SUPERBOWL XLV: AN AMERICAN CELEBRATION: PART IV:: The Unbreakable Bonds of Family and Tradition

In honor of the most American Superbowl matchup of all time, Nosebleed Rumblings has devoted the week to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. "The Unbreakable Bonds of Family and Tradition" is Part Four in a six part series. Click here for Part Three.

THE ROONEYS: MOM AND POP STORE OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE 

Like Daniel and H.W. Plainview, the Rooneys
are a "regular family business."

Art Rooney founded Pittsburgh's pro football franchise in 1933. As the Great Depression continued its merciless beating of America, Rooney blessed his city with a ray of sunlight -- muddy, sweat-soaked, blood-stained sunlight -- by bringing football to Pittsburgh. Seven years later, Rooney actually bought 50% of the Philadelphia Eagles, but was so depressed about leaving Pittsburgh that he sold his share of the Eagles and returned to the Steel City. 


Since then, the Steelers have rested safely in the hands of the Rooney family. In America, we love family-owned businesses, and the Steelers are the Mom and Pop corner store empire of the NFL. Jerry Jones may be the league's Sam Walton, but as long as Old Man Rooney is sitting on the front porch, smoking a cigar and waving to kids on bicycles, the ol' Stars and Stripes will continue to fly higher than a bald eagle on meth.

BATTLE-TESTED TRADITION

Terry Bradshaw wore the same
uniform that fellow American hero Ben
Roethlisberger wears today.

As the NFL's fifth-oldest franchise, the Steelers have long since cemented their identity as a brutish, hard-nosed squad of gritty role players and maniacal manbeasts. While new-age franchises like the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans build their teams around playmaking, ballerina-like cyborg-athlete hybrids, the Steelers employ a legion of flesh-hungry, cannibalistic defenders and human-battering-ram halfbacks. Of course, back in the early days of organized football, running the ball was the only option. But in today's increasingly sophisticated NFL, cannon-armed robo-launchers like Drew Brees and Peyton Manning regularly air out 50 passes per game. The Steelers could care less. As always, they build their gameplan on 300-pound Campbell’s-fed linemen and an undying commitment to the inside handoff. 

The Steelers undying adherence to tradition is represented in their uniforms, which have never changed: black jerseys with plain white numbers, gold pants, and black helmets with the logo on only one side. Some wonder, “Well, why not put the logo on both sides?” The Steelers are involved in the game of football, not the world of fashion. So while self-conscious, weak franchises like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers constantly fuss with their outfits, the Steelers stroll out to battle every weekend wearing the same armor they’ve worn since Franklin Delano Roosevelt wheeled into the Oval Office on a chair crafted from the bones of dead communists. Like a regular at the diner who orders without looking at the menu, the Steelers know what they want and go out and get it.

TOMORROW: PART IV:: Reinvention: Miller High Life and the Green Bay Packers; Mike McCarthy and the American Colonist During the Revolutionary War

-By Brian Beer