Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago

[img_l]http://media.jsonline.com/images/Column+Header+-+Lea.gif[/img_l]Bud Lea

Steelers haven't superseded Pack's legacy
 


Posted: Feb. 4, 2009

We can all take a vacation now. The football season is almost over.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won another Super Bowl. A franchise that once was so desperate for support it merged with the Philadelphia Eagles and then with the Chicago Cardinals now stands alone as the model of success in the NFL.

The Steelers went home with their sixth Super Bowl trophy. That's one more than the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

"Congratulations. You are the winningest franchise in NFL history." That's what Commissioner Roger Goodell told Dan Rooney Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium when he presented the Steelers' owner with the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Winningest franchise in the NFL? C'mon, commissioner.

The Steelers deserve to be hailed as the most successful team in Super Bowl history. But as the holder of NFL Championships, the House of Rooney still trails the Green Bay Packers by years.

The Packers have won more championships than any other team in NFL history. Pittsburgh (six) has just half as many titles as Green Bay (12).

Curly Lambeau's teams dominated the league. His teams won their first three titles when the NFL champion was determined by league standings in 1929, '30 and '31. When the playoff system was established in 1936, Lambeau coached the Packers to three more championships - in '36, '39 and '44.

Then came the Lombardi dynasty in the '60s that captured five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls. Had the NFL and AFL merged sooner than 1967, the Packers very likely would have beaten any AFL opponent in a Super Bowl showdown.

The Steelers are no Johnny-come-latelies. They are the league's fifth-oldest franchise. Originally called the Pirates, they were founded in 1933 by Art Rooney, who was offered the Pittsburgh franchise for $2,500.

With no draft as a basis for building a team, Rooney found it difficult to compete with the established Packers, Chicago Bears and New York Giants in the battle for talent. In 1937, he lured Green Bay star Johnny "Blood" McNally to join the Steelers as player-coach.

McNally began by giving his players a perfect example of how he wanted them to perform: He took the opening kickoff of the first game of his first season 100 yards for a touchdown. The rest of the team, however, was not talented enough to emulate McNally.

Far from being a disciplinarian, McNally was more apt than his players to miss practice. He enjoyed life and did not let football interfere with pleasure.

Under his carefree stewardship, the Steelers won four and lost seven in 1937, but they dropped off to 2-9 the next year and 1-9-1 in 1939, McNally's final season.

McNally, who played seven years with the Packers, is among 21 Green Bay players and coaches in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Steelers also include him among their Hall of Fame honorees.

The Steelers didn't have a winning record until 1942. They did not win a divisional title until 1972.

I remember covering a game in 1957 when Liz Blackbourn brought his 2-7 Packers into Forbes Field (a baseball park) and hammered the Steelers, 27-10. The Steelers finished the season at 6-6 and the Packers at 3-9; Blackbourn lost his job.

The Packers have met the Steelers 31 times and have won 18 of those games.

It isn't easy going against Packer history. But in beating the Arizona Cardinals, the Steelers have secured the position as the greatest franchise since the NFL-AFL merger in 1967.

After winning the first two Super Bowls, Green Bay reached the playoffs only twice in the next 25 years before the Brett Favre era. In the past 37 years, the Steelers have had only seven losing seasons, reached the playoffs 24 times and won six Super Bowls and seven AFC titles.

While most other owners change coaches in what seems like every five years, the Rooneys have only had three since 1969: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and now Mike Tomlin. Each has won at least one Super Bowl.

The measurement of a pro football dynasty is the equation involving the most championships in the fewest years. For all the hype that surrounded the New England Patriots' four Super Bowl rings in seven seasons, Lombardi's Packers and Noll's Steelers were more dominant.

With Bart Starr at quarterback and Ray Nitschke at middle linebacker, those Packers earned five NFL titles in seven seasons, including three straight, including the first two Super Bowls.

Noll's Steelers, with Terry Bradshaw at quarterback and Joe Greene at defensive tackle, delivered four trays of Super Bowl rings in six seasons.

As a group, Tomlin's Steelers are mostly much bigger and faster than Noll's Steelers and Lombardi's Packers but are they better? We will never know.

Back in July when training camp started, few expected the Steelers to still be playing in February in the Super Bowl.

They faced the toughest schedule in the NFL. Their defense was getting old. There was a question about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's shelf life because he had been sacked a combined 93 times the past two seasons.

But here they were winning another Super Bowl, as if it were their birthright.

The Packers are on the first floor of an NFL Films library with the biggest stack of championship games. The Steelers still have some work to do.

By the way, the teams will meet next season in Pittsburgh.


UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (36m) : PFT claims Packers are having extension talks with Zach Tom, Quay Walker.
Mucky Tundra (20-Jun) : GB-Minnesota 2004 Wild Card game popped up on my YouTube page....UGH
beast (20-Jun) : Hmm 🤔 re-signing Walker before Tom? Sounds highly questionable to me.
Mucky Tundra (19-Jun) : One person on Twitter=cannon law
Zero2Cool (19-Jun) : Well, to ONE person on Tweeter
Zero2Cool (19-Jun) : According to Tweeter
Zero2Cool (19-Jun) : Packers are working on extension for LT Walker they hope to have done before camp
dfosterf (18-Jun) : E4B landed at Andrews last night
dfosterf (18-Jun) : 101 in a 60
dfosterf (18-Jun) : FAFO
Zero2Cool (18-Jun) : one year $4m with incentives to make it up to $6m
dfosterf (18-Jun) : Or Lions
dfosterf (18-Jun) : Beats the hell out of a Vikings signing
Zero2Cool (18-Jun) : Baltimore Ravens now have signed former Packers CB Jaire Alexander.
dfosterf (14-Jun) : TWO magnificent strikes for touchdowns. Lose the pennstate semigeezer non nfl backup
dfosterf (14-Jun) : There was minicamp Thursday. My man Taylor Engersma threw
dfosterf (11-Jun) : There will be a mini camp practice Thursday.
Zero2Cool (11-Jun) : He's been sporting a ring for a while now. It's probably Madonna.
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : We only do the tea before whoopee, it relaxes me.
wpr (10-Jun) : That's awesome Martha.
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : How's the ayahuasca tea he makes, Martha?
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : Turns out he like older women
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : I wasn't supposed to say anything, but yes the word is out and we are happy 😂😂😂
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : I might be late on this but Aaron Rodgers is now married
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : Well he can always ask his brother for pointers
Zero2Cool (10-Jun) : Bo Melton taking some reps at CB as well as WR
Zero2Cool (10-Jun) : key transactions coming today at 3pm that will consume more cap in 2025
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : Jaire played in just 34 of a possible 68 games since the start of the 2021 season
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : reported, but not expected to practice
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : Jenkins has REPORTED for mandatory camp
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : I really thought he'd play for Packers.
buckeyepackfan (9-Jun) : Packers releasing Jaire Alexander.
Mucky Tundra (8-Jun) : (Context: he wants his defense to create turnovers)
Mucky Tundra (8-Jun) : Giants DC Shane Bowen tells players to “be a damn pirate."
dfosterf (6-Jun) : Semper fi !
Cheesey (6-Jun) : This is why I have so much respect for those that have gone through battles
Cheesey (6-Jun) : I can't even imagine what that would have been like
wpr (6-Jun) : "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"
wpr (6-Jun) : Facing a line of machine guns 2 time medal of Honor recipient, First Sergeant Dan Daly told his men,
wpr (6-Jun) : Another detachment went into the Belleau Wood.
wpr (6-Jun) : On the 6th the Marines took Hill 142 but suffered terrible losses.
wpr (6-Jun) : It’s time to remember dfoster’s Marine brothers in Belleau Wood. The battle went on from June 1-26. Nearly 10,000 casualties.
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett have signed with the PACK
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : he won't be wearing #12, maybe he will wear number two
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : He will fail this season, should have retired
Mucky Tundra (5-Jun) : Thus the cycle of Hall of Fame Packer QBs going to the Jets and then the Vikings is broken
bboystyle (5-Jun) : Rodgers to steelers on 1 year contract
Zero2Cool (5-Jun) : It's the cycle of civilizations. Get lazier, lazier, softer, softer and vanish.
Martha Careful (5-Jun) : great point. every aspect of society, including art, culture and sports has degraded.
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Green Bay sweep meant something to society about stopping pure excellence. We have the tush push now
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2025 Packers Schedule
Sunday, Sep 7 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Thursday, Sep 11 @ 7:15 PM
COMMANDERS
Sunday, Sep 21 @ 12:00 PM
Browns
Sunday, Sep 28 @ 7:20 PM
Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 12 @ 3:25 PM
BENGALS
Sunday, Oct 19 @ 3:25 PM
Cardinals
Sunday, Oct 26 @ 7:20 PM
Steelers
Sunday, Nov 2 @ 12:00 PM
PANTHERS
Monday, Nov 10 @ 7:15 PM
EAGLES
Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00 PM
Giants
Sunday, Nov 23 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Thursday, Nov 27 @ 12:00 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 7 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Dec 14 @ 3:25 PM
Broncos
Friday, Dec 19 @ 11:00 PM
Bears
Friday, Dec 26 @ 11:00 PM
RAVENS
Saturday, Jan 3 @ 11:00 PM
Vikings
Recent Topics
5h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

20-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

20-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

18-Jun / Random Babble / Zero2Cool

16-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

15-Jun / Random Babble / Martha Careful

14-Jun / Around The NFL / beast

14-Jun / Community Welcome! / dfosterf

13-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

13-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Adam

12-Jun / Random Babble / Martha Careful

12-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

12-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

12-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.