The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Steelers are the oldest and most championed franchise in the AFC. The team has appeared in six Super Bowls and, along with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, is one of three teams to have won the Super Bowl five times. They have appeared in 13 Conference Championship Games and have hosted more conference championship games than any other NFL franchise. They are the only team in NFL playoff history to win a Super Bowl after being seeded sixth in the playoffs, winning three consecutive games on the road followed by a Super Bowl XL victory in Detroit on February 5 2006 against the Seattle Seahawks. They are also the only sixth-seeded team in NFL history to advance to a conference championship game as well as win one.
Originally named the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team joined the NFL in 1933 when owner Art Rooney Sr. paid a US$2,500 franchise fee to the league. However, the Steelers are the heirs to the first-ever pro-football team, as Pittsburgh hosted the world's first pro game in the 1880s. That early franchise, however, fell victim to the state's strict blue laws that, prior to 1933, prevented sporting events from taking place on Sundays when most NFL games were scheduled.
The franchise was reformed and renamed the Steelers in 1940 based on the city's prominent position in the steel industry. A fan suggested the name in a contest held by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the team.
The Steelers have one of the NFL's largest fan bases, with notable fans being actors Adam Sandler & Michael Keaton, singers Hank Williams, Jr., Charlie Daniels, & Snoop Dogg, professional wrestler Kurt Angle, and conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, among others. (Keaton and Angle being Pittsburgh natives, while Limbaugh once worked at Pittsburgh radio station KQV in the early 1970's.) A 2007 survey also determined that the Steelers also have the largest female fan base in the NFL. The team has sold out every home game since 1972, second to the Green Bay Packers for the longest such streak in NFL history.
