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How did you become a Steeler fan? Let's hear your story....

SteveA

SteveA

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So how did you come to follow the Steelers....Let's hear your story...I'll lead things off.

Los Angeles born & raised, & I still live here. No knowledge of Football or The Steelers at all as an 11 year old. My father was from Ambridge Pennsylvania, but wasn't a Sports fan. But he WAS THE ULTIMATE CHICK MAGNET....The women absolutely loved him. Dad was really good looking & an even better man. Oh, & he was a single Dad in the 60's, which was extremely rare.

Turns out an old flame of his (named Marion I think) was trying to find her way back into his heart & I was the way back in for her to have a shot at my Dad. So she worked me & spoiled me probably to impress my Dad......Marion worked at old Three Rivers Stadium & would regularly send me Steeler Jerseys, Jackets, & souveniers. A few Terry Bradshaw & Franco Harris T-Shirts later & I was the official West Coast Poster Child for Steeler football. I was rocking the Steeler colors in Los Angeles when all they knew was The Rams powder blue, Roman Gabriel & Jack Snow....I was probably the only Steeler fan in Inglewood, CA....

Why the hell was this LA kid a Steeler fan??? No one understood the connection.

But I did, it was Marion. The woman who sent this 11 year old boy Steeler Pennants, Jackets,Jerseys, & footballs. According to my brother, Dad wasn't into Marion & simply wasn't very interested in her aIl. In fact, I don't think Marion ever got to see my father again as they were 3000 miles apart & he had plenty of hot local gals. After a year or so, Marion simply faded away. ..

I never met Marion. I don't think I EVER even talked to her a single time on the telephone, but she changed my life.

My Dad may not have loved you Marion, but I sure did..........
 
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Mine is simple, my dad is a huge Steeler fan, live one hour north of the city, so I was born a Steeler fan, I was able to name almost all 22 starters before I was 5.
 
I watched a game when is was 5 or 6 with my grandpa.
It was cowboys vs eagles the cowboys wouldn’t share the ball and kept scoring.
I asked why are they bullies he said cause thems the cowboys!
Grandpa who beats up the cowboys? The Steelers do boy the Steelers!
 
Coryea said:
Mine is simple, my dad is a huge Steeler fan, live one hour north of the city, so I was born a Steeler fan, I was able to name almost all 22 starters before I was 5.
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Just like my story sans the naming of 22 starters by the time I was 5. It didn't hurt I was a kid in the 70's; hard not to become a fan of a local team that was the best team of the decade.
What used to be I 60 ran right by my house.
 
I've mentioned this before, my Dad grew up in the same neighborhood as Dick Hoak. As a boy, I would see him frequenting Punzo's pool hall on Lowry Ave in Jeannette, right across the street from my Uncle's bar, Dinos. During training camp in '63, Dick gave me my first football from the camp in Latrobe. I really didn't understand the significance at the time, but I kept that old leather ball until my son simply wore it out.

I can't honestly say I know Dick, the last time I spoke with him was at a charity basketball game he played in at my high school, and that was a long time ago. Still it did get me interested in the Steelers, even through those bad years. Also explains the avatar.
 
My story is a bit of an odd one. My dad wasn't a big Steelers fan when I grew up (even though we lived about 12 miles SE of dahntahn) but my uncle was, and when we were over at his house I would watch games with him (I was probably 5-6 years old) and Johnny Stallworth was my favorite player. Then our family moved us out to California when I was around 11 years old and I never truly got back into them until January 5th, 2003 (Steelers vs. Browns wild card game). My mom was with me (who was never a Steelers fan either) and we both were jumping up and down by the time Ma'afala iced that game.

I don't know if I've missed a game since and now my dad & myself are fanatics, but I am definitely a late bloomer.
 
Born and raised in the Houston, TX area Dad was a Steeler fan since he had moved to Texas from Dunbar, PA area to find work. Oddly though his two older brothers who moved here also converted to Oiler fans. First game I remember watching is the Immaculate Reception game against the Raiders.....hated them that day and still do. Even though they fell the next week, I was hooked on the Steelers.

There are 4 boys in my family. Me and my youngest brother are intelligent Steeler fans while my twin brother was an Oiler fan and now a Texan fan and my younger brother grew up a Raider fan and is now a Texan's fan...

Fun times in our house growing up
 
Born and raised in western PA but I'm old enough to remember when they weren't good and drafted Joe Greene.
I was ten years old and my parents got me a Steeler uniform for Christmas, helmet, shoulder pads, the works. It was number 10. I asked my dad who number 10 was. He said, "Roy Gerela, the kicker." I asked if he was good and my dad said, "No."
My dad, now 83, will tell you that Bobby Layne and Elbie Nickel were the ****.
 
I was a kid growing up in the 60s, my parents got divorced, and I was forced to live with my mom, who was a bit of a harlot. Mom hated my Dad, and Dad was a deadbeat, but loved the Steelers and always sent me Steelers gear for my birthday, and Christmas, even though we didn't see each other much. Pennants, hats, shirts, jerseys, jackets. But my mom hated my Dad, so everything I got, she would get rid of.

Now I know where all my stuff ended up. My mom's name is Marion...
 
Black & Gold Bleeder said:
I went to a game when I was about 12 and I saw this large black man limping down the tunnel. He looked a bit distraught, so I gave the man my coke. He threw his jersey to me, and I have been a fan ever since.
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that sounds like it would have made a great commercial
 
Cope said:
I was a kid growing up in the 60s, my parents got divorced, and I was forced to live with my mom, who was a bit of a harlot. Mom hated my Dad, and Dad was a deadbeat, but loved the Steelers and always sent me Steelers gear for my birthday, and Christmas, even though we didn't see each other much. Pennants, hats, shirts, jerseys, jackets. But my mom hated my Dad, so everything I got, she would get rid of.

