![]() From ‘85-’88, they went 26-37, missing the playoffs each year. They retreated first into mediocrity, and then were flat-out bad. Greene and Greenwood became Dunn and Gary. Bradshaw became Stoudt, then Woodley, then Malone. They were good but not great at that point, and were bounced by better teams.īy 1985, most of the stars from the Super Bowl seasons had retired, and the team, once replete with future Hall of Famers, suddenly lacked star power. A strike shortened the 1982 season, and in ‘83 and ‘84 the Steelers rebounded to make the playoffs. ![]() They went 9-7 and missed the playoffs in 1980, then 8-8 in ‘81. Not ha-ha funny, of course, but funny, as in odd, in that I never saw it coming. To paraphrase Red from Shawshank Redemption, I was the Lord of all creation.įollowing that victory over the Rams, however, a funny thing happened. I carried a sense of gravitas as I paraded through the hallways in the mesh #58 jersey my parents had given me as a birthday present. Those victories gave me bragging rights over all the Eagles fans at my middle school. A few years later, the Steelers did it again, knocking off the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII, and then the Rams a year later. Something about the black and gold uniforms, and the way Jack Lambert stormed in like a superhero to slam Cliff Harris to the turf when he taunted Roy Gerela, resonated with me, even if I was too young to understand why. My fandom began as a little boy, while watching them defeat the Cowboys in Super Bowl X. Some of the greatest joys of my life have come as a result of the Steelers reaching the pinnacle of NFL success. It’s not as though I prefer to root for a bad Steelers team. For those around BTSC who were teetering on the subject, I may have confirmed your suspicions. Some of the parents of the players I’ve coached over the years have certainly entertained that thought. No doubt there will be some who will glance at it and think, “ That Smith guy is an idiot”. As I typed the headline of this piece, I chuckled.
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