoff game have made for bitter feelings between fans. During the game, Kimo von Oelhoffen injured Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer with a hit to the knee. Palmer injured his ACL and MCL during the second offensive play of the game, knocking him out for the rest of the game.

The Bengals took an early 17-7 lead. However, our Steelers rallyed to score 24 unanswered points for a 37-17 win. As the Bengals were division champions that season, to this day, many Bengals fans suggest that von Oelhoffen's hit was a cheap shot purposely intended to harm Palmer. Bengals fans claim that if Palmer had stayed in the game, the Bengals would have won.

During an interview with Sports Illustrated, Palmer was quoted in saying. "I hate the Steelers more than I hate UCLA," a college rival to his alma mater, USC. Although, Palmer himself did not blame the Steelers for his injury, fans of the Bungals remain bitter to this day.

Some of us Steeler fans may also recall the 20-0 shut-out game in 1992 in which our Steelers defense would set the single-game team sack record, sacking Bengals QB David Klingler (in his first NFL rookie start) 10 times.

The Bungals have been in eight playoffs appearances, six division championships, two conference championships and two Super Bowls which they lost both times to the San Francisco 49ers. Compared to our Steelers twenty-five playoff appearances, twenty-two division appearances, fourteen conference championships appearances, seven Super Bowl appearances, and a Sixburgh of Super Bowl victories, it's easy to understand how fans of the Cincinnati Bungals would be envious of our beloved Steelers. Even some of our failures in the playoffs have overshadowed what seemed to be the Bungals successes.

We march into Cincinnati on September 27 (1:00 P.M. CBS) to face the Bengals. The Bengals return to Heinz Field on November 15 (1:00 P.M. CBS). 

As always, Here we go!