Now I know where all my stuff ended up. My mom's name is Marion...
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giphy.gif


bwahahahah
 
I grew up in Southeast Ohio, only an hour drive from downtown Pittsburgh. My Dad was a die hard Steeler fan so I grew up with it. I remember when I was like 8 or 9 thinking I really wanted to piss him off so I told him I was switching to a Cowboys fan. It didn't last until the end of the day I don't think. He died in 2011, but we had a lot of good times over the years watching the Steelers together on TV as well as at 3 Rivers Stadium and Heinz Field in it's early days.

One of my fondest memories is watching the games on TV as an adult and after every Steeler Touchdown my phone would ring immediately because would call to celebrate. It was tradition. I sure miss those phone calls during games.
 
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My mom's side of the family hails from West by God Virginia. And, of course, WV is, for the most part, Steeler country. When we'd go and visit my grandparents in the fall, my grandpa and my Uncle Mike were always parked in front of the TV in the living room, watching the game, and of course, I thought they were the coolest dudes in the world so I wanted to watch with it with them. Basically, I equated the sport of football with "Steelers", i don't think I even had a grasp on how many other teams were in the league until I was 7 or 8 years old. But yeah, that was in the mid-80's when the team was atrocious, and they'd lose most weekends, which of course, would piss everyone off lol. In any event, when they WOULD win it would feel so good, and the joy that the rest of my family would exhibit rubbed off on me I guess. So yeah, by the time I was 9 or 10, it was pretty much cemented in me, I was a fan and I knew I would be until my dying breath. A small part of me has always taken pride in the fact that I became a fan during a time when the team wasn't so good; nobody can ever accuse me of being a bandwagoner.
 
Cope said:
I was a kid growing up in the 60s, my parents got divorced, and I was forced to live with my mom, who was a bit of a harlot. Mom hated my Dad, and Dad was a deadbeat, but loved the Steelers and always sent me Steelers gear for my birthday, and Christmas, even though we didn't see each other much. Pennants, hats, shirts, jerseys, jackets. But my mom hated my Dad, so everything I got, she would get rid of.

Now I know where all my stuff ended up. My mom's name is Marion...
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You and Steve need to have a DNA test done..
 
I'll be interested in the responses.
Here goes.........

My ENTIRE family, BOTH sides, and even my in-laws are Cleveland Clown fans.
My mom and dad were born and raised in Cleveland. Met in Cleveland. Married in Cleveland. And had my two oldest siblings in Cleveland.
My in-laws are from Sandusky Ohio, which is 1/2 hour outside Cleveland.
The closest sibling to me is 8 years older, and he is only younger by one and two years from the other two.
I was the mistake of the family.
Anyways, the sibling closest to me was old enough to watch and remember vividly the 70s Steelers teams.
Because they were winning and on the cover of everything and being talked about on all three networks, he was a bandwagoner and liked the Champs or the best teams.
Me, wanting to be like my big brother, started liking the Steelers, too.
He went off to the Navy when he graduated high school. He was stationed overseas and asked me to send VHS tapes of whatever game was on so he could see football.
Living in Toledo, it is either the Clowns or the Kitty Cats of Detroit.
Needless to say, he's a die hard Clowns fan to this day, as is all of my family, who always liked the Clowns.
I am truly the Lenny Lone Wolf.
I was at the Clowns last game in 1996 at old Cleveland Browns stadium.
I was at the last Steelers/Clowns game ( before they moved ) at Three Rivers when we all wore orange armbands in a show of solidarity for their not wanting to move/not have a team.
I was at the opening kickoff game in Cleveland in 1999 when the Browns came back and we just DESTROYED them, as my dad purchased club seats and has become a season ticket holder.
Funny thing was, that game was on the same day my oldest brother got married out on the west coast. My dad booked his flight/hotel before the schedule dropped.
The Navy brother and I said we'd gladly take the tickets off his hands since we'd be back in time, so no need to sell them.
I go to games at the Factory of Sadness every year with free tickets from work or from a big family get together and I rep the black and gold up and down 9th Avenue.
I actually wear the colors regardless of whom they play.
Surprisingly, games at FES are pretty much Steeler home games since they came back.
But I believe that will change dramatically this year, though.

But as Yoda would say, "There is another."
My son, growing up here in Toledo, is a from birth Steeler fan.
Eight years old and can talk smack with his uncles and grandparents and hold his own.
 
Born in 1970, lived my whole life in Tennessee. My earliest football memory is Lynn Swann in the SB vs Cowboys. My dad was not a sports fan, so I’m glad he at least had the SB on. I remember having my Steeler jacket in grade school. We actually got to see a lot of Steeler games on the regional broadcast here back in those days.
 
Black & Gold Bleeder said:
I went to a game when I was about 12 and I saw this large black man limping down the tunnel. He looked a bit distraught, so I gave the man my coke. He threw his jersey to me, and I have been a fan ever since.
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Snoop Dog on how he became a Steeler fan mentions you at 1:20 of this video!

[video]https://fanaticsview.com/football/snoop-dogg-explains-became-pittsburgh-steelers-fan/[/video]
 
First NFL game I ever watched, that was on cable, didn't have cable before, the channel was ESPN for Latin America and the game featured the Steelers , with a guy beating up defenders while running the ball, it was Bettis of course, a man amongst boys. Then I saw the black & gold D rushing from every angle and beating the **** out of rbs and qb.

It was love at first sight, don't even remember the year or the name of most players, I just knew that was my team no matter what.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Steeler Nation mobile app
 
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