I'm several weeks late on this, but Wiz Khalifa's new music video "Work Hard Play Hard" is a pretty solid tribute to Pittsburgh. There are shots of steel workers, shop owners...and Pittsburgh native Steve Breaston.
Breaston graduated from Woodland Hills High School in 2003. He was an excellent football and track athlete. He went on to star at Michigan. Breaston's one of the better WPIAL graduates playing in the NFL today.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe on July 25, 2012 - only 29 days from today. We're taking a quick look at current and former Steelers as we countdown to football.
Most underrated player in NFL history. All he did was tag punts down at the 1. Pictures of him almost do not exist on Google.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe on July 25, 2012 - only 34 days from today. We're taking a quick look at current and former Steelers as we countdown to football.
Andy Russell. What a leader...heart and soul of those pre-Steel Curtain teams.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe on July 25, 2012 - only 36 days from today. We're taking a quick look at current and former Steelers as we countdown to football.
What can you say about Jerome Bettis? One of the greatest power backs ever to play the game, Bettis spent the bulk of his illustrious career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His huge build and tough running style embodied everything Steeler fans love about football. Even as his career was nearing its end, Bettis was the team's leader on offense and helped mold guys like Hines Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, and Willie Parker into champions.
After a heartbreaking playoff loss in 2004, Bettis strongly considered retirement after a long and productive career. He decided on playing one more season, however, hoping that the Steelers had the right mix of players to finally win a championship. After a rough 2005 season, the Steelers managed to sneak into the playoffs as a 6th seed.
The 2005 playoffs opened with a nasty slugfest against rival Cincinnati. Jerome Bettis came out late in the game to grind out first downs and run down the clock. The next week in Indianapolis, fans were treated to a quick-strike offense by a traditionally hard-nosed running team, a fumble by one of the most surehanded backs in the game, one of the better defensive plays a QB will ever make, and a shanked field goal by one of the NFL's most reliable (at the time) clutch kickers. The Steelers went on to Denver, where the defense shined and the offense shined brighter in what ended up being a rout of the Broncos.
Bettis finally got to play in his first Superbowl in his hometown of Detroit. When the Steelers had the lead in the second half of what had mostly been a calculated game of field position, Bill Cowher saw fit to keep feeding Bettis the ball and to let his bruising running style pound out the first downs that sealed the Steelers' victory.
Bettis announced his retirement on the podium after the game, the Lombardi Trophy in his hands. After an incredible career, Jerome Bettis finally won the championship that had eluded him for over a decade.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe on July 25, 2012 - only 37 days from today. We're taking a quick look at current and former Steelers as we countdown to football.
Total beast. One of the best defensive backs ever to play the game.
Lake is beginning his second season as the Steelers' defensive backs coach.
Bigtime media news today surrounding the Steelers. Longtime Associated Press ace Alan Robinson has joined the Tribune-Review to cover the Steelers. Dejan Kovacevic broke the news on Twitter.
A great day for @TribSports: Please welcome one of Pittsburgh's most respected sports reporters -- @alanrobinson22 -- to the #Steelers beat.
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) June 18, 2012
Robinson is as good as they come and you've probably been reading his AP stuff for years. Should make for some great coverage.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe on July 25, 2012 - only 38 days from today. We're taking a quick look at current and former Steelers as we countdown to football.
Jon Witman played his entire high school, college and professional career in Pennsylvania. The Eastern York HS grad starred at Penn State before being drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 1996 draft.
Fittingly, Witman is currently a youth football coach in Wrightsville, PA.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe on July 25, 2012 - only 39 days from today. We're taking a quick look at current and former Steelers as we countdown to football.
While Willie Parker's career with the Steelers ended as quickly as it began, I hope that he always holds a pretty special place in Steelers lore. That first game against the Titans in 2005 when both Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley were out with injuries is one of the all-time great performances. Parker ran for 161 yards on 22 carries and pretty much forced Bill Cowher to name him the starter.
He would of course go on to dominate the league the rest of the season, including that magical 75 yard touchdown run in Super Bowl XL.
Parker was also pretty good after 2005. He broke the team record for rushing yards in a single game, racking up 226 in only 3 quarters against Cleveland in December of 2006. He made the Pro Bowl in both 2006 and 2007 and though he battled injuries during much of 2008, he was still the team's starting running back for another Super Bowl win against Arizona before signing with Washington.
There was a lot of anticipation that Parker would return to Pittsburgh and play here but, ultimately, he signed with the UFL's Virginia Destroyers in 2011.
